MINUTEKIT / FREE FACILITATOR PACK 60-MINUTE PROJECT BRIEF: TURN A ROUGH REQUEST INTO A FIRST DRAFT This is a complete, editable plain-text session plan. All times are elapsed from the start. Transitions are included. Adapt the plan to your group; it does not guarantee a particular result. No MinuteKit account or JavaScript is needed to read this file. WHO IT FITS A small project team, or a learning group working in pairs. Choose one modest project rather than trying to settle an entire programme. Invite someone who can explain the request and clearly label decisions that still need approval. INTENDED OUTPUT A one-page first brief with an intended audience, a concrete deliverable, boundaries, visible assumptions and a next action. The session does not replace user research or authorize resources. PREPARE 1. Bring the original request and any facts already known, such as a date, audience or format. Separate those facts from assumptions. If the audience has not been consulted, write that plainly. 2. Prepare one deliberately vague example: “Make onboarding better.” Beside it, prepare the more concrete draft given below. Use them to show what a brief makes visible, not to imply that the example has been validated. 3. Give every person a copy of the worksheet. Agree where the working brief will be kept and who will combine edits. Avoid collecting participants’ private project details through the website. 4. Set the agenda durations to 5, 10, 15, 20 and 10 minutes. The transitions are included in these windows; do not add a separate introduction after the first timer. FACILITATOR SCRIPT / 60 MINUTES 1. 00:00-00:05 / 5 minutes / Name the draft the group will make SAY By the end of this hour we want a brief another person can read without hearing this discussion. A first draft may contain open questions. We will make those visible instead of guessing an answer. DO Use two minutes to name the project and the person it is meant to help. Spend the remaining three explaining the worksheet and asking each participant for one sentence about what they need to understand. CLOSE State whose problem is in scope. If the group names several unrelated audiences, choose one for this draft and record the others for later. 2. 00:05-00:15 / 10 minutes / Separate evidence from assumptions SAY What do we know because someone observed or supplied it? What are we assuming? Which missing answer could change the work we choose to do? DO Spend three minutes reading the original request and the vague example. Spend five putting known facts, assumptions and questions in separate worksheet fields. Use the last two to choose the question most likely to affect scope. CLOSE Mark any invented example as an example. A confident sentence does not become evidence because the group agrees with it. 3. 00:15-00:30 / 15 minutes / Draft the brief in plain language SAY Complete these sentences: “This is for…”, “They need to…”, and “The first version will contain…”. Then say what the first version will leave out. Prefer something we could inspect over a word such as better or easier. DO Allow ten minutes of quiet or paired drafting. In the final five, read the draft aloud and replace vague terms with a deliverable, boundary or open question. Keep the first version small enough that the named owner can take a real next action. CLOSE The brief should be understandable without a slide deck. Leave uncertainty labelled rather than adding unsupported claims about the audience. 4. 00:30-00:50 / 20 minutes / Challenge the draft and revise it SAY Review the brief as someone receiving the work. What would you still need to ask before starting? Which sentence might two people interpret differently? DO Use six minutes for a partner to read and ask questions without rewriting the author’s work. Switch roles for six minutes. Spend the remaining eight revising each draft. For one shared project, split into two reviewing pairs, then use that final eight minutes to agree edits with the brief owner. CLOSE Check the deliverable, audience, exclusions and next action. Do not silently turn a reviewer’s preference into a project requirement. 5. 00:50-01:00 / 10 minutes / Agree the next action and who can approve the brief SAY What is the smallest next step that reduces uncertainty or moves this draft forward? Who accepts that action, and when will they report back? DO Use five minutes to read the revised brief and identify any approval still required. Use three to name a willing action owner and date. Keep the final two for checking where the draft will be stored and who needs the participant version. CLOSE If the group cannot approve the project, label the document “Draft for review”. Remove facilitator notes before creating the handout PDF. PARTICIPANT HANDOUT / COPY AND EDIT Keep this section separate from the facilitator notes before distributing it. PROJECT BRIEF / FIRST DRAFT Project name: Draft date and owner: Status: draft / for approval / agreed within our authority Who this is for: What they need to do: Problem we are trying to address: KNOWN FACTS Fact and its source: ASSUMPTIONS What we are assuming: How we could check it: FIRST VERSION The specific deliverable: What it will contain: How someone can inspect whether it is complete: What is outside this version: Known constraints (time, access, format or resources): OPEN QUESTIONS Most important missing answer: Who can help answer it: Approval still needed: NEXT ACTION One concrete action: Willing owner: Due date: Where the result will be kept: When the brief will be reviewed: ILLUSTRATIVE OUTPUT Illustrative first draft: “Create a one-page arrival checklist for first-time library volunteers. Include the meeting point, the person to ask for and the first three tasks. Exclude the full volunteer handbook and scheduling system. Assumption: arrival uncertainty is a problem; check this with the coordinator and willing new volunteers before treating it as established. Next action: the brief owner asks the coordinator to review the task list by an agreed date.” This is a worked example, not evidence of user demand. PITFALLS AND ADAPTATIONS - A deliverable such as “a one-page checklist” is inspectable; “a smoother experience” needs a concrete description and evidence. Do not present an intended benefit as a measured result. - Keep resources and deadlines as known constraints or open questions. Do not assign a budget, promise a delivery date or volunteer someone who is not present. - If paired review reveals incompatible goals, preserve both in the open questions and identify the person who can decide. A neat PDF should not hide unresolved scope. USE WITH MINUTEKIT Agenda template: https://minutekit.pages.dev/workshop-kit/?template=project-brief Free pack: https://minutekit.pages.dev/workshop-pack/ PDF studio: https://minutekit.pages.dev/pdf-studio/ Open the matching agenda, edit it for your session, and start each activity timer yourself. Timers do not advance the agenda automatically. Copy the participant handout into PDF studio to make a printable version; inspect the downloaded PDF before sharing. Direct PDF download supports basic Latin text. For other scripts, use Print / Save PDF and inspect the browser preview. Keep the text file or your own copy: drafts are not saved to a MinuteKit account. Tool interactions require JavaScript; this downloaded plan does not. PERMISSION TO ADAPT You may copy and adapt this material for your own paid or unpaid facilitated sessions, and share your adapted participant handouts with those participants. Do not resell or redistribute the original MinuteKit pack as a standalone template product. This permission covers this original pack, not third-party software or materials. Original MinuteKit material. Worked examples are illustrative, not testimonials or reported results.