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Writer's pictureDarren Hewitt

Briefs In Brief: How to establish your project brief

Updated: Jun 6


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When you’re planning a construction project for your business, it’s worth spending time on getting your brief just right. Actually, any kind of business change plan should have a detailed brief to set clear objectives and communicate them effectively to all stakeholders. A well-crafted brief makes sure everyone understands the project's goals, which is essential for its success.


A clear project brief will lead you to a successful outcome

The importance of a detailed brief


Establishing your brief should be the start of your change control process. Without it, you won’t have any way to say what your change looks like, what it costs and how long it will take. If you write your brief in a systematic way, you are much more likely to get the result you want from your project. Everybody will be absolutely clear what you want.


If your project delivery team haven’t completely understood what you want, you will have to deal with the pain of mistakes being made. This could cause your budget and timelines to go out of the window. It will definitely cause you a whole load of hassle.


A good project brief, step by step


Let’s imagine that you have recently acquired a new building that’s a bit of a blank canvas. You want to turn it into a restaurant. Following these steps will help you create a logical and detailed brief:


What are your base requirements?

I want a restaurant!!


What type of restaurant is it? What is it selling?

This question will drive the size of the kitchen. For example, if you are planning to open a salad bar, your probably won’t need so much hot food preparation equipment like ovens, grease traps, etc.


Where do you want your restaurant to be?

If you already own the site, this one is easy to answer. However, if you haven’t acquired the property yet, you will need to give this careful consideration.


What component parts do you want?

You’ll definitely need a kitchen, dining room and washrooms. Maybe you’ll want a bar, lounge and reception area too.


How many of these component parts do you want?

Will you have just the one dining room, or will you have more?


How big do you want the components to be?

You may want to maximise dining room space. Perhaps you’d like a large, statement kitchen where the clients can watch their food being prepared.


How do you want them to interact?

Think about the journey you’d like your customers to take when they visit your restaurant. Do you want them to enjoy a drink at your bar before you lead them through to their table?


What do you want the components to look like?

Where do you want doors and windows? Are you planning a special feature such as a grand staircase or a moulded ceiling?


What facilities do you want in each component?

Will you want air conditioning or underfloor heating? Where do you want the light switches and power sockets to be?


When do you want your project to be delivered by?


How much are you prepared to spend?


Your project manager or architect will talk you through all these steps, guiding you on what is achievable within the constraints of your location, desired timeline and budget.


Although we’ve used the example of a restaurant here, you can see how these questions would apply to any construction project, from a new build to a refurbishment.



 

Download our free template to help you establish your project brief.



 

Understand Priorities


Obviously, different projects and different businesses will have different priorities. When one of our project managers was working at Barclays, they had a matrix to help them decide how many cashiers, personal bankers, offices, etc should be in each branch. Pure Gym, meanwhile, tailored their briefs, depending on whether the gym was located in a town or a city, to ensure the right facilities would be available to their target customer.


When refurbishing a multi-storey car park for Hillingdon Council, the brief was influenced by both functional requirements and political considerations. Local residents' demands for clear walkways, signage, and an improved payment system were prioritised alongside structural fixes. These needs had to be addressed in addition to the things that would make the carpark functional.


Make it clear to everyone


Once you think your brief fully expresses your goals, it’s worth checking that it’s just as clear to other people. To be properly effective, your brief needs to be understandable.


As an illustration, when Barclays were developing the brief for their headquarters at Canary Wharf, they went to the trouble of engaging with focus groups over many months. They were determined that their brief should not only set their objectives but they wanted them to be written in such a way that they were understandable to everyone.


As you can see, following a logical system of questions can help you write a brief that not only expresses what you want to achieve from your project, but also effectively communicates it to the people who will make your plans a reality. Taking the trouble to get this right before you start work saves you from the pain of mistakes being made further down the line.


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Author


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Darren Hewitt


Darren has over 25 years experience in the construction industry. Within this time he has led and delivered construction projects for major blue chip clients.


Darren has held senior roles in both client and consultant organisations. This gives him a full understanding of the construction process and level of stakeholder engagement required to ensure successful project/programme outcomes.



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