A project brief is used to provide a full and firm foundation for the initiation of the project and is created in the starting up a project process.

In the initiating a project process, the contents of the project brief are extended and refined in the PID, after which the project brief is no longer maintained.

The following quality criteria apply to a project brief:

• It is brief because its purpose at this point is to provide a firm basis on which to initiate a project. It will later be refined and expanded as part of the PID.
• It accurately reflects the project mandate and the requirements of the business and the users.
• Your project approach considers a range of solutions, such as: bespoke or off-the-shelf; contracted-out or developed in-house; or designed from scratch or modified from an existing product.
• That the project approach selected maximizes the chance of achieving overall success for the project.
• That the project objectives and project approaches are consistent with the organization’s social responsibility directive.
• Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).