Project brief: Definition, template, examples + steps

Quick, one of your project stakeholders needs an easy way to get a summary of key information about your project… what do you send them?

Don't have something in mind? You probably need a project brief. With a project brief, your entire team has a central source of truth for key project information. A good brief is the best starting point to a great project plan and, ultimately, a successful project.

What is a project brief?

A project brief is a concise document that outlines your project's goals, scope, timeline, and target audience in one accessible place. It serves as a quick summary for project stakeholders and cross-functional collaborators, communicating your project requirements without overwhelming them with details.

Like most elements in project management, there's no one-size-fits-all project brief template or style. The project brief you create will depend on the scope and complexity of your project. For some projects, your brief might be as short as a paragraph; for others, it might run up to a page.

Plan to create your project brief at the very beginning of your project. If you're getting started with project management, you may have encountered other elements of early project planning. Here's how a project brief compares to other project management elements:

Project brief vs. creative brief

A creative brief guides specific creative projects, while a project brief applies to any type of project. Here's how they compare:

If you're working with an outside agency, your creative brief might also function as a statement of work (SOW). For storytelling projects, start with a story planning template to refine your creative direction.

Project brief vs. project plan

Your project brief should be a condensed version of your project plan. A full project plan includes seven elements:

1. Project goals

2. Success metrics

3. Stakeholders and roles

4. Budget

5. Milestones and deliverables

6. Timeline and schedule

7. Project communication plan

Your project brief only needs four of these: project objectives, timeline, target audience, and project scope. This makes it a quick-reference document that stakeholders can scan and team members can revisit frequently.

Project brief vs. project charter

A project charter formally authorizes a project and grants the project manager authority to allocate resources. A project brief summarizes key details to align the team. Here's when to use each:

• Use a project charter when: Your organization requires formal project authorization, detailed risk assessments, or approval signatures

• Use a project brief when: You need a quick-reference document to align your team on goals, scope, and timeline

Project brief vs. executive summary

Both a project brief and an executive summary provide project overviews, but they serve different audiences:

• Executive summary: Best for expansive projects with C-suite stakeholders or when you've drafted a business case

• Project brief: Best for initiatives with cross-functional collaborators who need quick alignment

Key elements of project briefs

A strong project brief includes four key elements that help your team align and understand the initiative.

1. Background information

The first part of your project brief should include the project background. This section provides context that your stakeholders might not have. Aim to answer questions like:

• Why are you working on this project?

• What business needs, research, or customer feedback, if any, led to this project?

• Do any previous projects relate to this one, and if so, how did they go and what did your team learn?

2. Project objectives and success metrics

Your project objectives connect everyday work to team or company goals, which is essential for team effectiveness and keeping team members aligned. According to the Anatomy of Work Index, team members who understand how their work adds value are 2X as motivated as their counterparts.

3. Project timeline

Make sure to include your timeline in your project brief. Your project timeline gives your team a clear idea of key dates and important project milestones. The success of your project depends on whether you can stick to your timeline and meet your objectives.

4. Target audience

Your target audience is the reason you're working on this project. Include your target audience in your project brief so everyone on your team is on the same page about who the audience is.

5 steps to writing a clear project brief, with examples

There are four main elements to a project brief, but five steps to actually complete one. If you're just getting started, break your brief into four paragraphs or sections until it feels more natural to weave them together. Feel free to use bullet points, link to other documents, or use images if necessary.

1. Add relevant context

The best way to begin your project brief is to add any relevant context or background information. That way, everyone starts the project on equal footing. Cross-functional stakeholders can use the background information in the rest of your project brief (or other process documentation) to approach the rest of your project.

Example:

Let's say your company has developed a gaming app that lets people play virtual games with their friends. In this project, you're developing a marketing campaign to support the launch of your newest product: an in-app live video experience. To begin your project brief, you might write something like:

Currently, chat is our second most popular feature (first is connecting with friends via email). 84% of users use chat in some capacity. Additionally, in user feedback sessions, 63% of users reported being on a video or voice call with their friends on another platform while using our app. We believe that, by bringing video chat into the app experience itself, we'll be able to increase retention and potentially upgrade free users to our monthly plan.

2. Bring in project objectives and success metrics

Project objectives are the specific outputs you plan to complete by the end of your project. They define your success metrics, like KPIs, and help you evaluate outcomes. Aim to set SMART objectives:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic

• Time-bound

Continuing with our video chat example:

Most users have learned to use a different video service while playing on our app. This marketing campaign will educate and promote this new feature to increase adoption and encourage users to move away from video chat on other platforms and onto our new in-app feature. The project objective is for40% of users who log in 1X a week to use in-app video chat at least 2X a month by the end of the marketing campaign in late May.

Success criteria:

• Achieved: 40%

• Almost: 35%

• Partial: 30%

• Failure: Below 30%

3. Clarify your project timeline

In your project objective, you'll likely include a date or time range to hit the "T" in SMART (Time-bound). However, your project timeline is more than just the project duration; it might include key milestones or other important dates.

Continuing with our video chat example:

Project duration: March 15th-May 29th

Key milestones:

• March 15th: Kickoff meeting

• April 5th: Product team delivers beta version of final video chat product

• April 22nd: Initial design assets are in

• May 7th: Design assets approved

• May 17th: Product finalized & ready to ship

• May 29th: Launch day

4. Spotlight your target audience

Your project team needs insight into audience demographics to produce their best work. Defining your target audience early also helps prevent scope creep, which occurs when a project exceeds its initial objectives or timeline.

Continuing with our video chat example:

The target audience for this campaign is high school students between the ages of 15 and 18, looking to connect with their friends after school or on the weekend. The target demographic is tech-savvy, but they have very little patience for poor functionality, bugs, or lag.

5. Connect project stakeholders to other resources

Your project brief is nearly finished. Remember, this document is primarily intended for stakeholders and project team members to support effective communication and alignment on key project details. There may be relevant additional resources, like a budget, a communication plan, or project roles.

At the end of your project brief, link to any relevant documentation your team may need to access. You could link to a RACI chart, project proposal, or project roadmap.

Project brief example

Your project brief is more than just a few paragraphs with project information. It's a way to communicate important details and dates to your broader project team. Make sure you package it up in an easy-to-use, central source of truth. Once you do, it might look something like this:

Where does a project brief fit in?

There are many elements to project management, and if you're a new project manager, you might be wondering what you need to create. Here's a short guide of each element and where it fits in:

• Project goals provide a high-level outline of how your project connects to business objectives.

• Project objectives are the actual, specific outputs at the end of a project.

• A project roadmap is a high-level overview of your project deliverables, key milestones, and project goals. Project roadmaps are most helpful for complex initiatives.

• A kickoff meeting is a meeting at the beginning of your project. Your kickoff meeting is a chance to connect with your project team and key stakeholders to gain buy-in.

• Your project plan (sometimes called a project overview) is the information you need to actually start your project.

• A project brief is your team's central source of truth for key project information.

• An executive summary is an overview of your project plan for executive-level stakeholders.

• Project status reports are progress updates that you (the project manager) should send throughout the course of your project in order to keep your project team on track.

• A project post-mortem is a chance to connect with your project team to look back on what worked, what didn't, and what learnings you can bring to the next project.

Start with a project brief to set your team up for success

A project brief gives your stakeholders and team a clear overview of your project without overwhelming them. It's the foundation for aligned, efficient work.

Ready to create your first project brief? Get started with Asana, so everyone knows exactly who's doing what by when.

Frequently asked questions about project briefs