5 Secrets of Creating a Technical Brief Any Specialist Will Handle Perfectly: SEOquick

If you've ever hired an employee for project work, you've certainly stipulated the requirements and wishes for its completion.

Did you get the result you were counting on? If your answer is "yes", then congratulations — the tasks were set correctly and the contractor understood you perfectly.

If, however, you answered "no", keep reading the article and you'll understand how you can improve the technical brief for the contractor so that in the end you get the results you need.

To begin with, let me suggest figuring out what a technical brief (TB) is.

A TB is a document that clearly spells out the requirements for completing the work and that is approved bilaterally: both by the customer and the contractor.

It's a legal document that is attached to the contract for the performance of certain works.

Very often a technical brief is drawn up for a freelance specialist — a person you may never speak to in person, but discuss the terms of cooperation online.

Let's figure out in which spheres there are many freelance workers:

As you can see, practically any business sphere is suitable for hiring remote employees.

But finding a qualified contractor is half the battle, while describing the task to them so that they understand and complete everything clearly and with minimal edits is the main thing.

And here you can't do without a technical brief.

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TOP-5 reasons customers refuse to draw up a TB

Are you still used to working "verbally": not writing out a TB, but resolving everything in a 5-minute phone conversation?

I'll bet that you associate the poor quality of the work with the contractor's lack of qualification, and not with the absence of a TB.

This chapter is exactly for you.

Despite the fact that we live in an era of simplification and abandonment of bureaucratic procedures, you shouldn't neglect drawing up technical briefs for your contractors.

Let's break down the TOP-5 reasons customers refuse to draw up a TB:

1. "I don't even know what it is and how to draw up this TB of yours"

This article was written especially for you. Also, for beginners in drawing up a TB there's an alternative option.

Practically every freelancer has a brief — a questionnaire that gives an idea of the work and the requirements.

By filling out the brief in detail, you can kill two birds with one stone: both give the contractor a precise understanding of what is wanted from them, and write your first ever technical brief — the main thing being to make it as detailed as possible.

2. "Why complicate your life? We'll quickly discuss everything by phone and keep working"

This is a road to nowhere. Firstly, you won't have a file with all the requirements you place on the contractor.

Secondly, memory is a very treacherous thing. You (or, even worse, the contractor) may simply forget everything you asked for during the conversation.

On top of that, you have no guarantee that the employee you're hiring for project work will be located near you and able to come to an organizational meeting.

The world is gradually shifting to remote work.

Your contractor may be on the other side of the ocean, and correspondence discussing all the work-related details sometimes lasts for months.

Unlike a TB, which is drawn up in half an hour and requires no explanations.

3. "I don't have time for all this bureaucracy"

In fact, the technical brief is needed only by you. After all, the contractor doesn't care whether their work will be selling, whether it will increase the recognition of YOUR brand.

This is your project, your responsibility, and your face, so it's worth finding a little time to get the result you want and, in the long run, achieve the goals you've set for yourself.

4. "We worked before without any TBs and everything was fine"

Here there are only 2 options: either you got incredibly lucky, or your views coincide 100% with the contractor's vision.

In both the first and the second case, I recommend not losing the contractor, because this happens very rarely.

5. "First I need to know the price of the work, not send the TB to everyone in a row"

No contractor will be able to name you an exact price if they don't know the details of the work.

For example, you're looking for a person to write a text and you request a price.

The topic, length, requirements for uniqueness, semantic load — all this affects the cost of the text.

That's why I recommend sending the TB to all candidates for the contractor role. This way you'll get prices, and the contractors, in turn, will know whether the task is feasible for them or not.

I hope I was able to convince you of the necessity of drawing up a technical brief.

It's worth setting aside half an hour once, so as not to spend days later on making edits.

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How to correctly draw up a technical brief

A great deal depends on the correctness of drawing up the TB.

Both the quality of the work, and the state of the nervous system of the customer and the contractor, and the deadlines for completing the work.

Our brief checklist will help you prepare an effective technical brief.

It seems that there's no universal way to draw up a clear technical brief. And that's really true.

But there are certain characteristics inherent in all competently drawn-up briefs: both for copywriters, and for designers, and even for website creators.

What is a good technical brief like?

1. Clearly formulated

In the TB the customer must indicate as clearly as possible which goals and tasks are set before the contractor.

If you want to order a logo, then you need to spell out everything: the shape, color, text, and goal (to sell, to attract attention, etc.).

You can't write "Task — create a logo for a flower shop", because a bunch of questions immediately arise, with which the contractor will bombard you throughout the entire cooperation.

2. Described in detail

Don't be afraid of overdoing the details — write about everything you want. In this case it's better to "over" than to "under".

