What You Need to Pay Attention to in a Project Brief

Some of you are probably wondering if a project profile is still timely. The answer – a clear yes! As a Project-One-Pager, the profile provides an overview in every project. The form and content of the project profile can vary.

Here you will get an overview of the included information, what the project profile is used for and which Project management tools, like ZEP you can use for it. In addition, the different variants are introduced, which you can come across in your search for patterns.

At the end, there is even a template for free download.

But let's start with the Why.

What the project profile is used for

In project management, it should be questioned and clarified early on why the project to be processed is being implemented. The answer to this will then be part of the project profile.

In addition, there are other basic information that describes the project. The project leaders sit together with the clients to develop the profile. Either the profile is the formal project assignment or it enriches this with further details.

With the help of the project profile, a common understanding of the project and a common wording is created. Uncertainties can either already be cleared away or at least addressed at the beginning of the project.

The profile can be handled as a living document. This means that it is continuously updated during different project phases as part of project control, such as with ZEP. This not only gives you product documentation. But at any time also an anchor point where you can find out about the project.

In addition, this allows a uniform entry point for new project staff. This leads to them being able to dive in faster and find out about the most important information.

In summary, the project profile is used to:

• Present project information clearly
• Create a common understanding
• Have a project entry point

Who is responsible for creating and maintaining the project profile?

If you are in a project management model without a dedicated project manager role (for example, this role is often not occupied in a scrum project), then you need to clarify in the team who is responsible for it. In the mentioned scrum example, in which work is done with several sprints, this would be the task of the Product Owners.

Typically it is the task of the project management to create the profile. Ideally, however, this is not done in a monastic cell. The project management discusses the profile with the key stakeholders and – if the team is already set up – together with the team. Especially when it comes to project vision and project goals, it is very important that you involve the team early in the development of the framework in order to promote the intrinsic motivation of the team from the start.

7 advantages of a project profile

With the help of the project profile, transparency is created in the project from the start. The joint filling also creates a structured approach in the initialization phase of a project. It is not decisive which project management methods are used later. The profile has its justification in every project form and offers numerous advantages:

• The first project report is jointly created
• There is a clear entry point and team members can find information about the scope of the project at any time
• Elementary questions are clarified from the start and the project framework is defined
• It creates a universally valid understanding of the expected benefit
• Common rules of play and communication routes are defined
• By continuously updating the project profile, the first part of the project documentation is created
• Through the collective development of the project profile, the team is sworn in to the project

Top 3 information in the project profile

As little as possible and as much as necessary should be described in the profile. The most important three are:

• Project benefit – why is the project being implemented?
• Project goals – what should the project achieve?
• Project participants – who will be involved in the project?

In addition, there are other components of a project profile that could be helpful for you.

Further components of the project profile

Attention: there is no uniform specification of what the Project-One-Pager should look like. The term One-Pager already shows – there is no uniform designation of the project profile. For example, in the Project Management Institute (PMI), this profile is called a Project Charter.

Other project profile contents can be:

• Client: in
• Risks and measures for risk minimization
• Project benefit
• Demarcation from other projects or previous solution
• Project team and communication methods / media used
• Budget, time and content

Possible additional information in the project profile

The contents of the project profile have now been clearly outlined. But what could be included that is not absolutely necessary?

On the one hand, these could be milestones. Maybe they are already known in the initial phase, then of course they can be entered. But if the project is still too fresh and it will be part of the project to find out what is actually wanted (or needed), then the fixation on milestones could possibly be an obstacle.

The content does not yet need to be defined in more detail. Here, a rough outline is sufficient.

What does not belong in a project profile

In addition to the clearly defined content, there are further points that should not be included in the project profile. Rather, it is about a rough outline, the description of the framework conditions and the expected results.

The following contents have no place in the project profile:

• detailed project planning
• detailed schedule
• work packages etc.

Recommended tools for creating project profiles

A project profile can be created very well in a wiki system. The advantage: read access can be granted to everyone on the project team. Likewise, editing the profile can be enabled for a larger circle of responsible persons from the team.

Three tools for creating project profiles:

• A wiki system for joint work on profiles could  be. Especially paired with   allows for a very clean documentation of the project profile.
• Another tool in which the project profile can be depicted is  Conceptboard. This software is an online collaboration tool, similar to  Miro or MURAL. The advantage here is the ability to work on a whiteboard simultaneously with several people.
• Many project management tools also offer the possibility to store a Project-One-Pager. For example, custom fields in pqforce can be specified to define a standardized project profile.

Product Vision Board in Conceptboard

Of course, you can also simply build a Word template. When using Word, Office 365 is recommended, so you can share the files in   with the other participants. We have provided such a project profile template for you at the end of the article.

Take a look at the best project management tools . There are many more project management tools that are also suitable for creating project profiles. An all-in-one solution is offered, for example, by the German software manufacturer awork.

Project profile template to download

We have compiled a project profile template for you, which you can download, to give you an idea of how to implement it. The following points are included:

• Project name: what is the name of the project?
• Elevator Pitch: the vision of the project.
• Starting situation / project background: why is the project being started?
• Goals: What goals will be achieved with the project? Which not?
• Benefit: What benefit does the company have from the project?
• Results: What results are generated by the project?
• Priorities: Are the priorities on the content, the costs, the time or the quality?
• Project content: what is “In Scope” and what is “Out of Scope”?
• Non-functional conditions: what other requirements are there?
• Risk analysis: what risks could occur?
• Stakeholder: what interest groups are there?
• Roles: What roles will be represented in the project?

This is just an example. Look at your projects, which information is always asked again and build your own template. Of course, you can build on this template.

Success with the project profile

The profile is one of the most important documents in a project. It contains all information about the project framework. The profile can be filled out quickly and immediately provides transparency and structure in the project. If it is also created in collaboration between the project team, stakeholders and clients, you create successful project communication and good cohesion from the start.