How to build a brief with the guided steps

A concrete example-driven guide to writing briefs that produce strong strategies.

Time required: about 8 min

1. 1

   Describe the proposal in one line (add materials if you have them)

   Write one line such as “Moving order processing to a cloud ERP”. Add business plans or financial statements and they feed the later proposals and sections. The proposal type (investment, new business, improvement, organization change, budget) is recommended and can be changed.

2. 2

   Choose where it is decided, and by whom

   Pick executive committee, board, department heads or written ringi, then the decision-maker’s role. You’ll see what that forum usually expects (e.g. the board: options compared, risks and cost of capital).

3. 3

   Pick the meeting goal (resolution) from proposals

   You get 2–3 goals written as resolutions — “approve a ¥30M investment in …”, “agree to phase it in (budget next time)” — each with why it fits and the evidence it needs. Pick and edit one, or write your own. Proposals change with the forum.

4. 4

   Shape the agenda

   An answer-first outline is proposed. Reorder, delete or add sections; each shows the method or evidence behind it. This order becomes the skeleton of the outline you approve later.

5. 5

   Answer only what’s missing

   What your materials cover is already filled, with sources. For options you get three proposals including “do nothing” to confirm; for cost-benefit only the 2–3 figures needed. Leave unknowns blank — they are treated as assumptions.

6. 6

   Review and create

   Check the goal, agenda, filled vs missing items and the readiness score, then press “Create with this”. The goal becomes the key question of the first stage and the agenda the outline, so you won’t be asked again. Power users can still use “Enter details manually (full form)”.

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