We’ve covered a lot of information so far in this course, and all of it will help you improve your technical writing skills in preparation for writing a new client brief.
In Chapter 2, you learned that:
Proper planning is vital to a project’s success.
Agile methodologies can flatten the cost-of-change curve.
The primary objective of all documentation is communication.
Tips for effective writing can be found everywhere, and taking the time to review them and put them into practice in your writing is always worth the effort.
While Chapter 2 focused on the importance of planning and producing effective written communication in general, Chapter 3 focused on how agile methodologies can be applied to documentation to increase value for the customer.
In Chapter 3, you learned that:
An Agilist’s goal is always to produce just-enough documentation. This means documenting just what the stakeholders need, no more and no less.
You give the customer the greatest value when you don't waste resources on producing unnecessary artifacts.
Agile documents are living documents, meaning they are constantly updated as they evolve with the project.
Living documents are like source code, and require living environments. GitHub is a great place to start.
Effective documentation provides value to the reader when it:
Does not bore the reader.
Is clear about what the reader should do after reading.
Is written to a well-formed outline.
Avoids ambiguous pronouns.
Uses illustration coupled with examples for clarity.
Is easily revised.
Chapter 4 introduced you to the concept of document briefs. There you learned that:
A brief is a summary of facts, findings, and objectives intended to provide its reader with a brief, high-level view of a plan, situation, or project.
The four primary types of brief are:
Business requirements brief
Client brief
Creative or design brief
Project brief
The client brief, as part of an agile development project, provides:
A summary of the project the client has requested.
Assurance that the project manager understands exactly what is wanted.
A statement of what is to be delivered.
You are now ready to complete the Part 1 quiz. After completing the quiz, move on to Part 2, where you’ll learn how to prepare an effective client brief by analyzing a client’s needs and how to prepare a stakeholder management plan.
