This article gives guidance on how to brief, including resources and training for writing better briefs.
The tasks, briefs and estimates sheet here has lots of example briefs for common Finally tasks. It's a great resource and the perfect reference point when writing a new brief.
Forecast brief template
All Forecast tickets should follow this template. Not all tickets will require all sections (eg no dependencies) but consider carefully whether the information would be useful before removing it.
- Background
- Task
- Links
- This should include a link to the project folder
- This can also include useful links - for example:
- Previous examples
- Brand guidelines
- Campaign tracker/ website tracker
- Access
- Any required logins should be shared via LastPass, but login links or any other access instructions should be provided within the ticket itself.
- Acceptance criteria (what criteria needs to be met for the task to be considered complete) -
- Format (eg size, jpg)
- Quality criteria (lifted from tasks, briefs, estimates)
- Deadlines/ Priority level
- eg QA is happening on the same day - highlight that ticket needs to be delivered by midday for QA in the afternoon.
- Dependencies
- Add who to send it to the work to once done - is it going to be QA’d or straight to the PM and/or link to the QA ticket to link their work to once done if being QA’d.
- It can also be highlighted here if this ticket requires collaboration with another team member, a tight deadline or a live QA session.
Importance
It's important that the delivery team have everything that they need when starting working on a brief, as this will set up the delivery team member to work on that piece of work.
A bad brief can lead to a few things:
- Work that is not fit for purpose.
- Re-work / FOC amends will be required at the agency's cost.
Without a full brief, this can leave the team member blocked or confused about what needs to be delivered, which can then cause delays for the work to be completed or cause issues for the delivery team members' schedule the following day as the ticket may need to be shifted.
Challenges of briefing @ FINALLY
These can include:
- Not knowing the full scope of the project.
- Picking up a project without a clear handover from AMs.
- Not having the technical knowledge for a ticket.
Guidelines
To write a good brief, please consider the following points:- The brief needs to be clear and to the point.
- Concise - ensure what you're saying is fact and not cause more questions for the delivery team (unless it is a creative brief).
- Assume it’s the first time this person is doing this work.
- Could somebody look at the ticket and know what it’s for?
- A Slack message is not a brief! Make sure that all required information in captured on the ticket itself, not via Slack.
- A call can be a great way to align on the brief for more complex tasks, but having a phone call does not excuse you from writing a brief. A summary of what was discussed, using the briefing template, still needs to be captured on the ticket.