• PROJECT MANAGEMENT · PRACTICAL GUIDANCE
Before you build a project plan, make sure everyone is planning the same project. A one-page brief turns an initial idea into a shared starting point.
5-minute read | A clearer start for your next project
A project can sound straightforward until people explain what they think it involves. One colleague expects a quick update. Another expects a complete redesign. Both may be working hard towards different versions of success.
A short brief helps bring those differences into view before time and money are committed. It records what you are trying to achieve, where the boundaries sit and who needs to agree the next step.
Use these eight questions to draft it with the people closest to the work. Aim for a useful page of decisions, with links to supporting detail where needed. For larger projects, it provides a summary alongside the fuller planning and approval documents your organisation requires.
Purpose
Why are we doing this?
Describe the problem or opportunity in plain language, including who it affects and why it matters now. Starting with a proposed solution can hide the real need. “Create a new induction pack” describes an activity; it does not explain what the pack should improve.
Induction project example: New starters receive inconsistent information in their first week, leaving managers to repeat basic guidance.
Put in the brief: The problem or opportunity, the people affected and the reason to act.
Success
What will success look like?
Describe the change you want, then agree how you will tell whether it has happened. Separate the thing you deliver from the benefit it should create. Include a target, a way to check it and a review date where practical. If you do not know the starting position, make establishing it an early action.
Induction project example: Pilot a shared induction checklist with the next five starters. Check that each receives the agreed essentials by the end of their first week, then review their feedback with managers.
Put in the brief: The intended outcome, evidence of success and when it will be reviewed.
Scope
What is included—and what is outside the scope?
List the main outputs and set a few clear boundaries. These help people spot requests that would change the project, so they can discuss the effect on time, cost and priorities. Useful exclusions are specific enough to prevent a likely misunderstanding.
Induction project example: Include a first-week checklist, a welcome email and a manager guide. Exclude changes to contracts, payroll systems and role-specific technical training.
Put in the brief: The main deliverables and the work this project will not cover.
People
Who needs to contribute or be consulted?
Identify the people who will use the result, provide information, do the work or be affected by the change. Ask what you need from each group and when. Someone who only needs an update should not automatically become part of every working meeting.
Induction project example: Ask recent starters about gaps, involve line managers in testing and ask HR and IT to check the information they own.
Put in the brief: The key contributors and affected groups, with their input or communication needs.
Ownership
Who owns delivery and who makes decisions?
Name the person coordinating the work and the person authorised to approve the result. Clarify who can agree changes to scope, budget or timing, and where unresolved issues go. A team can share tasks while still having a clear owner for progress.
Induction project example: An HR adviser coordinates the work. The HR manager approves the pack and decides whether proposed additions belong in this project or a later phase.
Put in the brief: The delivery owner, approver and route for decisions or escalation.
Timing
When is it needed, and what must happen first?
Record the target date and the reason behind it. Work backwards through the key milestones, including reviews and approvals. Distinguish a fixed deadline from a preferred date, and check dependencies before treating either as a promise.
Induction project example: Work towards the next intake of starters, with time for a draft, manager review and a pilot. Confirm reviewers’ availability before agreeing the schedule.
Put in the brief: The target date, key milestones and dependencies that affect the sequence.
Resources
What time, budget and support are available?
Make the limits visible. Include people’s capacity alongside any spending, systems, specialist help or supplier input. Check that the people named can actually contribute. Record estimates as estimates and identify any resource decisions still awaiting approval.
Induction project example: Agree how much HR time is available and book a short review with each contributing team. Confirm whether design support is needed before committing to a launch date.
Put in the brief: The agreed resources, constraints and approvals still needed.
Uncertainty
What could prevent success, and what needs checking?
Capture the most significant risks and assumptions without trying to predict every possible problem. An assumption is something you are treating as true; a risk is an uncertain event that could affect delivery. Give important checks and responses an owner and a date.
Induction project example: The draft assumes existing guidance is accurate. Ask each content owner to check it before the pilot. If reviews are delayed, the delivery owner should raise the effect on the target date with the approver.
Put in the brief: The main risks, assumptions, proposed responses and next checks.
YOUR ONE-PAGE STARTING POINT
Copy these headings into a document. Keep each answer to one or two useful sentences or short bullets, and link to any supporting detail.
Project: [name] Version/date: [details]
Status: [draft / agreed]
- Purpose: The problem or opportunity, the people affected and the reason to act.
- Success: The intended outcome, evidence of success and when it will be reviewed.
- Scope: The main deliverables and the work this project will not cover.
- People: The key contributors and affected groups, with their input or communication needs.
- Ownership: The delivery owner, approver and route for decisions or escalation.
- Timing: The target date, key milestones and dependencies that affect the sequence.
- Resources: The agreed resources, constraints and approvals still needed.
- Uncertainty: The main risks, assumptions, proposed responses and next checks.
Agreed by: [name and date] Next review: [date]
Turn the draft into an agreement
Share the draft with the delivery owner, approver and key contributors. Ask them to challenge anything unclear, unrealistic or missing. Resolve material disagreements before treating the brief as an agreed basis for work.
If an answer is not yet known, record what needs deciding, who will find out and by when. Decide whether that uncertainty blocks delivery or whether a limited discovery step can go ahead.
Add a date and version, keep one shared copy and revisit it when the purpose, scope or constraints change. Use the agreed brief to build the detailed plan. A useful page gives people enough clarity to act and enough context to recognise when a new decision is needed.
