Project brief template
The project brief is where it all begins. You’ve had a great idea, now you need to get into the detail. What exactly are you trying to achieve? What is the problem you’re trying to solve? What resources can you commit to the endeavour? What are the risks?
Completing a project brief can feel like a killjoy, getting in the way of getting on with things, but you’ll be glad you did as without it you’re likely to experience a lack of buy in and direction. You may also avoid duplication of effort across the organisation if there is a centralised programme and portfolio management function you can submit your brief to.
A good brief demonstrates that the project is worth doing, and gets everyone on the same page in terms of what they’re signing up for. You’re more than welcome to take a copy of our template. We’re keen advocates of dogfooding, so this is the very same template that we use for all of our projects. Remember, the brief should be a living document so update it as things change. It mustn’t just sit on the shelf once a project is approved.
Highlight report template
The highlight report is the tool for keeping your stakeholders abreast of project delivery. This (ideally one pager) will give the stakeholders an at a glance take on the health of the project. It is concise and shows only the salient information pertinent to the questions:
- Are we on track to deliver on time?
- Are we on track to deliver on budget?
- How are our project resources (people!)?
- What are the most pressing risks / issues / opportunities and how are we managing them?
How often these should be produced varies according to individual project needs, but fortnightly or monthly are popular choices.