I’ve been called upon to make various proposals to the head of our group regarding new features and revisions to the online therapy management tool (and associated online marketing materials) that we work on, as well as to complete a “project charter” (new to me) for a major strategic re-alignment of other web properies held by the division. Big stuff, big money; I had better write well.
This represents an opportunity, naturally, to capture in vivo some of my thinking about building such documents. Most important to me lately: what to include in a proposal that will be read by senior management.
Again, expect revisions. This list is likely incomplete, and I hope to make it more solid as I build these proposals and charters.
- The problem
- Briefly state the problem to be solved, the most pertinent items that support your assertion that the problem even exists, and mention why the problem is worth solving. What warrants addressing the situation? Ideally your take on the problem and the value of solving it will include one or more specific metrics that reveal the current failure and suggest how success might be measurably defined.
- The solution: strategy
- Quickly mention the goals of the proposed solution. For example, “Increase visitor conversion by reintroducing key marketing messages regarding data security and privacy to the public-facing website.” This is the time to say what you will do, but NOT how you plan to do it. Ideally you can work into this a bit about how the success or failure of the project will be measured.
- The solution: tactics
- State in general terms the objectives of a project designed to meet the strategic goals. Don’t get too specific. It is probably not essential that you cover all of the possible objectives; hit the high big ones.
- Ancillary stuff
- No doubt you’ve ammassed a fair amount of anecdotal and numeric evidence that supports your claims that there’s a problem worth addressing and that it can be done in a cost-effective manner. Put that very nice supporting material right here in the back, where it won’t get in the way of the harried and/or impatient manager who is reading your proposal.
There are some other points I’ve had to remind myself of repeatedly:
- Write directly, in plain English, using an active voice.
- Imply nothing. If you want the reader to know that you expect your plan to vastly improve user feelings of security, say just that. And then mention why improving user feelings of security is a good idea; what will the measurable result be?
- Avoid cliches, especially business cliches. Strive to remove every cliche from your document. If you find yourself including cliches but don’t want to interrupt yourself or can’t readily think of alternatives, italicize the cliches and keep on writing. Later you can return to the italicized passages and recast sentences to speak more directly.
There will be more of this, provided I have the presence of mind to take notes while I work. Watch this space.
