How to Write a Simple Project Brief: Template & Examples

It’s a whole lot easier to deliver a project win when everyone’s working toward the same goal. Show your team what success looks like by listing the top 3-5 goals the project must accomplish.

If you can, tie these project goals to business objectives. That way, your team understands how their work will impact the company as a whole.

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3. Provide some background about the client

You don’t have to unpack your client’s whole backstory here. Instead explain who the project is for in 2-3 sentences.

Feel free to include any quick facts the team should know about your client’s organization or market as bullet points, like we’ve done in the sample below:

4. Introduce key players and their project roles

Your project brief is a great place to give everyone a quick rundown of who’s who on the project. I recommend breaking these introductions down into 2 groups:

• Project team: List each core team member’s name and role, and include an image to help clients put faces with names more easily. Noting percent allocation will give the client a clear picture of how much time each team member has dedicated to this project.
• Key stakeholders: List the name, title, and project role for each key stakeholder on your project. Be sure to identify the decision-maker and main point of contact for your client if those roles have been decided. Stakeholder photos may be tough to come by, so don’t sweat it if you can’t include them in your project brief.

You can see what these sections might look like in the project brief example highlighted below:

5. List key deliverables with dates

You may not be ready to commit to a full-blown project plan at this stage, but it’s important to sketch out a timeline for major deliverables. Aim for 5-10 items to keep your timeline high-level.

Many people process images better than text, so I recommend creating a quick, visual timeline in a project management tool like TeamGantt. Simply add key deliverables as milestones on your gantt chart, then throw a screenshot of that timeline into your project brief.

Before you wrap up this section, be sure to mention any major out-of-scope items and/or project breaks. In our sample project brief, we called out-of-scope items out in a different color so they don’t get overlooked.

6. Include any other important items of note

Finally, add any key notes that can provide clarification or insight about the project. You might outline risks with mitigation strategies, possible phase 2 items, or recent shifts in the marketplace.

This section of the project brief will likely be a group of random items, and that’s just fine. You just don’t want to lose anything that could spark an important conversation or idea for the project.

Here are a couple of additional notes we included in our sample project brief:

Project brief example

This sample project brief gives shows you what your final product might look like when all the elements come together.

Tips to make your project brief more effective

Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s review a few ways you can add even more value to your project brief.

Use a template to save time

Your time is best spent thoughtfully adding content to your project brief—not messing with a tool and fixing formatting.

Creating a project brief template is an easy way to make your process repeatable. This saves you and your fellow project managers time, while establishing brand consistency across your organization.

We created a free project brief template to help you get started more quickly. Choose between landscape or portrait format, then make a copy of your own in Google Docs (or download it as a Word document). Simply drop in your logo, and customize the details to fit your project.

• Project brief template (Landscape format)
• Project brief template (Portrait format)

Want a project brief that’s visually engaging? Consider using a tool like Miro or Figma to build and brand your project brief.

Just make sure everyone has access to whatever tool you use and feels comfortable editing in it.

Do the work

Let’s be honest, as project managers, we’re often overloaded with projects and to-dos—especially at the start of a new project. You might be inclined to just fill in the blanks and call it a day. But that’s defeating the point.

The thing that really brings value to a project brief is the experience and thought you put into it. Consider who the client is, what the project’s about, and what information will help your team get to work with confidence.

Remember: This document sets a foundation for the project. It’s worth spending time to get this right.

Use all your resources

As a project manager, you have access to lots of resources—whether it’s the sales team, new client, RFP, project proposal, CRM, etc.

Take time to talk to the right people and dig through all the documentation. Most existing documents will likely be set aside as you and your team start creating new ones, so make sure key info from the past comes forward and gets shared.

Adjust your project brief’s format and contents as needed

Your project brief will likely evolve over time as you incorporate this document in your process. You may start to see that some information isn’t helpful while other important details are missing.

Revisit the brief’s value every couple of projects to ensure you’re making the most out of its use.

Build a free timeline for your project brief

TeamGantt makes it easy to create a simple timeline for your project brief so everyone knows when to expect major project deliverables.

When you’re ready to draft a comprehensive plan, just pick up where you left off, and schedule all your tasks. You’ll have all the features you need to keep your team in sync and ensure projects finish on time and on budget.

About the author: Lynn Winter