Project Briefs app

Project Briefs app by Scoro lets you capture every client brief in one structured record, giving project managers, account managers, and creative leads a single place to work from, from briefing to client sign-off. It replaces briefs that are otherwise scattered across email threads, shared docs, and PDF attachments, and connects them to the projects where the work happens.

This article walks you through how the Project Briefs app works and how to activate, configure, and use it.

1. How the Project Briefs app works

A project brief is a structured record of what a client has asked for: the objective, target audience, key message, mandatory requirements, and deliverables, together with the timing and the current status.

The Project Briefs app by Scoro lets you create one brief for every client request, move it through statuses from drafting to delivery, and record when the client has signed off. Each brief can be linked to the projects and quotes that come out of it, and it shows up on those records, too. The app doesn't change statuses, send notifications, or create projects and quotes on its own, so your team stays in control of every step.

Every team member interacts with the app according to their role:

• Project managers, account managers, and creative leads create briefs, keep their statuses up to date, record client approval, and link briefs to projects and quotes.
• Site administrators set up who can access and manage briefs, and adjust the brief statuses to match your team's terminology.

Key benefits of the Project Briefs app:

• Complete briefs from the start: Dedicated fields for the objective, target audience, key message, mandatories, and deliverables mean that gaps show up when the brief is written, not when work is already underway.
• One shared version of every brief: Every brief lives in Scoro instead of in someone's inbox, a shared doc, or a PDF attachment, with comments and files kept on the brief itself.
• Client sign-off you can see: The Client approval received checkbox on the project brief and the status flow from drafting to completion let you understand at a glance which briefs are ready for work and which are still waiting on the client.
• Briefs connected to your work: Link a brief to the projects and quotes it leads to, so anyone opening a project or quote can see the brief it came from.

2. Activating the Project Briefs app

Site administrators can activate the Project Briefs app:

• From the Scoro App Store – click the Get this app button;
• From your Scoro site – go to Settings > Administration > Plan, add-ons and billing, click the Configure plan button (if your site's on the new pricing plan) or the Manage add-ons button (if your site's on a legacy plan), and enable the Project Briefs app. See the Plan, add-ons and billing article for step-by-step instructions on managing your add-ons.

Once activated, the Project Briefs app will appear on your site menu, and you can start configuring it. At first, it's accessible only to the site administrator who activated it.

3. Configuring the Project Briefs app

Once you've activated the Project Briefs app, we recommend that the site admin does the following configuration steps before your team starts creating briefs:

• Managing the project brief permissions
• Customizing project brief statuses
• Setting up notifications

3.1. Managing the project brief permissions

When you activate the Project Briefs app, it grants full permissions to the permission set of the site admin who enabled it. The admin can customize the app permissions for other permission sets:

1. Go to Settings > Administration > Permission sets and click the Modules and actions button for the permission set you want to modify.
2. Scroll down to the Apps section and enable the Project briefs permission – this is the primary permission that grants access to the Project Briefs module. Granting only the primary Project briefs permission lets users with that permission set project briefs they own, but they cannot modify them or create new ones.
3. If additional project brief module access rights are needed, enable either of these sub-permissions:
   • Add and modify entries – lets users create and modify their own project briefs.
   • View entries of other users – lets users view project briefs owned or created by other site users, but not modify them.
   • Modify entries of other users – lets users modify project briefs owned or created by other site users.
   • Delete entries – lets users delete project briefs created by themselves or other users (if they have permission to modify entries of other users).
4. If the users of that permission set also need to link the project briefs to projects and quotes, ensure that the related project and quote-related permissions are enabled.

For example, you could give account managers, project managers, and creative leads Add and modify entries so they can write and update their own briefs, add View entries of other users and Modify entries of other users for those who need to work on their colleagues' briefs, and keep Delete entries for site administrators only.

For more information about managing user access, see our Permission sets article.

3.2. Customizing project brief statuses

The app comes with the following default statuses, which help your team see at a glance where each brief stands:

• Drafting (default) – the brief is being written and isn't ready for review yet.
• Client Review – the brief or output has been sent to the client and is awaiting feedback.
• Approved – the brief has been reviewed and signed off internally.
• In Production – work on the deliverables is underway.
• On Hold – work has been paused pending a decision or external input.
• Completed – the brief is fully delivered and closed.
• Cancelled – the brief has been abandoned and won't proceed.

You can rename the Drafting status, but you can't deactivate it, as new briefs use it by default. You can rename or deactivate all other statuses, and you can also add new ones. For step-by-step instructions on customizing statuses, see the Statuses article.

3.3. Setting up notifications

The Project Briefs app doesn't come with any default notifications, giving you full control over what you and your team are notified about. You can set up the necessary notifications via triggers and actions:

• Site admins can set up notifications for their team.
• Individual site users can set up their own personal notifications.

