A common example of what a brief is is a set of instructions or standards received from a client about a task they ask a type of service to respond to. For example if a company wants to update their website to more ‘modern standards’ they could outsource to a web designer; they would be briefed on how they want it to look; Where the navigation bar goes, the consistent colour scheme, a search bar, etc. The company has the responsibility on how specific they want their product to be but how specific they are can be a double-edged sword.
A brief received from a client can be structured in many different fashions but it is the responsibility of the one who is sent the brief to respond. The brief should most importantly have a proposal or outline presented as to what specific need the client wants. For example if a parent wanted to ask an events manager to organise a birthday party they would have to at least give an outline of the person’s age and gender and what kind of party they want. This being background information about the client’s basic information for the task. What the client should also make specific is the budget of the production because this is most possibly in the client’s best interest and can be an example of the limitations the Service should expect because they know how big they can make it.
There are different types of ways on how a brief can be expressed to the service or services the client ask to complete the task:
A contractual brief is a legal document that not only asks the requirements of their task but also can legally bind them to the task if they choose to take up the task. If an actor joins a film production through a contract they may be given basic obligations on what is expected as well as rules and regulations they must follow related to the project and the set. If the actor reveals the script of the movie after filming they may not receive the pay or any bonuses that they were promised in the contract because it was broken.
A contractual brief can also be helpful to the service provider as they are given clear instructions in their brief with all the required information including what they’re owed for their work.
A formal brief would require the client and the service provider have a meeting where client would specify what exactly they wanted from the service though this may not have a legal contract attached. The client and the client only specifies their wishes and the service would carry this task out.
The same instance would occur as a formal meeting but the one that provides the service would help the client in making a brief for the service. E.g. if a client were to hire an interior designer then the interior designer could help suggest furnishing, colours and theme which the client might not be too knowledgeable so the designer would fill the role on what would be both appropriate and what would please their client.
This kind of brief would be more along the lines of being briefed for work found on a bulletin board, craigslist post, news ad etc. with a phone number to negotiate over the phone about the job and each other in terms of the work.
A tender brief is sent from a client that is usually an organisation or company sending a brief through post or e-mail to other companies or people that could provide a pitch or rough outline of their ideas back to the client to which then the client would review their options and choose what they believe is the best option. An example of this could be if Legendary Pictures were to ask a group of screenplay writers to write a rough screenplay for a new King Kong instalment the writers would write their own rough ideas of a screenplay to which then Legendary would hire whichever writer they preferred the most and work with them to produce a screenplay.
The one who takes on a client and receives a brief in any of the formats explained must have the responsibility to fully understand what exactly they are asked to do. They must be able to understand either the brief they were given by the client or notes they should have written down during meeting to outline their own brief. If there is a legal document is wise to revise this to as it may have additional information on your task or specifically say what is asked of you. You must be able to break down your brief into key information; the budget, the deadline; the client’s information related to task, is there a target audience; are there mile stones you must reach before the deadline to show progress, etc. This also suggest that, depending on how large scale the project is (budget is a good indicator), that you should plan for the project around what you will do for this project. Though, as mentioned before, it is the person’s responsibility on understanding the brief. If whether the person is troubled on the interpreting what is laid out, then that person must create a line of communication with the client so that being able to contact them for issues like these and other things are swiftly cleared out and they can work quickly and effectively.
Another important thing to note are the constraints that could be attached to the service provider’s work.
Legal constraints have the most defined lines so it makes it easier for the one that receives the brief to follow them. Though this relates back to the understanding the brief as it is once again that person’s responsibility to follow these laws that surround their work or could be attached to their contract. If they do not present an adequate product to the client, and it specifies for an adequate product that could be considered a breach of contract and the service may not be paid or suffer another penalty.
Ethical constraints relate to the ethical issues that surround the services provider’s work. Do you hire people or animals? Are their children involved with your production? Does your production revolve around facts and the truth? If this is the case you may have some ethical boundaries you should keep in line with whether specified in the brief or not. If you hire construction workers for a job you have obligations to make sure their work environment is safe condition and negotiate appropriate labour hours that gets both you task complete and is doable for the workers.
Issues with construction workers can also lead to issues with the work force unions they may be affiliated with. This leads to regulatory constraints. If the workers are doing unfair hours enforced by the service provider or the provider is breaking regulation then the workers may approach a union which will enforce these regulations by sending you a type of penalty such as be sued for improper safety conditions for the workers to work in.
Referring back to the line of communication to the client, the service provider must be able to negotiate the brief after the fact if they feel it must be changed, even if it changes the final product. The client also might change the brief so it is best that the service is able to adapt but they may review the contract and make their decision. It is also in both sides best interest to set a contingency buffer that should be negotiated to help risk management for the production so it could account for any unforeseen circumstances. Negotiating change in contract is the toughest but is important the service establish what they believe must be revised and edited in the contract.
In most every case you will be required to work as part of a team whether as equals with equal power or as their supervisors. If you organise a gig for a bands to at a festival you would have to work with all the different groups of people. You will also need many assistants to help you with minor jobs and to help the band members feel comfortable backstage. Organise Lighting and sound crew. Make sure the host is ready to come on stage. Consider all the risks that could happen either from experience with other events or anything that is possible.
