Project Brief Template
Here's a template you may find helpful in organizing and articulating a new idea or initiative you hope to get off the ground, particularly for ideas that will require substantial time and/or resource investment across multiple teams or departments. This template is intended to be a starting point, so that you can share your idea with other key stakeholders and get their input, questions, ideas, and surface any potential roadblocks you may not be thinking about.
The end goal is to pressure test and refine the idea, and reach a "go/no-go" decision from your manager.
Note: exploring and documenting the idea is a valuable exercise in and of itself in more cases, even if it results in a "no-go" decision for now (it could very well be revisited at a later date).
Recommendations for how to use this template:
Make a copy of the template above, rename it, and start to tailor it to your specific idea. Feel free to modify the sections and content as you see fit.
Consider who could lend a valuable perspective on this idea, who may be needed to help execute on parts of the idea in the proposed v1 scope and/or the long term vision, and who may need to approve the idea before moving forward.
Consider sharing an unfinished snapshot of the idea with your manager and others early on to get their initial take on it. It helps to get early input and build some anticipation around a more baked out project brief.
Give your manager a preview of the completed project brief, and allow them to share feedback before sharing it out with other key stakeholders you've identified.
Share it out with stakeholders, encouraging them to share their input and questions by a specific date (e.g., 1-2 weeks from when you share it).