For step-by-step instructions on setting up notifications, see the Triggers and actions article.

4. Using the Project Briefs app

• Creating a new project brief
• Linking projects and quotes to a project brief
• Adding comments and files on the project brief
• Updating a project brief and recording client approval
• Deleting a brief
• Customizing the project brief list view

4.1. Creating a new project brief

To create a new project brief:

1. Open the Project Briefs module from the site menu and click the + New button.
   
2. Fill out the details for your project brief:
   • Owner – set the user responsible for the brief. You're set as the owner by default (as you're creating the brief), but you can change it to whichever user is needed if you're creating a project brief for someone else.
   • Nr – the project brief number is applied automatically as a unique number, but you can set it to whatever number is needed.
   • Title – enter the name of the brief. It identifies the brief in the list view.
   • Client – choose the client company the brief is for.
   • Objective – describe the goal the brief is trying to achieve.
   • Target audience – describe who the output is intended for.
   • Key message – enter the core message or proposition to communicate.
   • Mandatories – list the non-negotiable requirements, such as character limits, brand rules, or legal restrictions.
     
   • Start date – choose the date when work on the brief begins.
   • Due date – choose the delivery deadline.
   • Deliverables – describe what needs to be produced. For example, 8 LinkedIn posts, 2 long-form article drafts, and 1 profile banner.
   • Format & specs – enter the technical requirements for the output. For example, plain text and a formatted Word doc, 150–300 words per post.
   • Client approval received – leave this unchecked until the client has formally signed off on the brief.
   • Tags – add any tags that are applicable to your project brief.
3. Set the Status field to reflect the current stage of the brief, and click Save.
   

4.2. Linking projects and quotes to a project brief

Project briefs can be linked to existing projects and quotes:

1. Open the project detailed view and click the Modify details button in the project header.
2. Expand the Custom fields section, select the correct project brief from the Brief field, and click Save.

You can also:

• Link a project brief when creating a new project: Open the Project settings tab in the project modify view, expand the Custom fields section, and select the correct project brief from the Brief dropdown field.
  
• Link a project brief when creating a new quote: In the quote modify view, select the correct project brief from the Brief dropdown field.
  
• Create a new project or a quote from the project brief: Clink the Add button in the Projects (Brief) or Quotes (Brief) section accordingly. The Brief dropdown field will be already pre-selected with that project brief, and you can fill out the rest of the project or quote details yourself before saving.
  

4.3. Adding comments and files on the project brief

Comments and Files sections, where your team can discuss the brief and add supporting files, so that all conversations and assets related to the brief are centralized in a single place.

4.4. Updating a project brief and recording client approval

To update a project brief:

1. Open the Project briefs module and click on the project brief's name to open its detailed view.
2. Click the Modify button and make the necessary changes. As the brief moves through its lifecycle, update its Status accordingly (e.g., from Drafting to Client Review and then Approved). Enable the Client approval received checkbox once the client has signed off, and click Save.

The Project briefs app doesn't change brief statuses automatically, so remember to update them manually. If you'd like your team to be notified about new or updated briefs, set up the notifications with Triggers and actions.

4.5. Deleting a brief

Only users whose permission set includes Delete entries can delete their own or other site users' project briefs, depending on what app sub-permissions are granted for their permission set.

To delete a project brief:

1. In the Project briefs module, click on the name of the project brief you want to delete.
2. Click the Modify button, then click the Delete button, and confirm your choice.

Once deleted, the project brief is removed from your site, along with its comments, but the following items remain on your site:

• The attached files – these remain available in your site's Files module.
• Projects and quotes that were created or linked from the deleted brief – these are not deleted, as only their link to the brief is removed.

4.6. Customizing the project brief list view

The Project briefs module is a list view that includes all the project briefs you've created, plus those created by other users if your permissions allow access.

The project briefs list view shows key details such as the title, client, key message, due date, format & specs, tags, and status. Use the Owner filter to select whose project briefs you want to see, and click the Filters button to access more detailed filters to customize your list: status, tags, creation, modification, start and due dates, number, title, client, and client approval received.

You can also click the View button to access more list view customization options, such as:

• Data columns – click this to choose what data columns you want to display in the project briefs list.
• Sorted by – choose which column to sort the project briefs list by. Most data columns are selectable here.
• Summary bar – click this and select the metrics you want to display in a summary bar above all the listed project briefs. Deselect the metrics to remove the summary bar from your list view.

Learn more about using filters, view options, and sorting data.

5. Project briefs in the project list view

You can also display project briefs in the project list view, so that you have the visibility and access to your project briefs from the project list as well:

1. In the project, click the View button and select Data columns.
2. Enable the Brief data column, drag it to the necessary place in the list view, and click Display.