You may even have to keep speaking to other people that may also be managing different areas of the festival to see where you all are and keeping up to date schedules and issues. Working with all these different people in different fields can help you further your experience because you learn how each department work and how best to communicate to them and understand how they progress so you can better schedule and keep in time with that schedule.
A brief received from a client can be structured in many different fashions but it is the responsibility of the one who is sent the brief to respond. The brief should most importantly have a proposal or outline presented as to what specific need the client wants. For example if a parent wanted to ask an events manager to organise a birthday party they would have to at least give an outline of the person’s age and gender and what kind of party they want. This being background information about the client’s basic information for the task. What the client should also make specific is the budget of the production because this is most possibly in the client’s best interest and can be an example of the limitations the Service should expect because they know how big they can make it.
There are different types of ways on how a brief can be expressed to the service or services the client ask to complete the task:
A contractual brief is a legal document that not only asks the requirements of their task but also can legally bind them to the task if they choose to take up the task. If an actor joins a film production through a contract they may be given basic obligations on what is expected as well as rules and regulations they must follow related to the project and the set. If the actor reveals the script of the movie after filming they may not receive the pay or any bonuses that they were promised in the contract because it was broken.
A contractual brief can also be helpful to the service provider as they are given clear instructions in their brief with all the required information including what they’re owed for their work.
A formal brief would require the client and the service provider have a meeting where client would specify what exactly they wanted from the service though this may not have a legal contract attached. The client and the client only specifies their wishes and the service would carry this task out.
The same instance would occur as a formal meeting but the one that provides the service would help the client in making a brief for the service. E.g. if a client were to hire an interior designer then the interior designer could help suggest furnishing, colours and theme which the client might not be too knowledgeable so the designer would fill the role on what would be both appropriate and what would please their client.
This kind of brief would be more along the lines of being briefed for work found on a bulletin board, craigslist post, news ad etc. with a phone number to negotiate over the phone about the job and each other in terms of the work.
A tender brief is sent from a client that is usually an organisation or company sending a brief through post or e-mail to other companies or people that could provide a pitch or rough outline of their ideas back to the client to which then the client would review their options and choose what they believe is the best option. An example of this could be if Legendary Pictures were to ask a group of screenplay writers to write a rough screenplay for a new King Kong instalment the writers would write their own rough ideas of a screenplay to which then Legendary would hire whichever writer they preferred the most and work with them to produce a screenplay.
The one who takes on a client and receives a brief in any of the formats explained must have the responsibility to fully understand what exactly they are asked to do. They must be able to understand either the brief they were given by the client or notes they should have written down during meeting to outline their own brief. If there is a legal document is wise to revise this to as it may have additional information on your task or specifically say what is asked of you. You must be able to break down your brief into key information; the budget, the deadline; the client’s information related to task, is there a target audience; are there mile stones you must reach before the deadline to show progress, etc. This also suggest that, depending on how large scale the project is (budget is a good indicator), that you should plan for the project around what you will do for this project. Though, as mentioned before, it is the person’s responsibility on understanding the brief. If whether the person is troubled on the interpreting what is laid out, then that person must create a line of communication with the client so that being able to contact them for issues like these and other things are swiftly cleared out and they can work quickly and effectively.
Another important thing to note are the constraints that could be attached to the service provider’s work.
Legal constraints have the most defined lines so it makes it easier for the one that receives the brief to follow them. Though this relates back to the understanding the brief as it is once again that person’s responsibility to follow these laws that surround their work or could be attached to their contract. If they do not present an adequate product to the client, and it specifies for an adequate product that could be considered a breach of contract and the service may not be paid or suffer another penalty.
Ethical constraints relate to the ethical issues that surround the services provider’s work. Do you hire people or animals? Are their children involved with your production? Does your production revolve around facts and the truth? If this is the case you may have some ethical boundaries you should keep in line with whether specified in the brief or not. If you hire construction workers for a job you have obligations to make sure their work environment is safe condition and negotiate appropriate labour hours that gets both you task complete and is doable for the workers.
Issues with construction workers can also lead to issues with the work force unions they may be affiliated with. This leads to regulatory constraints. If the workers are doing unfair hours enforced by the service provider or the provider is breaking regulation then the workers may approach a union which will enforce these regulations by sending you a type of penalty such as be sued for improper safety conditions for the workers to work in.
Referring back to the line of communication to the client, the service provider must be able to negotiate the brief after the fact if they feel it must be changed, even if it changes the final product. The client also might change the brief so it is best that the service is able to adapt but they may review the contract and make their decision. It is also in both sides best interest to set a contingency buffer that should be negotiated to help risk management for the production so it could account for any unforeseen circumstances. Negotiating change in contract is the toughest but is important the service establish what they believe must be revised and edited in the contract.
In most every case you will be required to work as part of a team whether as equals with equal power or as their supervisors. If you organise a gig for a bands to at a festival you would have to work with all the different groups of people. You will also need many assistants to help you with minor jobs and to help the band members feel comfortable backstage. Organise Lighting and sound crew. Make sure the host is ready to come on stage. Consider all the risks that could happen either from experience with other events or anything that is possible.
You may even have to keep speaking to other people that may also be managing different areas of the festival to see where you all are and keeping up to date schedules and issues. Working with all these different people in different fields can help you further your experience because you learn how each department work and how best to communicate to them and understand how they progress so you can better schedule and keep in time with that schedule.