Don't forget that the contractor doesn't work in your company (if we're talking about outsourcing), they aren't familiar with all the products, with your target audience, and the company's global goals.

3. Containing examples

Provide examples of work. If we're talking about copywriting, send the text you like in terms of writing style, similar in topic, or that you've already published on your blog.

4. Giving room for creativity

Every person has their own unique vision and, who knows, perhaps your contractor's ideas will be to your liking as well?

Be open to the new and unusual, and then you'll get a cool product.

5. Filled with illustrations, infographics, and screenshots

It's no secret that most people are visual learners, which means they more easily perceive information presented in the form of charts and drawings.

This works in a TB too. Try to reduce the "filler" and create as visual and clear a brief as possible.

To make drawing up a technical brief easier, let me offer you a universal template that will help you write a technical brief for a contractor in a structured and clear way:

1. Introduction

Give general information about your project and the upcoming work.

Provide the information that will help understand what the contractor will be dealing with.

2. The overall goal of the task

Describe what results you want to achieve after the contractor completes the work.

For example, if we're talking about a task for a copywriter: "The task of the text is to keep people in the subscription base and sell educational products non-aggressively".

3. Requirements for completing the work

Describe in detail how you want the task to be completed.

Each point should be written separately and numbered, so that it's easier to refer to later.

For example, in a TB for a designer:

• Logo size 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm.
• Colors red and yellow.
• Text on the logo "BeautyDom", font Arial size 16.

These are the main points that will make your TB much clearer to the contractor.

Also, don't forget about feedback. Try to answer all questions about completing the work.

Remember, the clearer the brief is for the contractor, the better the result you'll get.

And if you want to check the level of professionalism of your contractor in choosing headlines, then especially for you we created the free utility "Headline Quality Calculator", which will be useful both to SEO optimizers and to specialists in setting up contextual advertising.

Analyzing technical briefs for specialists of different profiles

All explanations are perceived much better through real-life examples.

Let me suggest visually looking at good and bad technical briefs.

1. A technical brief for a copywriter

As you can see, in the first case the customer gave the contractor freedom of action — write about whatever you want.

In such a "however you want" format, there are no requirements for the structure of the text.

On the one hand, there's room for the copywriter's imagination to run wild, but on the other, they may write something completely different from what the customer wants to get.

2. A technical brief for a designer

As is evident from this example, having the basic data about the company and a competently drawn-up TB, the designer is more likely to create a calendar that the customer will like.

To demonstrate the importance of a correct TB for a designer, I present to you the logo of the Swedish real estate company "Locum". If you know English, you'll understand all the horror and indecency of this logo:

3. A TB for website development

This example is the most extensive, because creating a site from scratch is no easy task.

As you can see, you can and should add many more details to a technical brief: the physical address, phone numbers, and a folder with the master's work.

But I wanted to show you in general terms what information needs to be indicated when drawing up a TB, so I didn't spell out each point in detail.

An example of bad website design is demonstrated by the "Worst website in the world":

An abundance of pictures, various fonts and colors – all this makes the site unreadable and unpleasant to the eye.

And do you still think a site can be created without a clearly drawn-up TB?

Recommended reading:

1. 3 Tasks the 2ip.ru Portal Will Help Solve, and Its 22 Useful Functions
2. How to Add a Site to Catalogs, the Selection Algorithm, and 8 Tips from a Pro

What a poorly drawn-up TB threatens

We've already talked about the advantages of technical briefs for contractors.

We found out why refusing to draw up a TB is an excuse.

What a poorly drawn-up TB threatens, read on.

If you still think that a poorly drawn-up TB threatens only a multitude of edits during the work process, then you're very much mistaken, and now I'll tell you why.

Possible consequences of a poorly drawn-up technical brief:

1. Financial losses

Every specialist values their time and labor. So when you write a TB any old way and then make a multitude of edits, be ready to pay for your whims.

But if you spell out all the requirements and wishes right away, you can fit within the initially agreed budget (as a rule, the first 3-5 edits are included in the cost of the work).

2. Reputational risks

This point is clearly demonstrated by such a situation: you order a website for your law firm and write a "raw" TB.

The designers do everything at their own discretion, so the site turns out to be far from official in style, and the texts are written in the format of a chat with a girlfriend.

When potential clients see your site, they form not the best opinion of the company — overly casual address in the texts is not to everyone's liking.

It would seem there's no fault of yours at all. Isn't it clear that lawyers are serious people, and the site should be appropriate?

But what happened, happened, and in the end you lost clients.

3. Time losses

Making edits takes time, and time is reputation and money.

If you're ready to wait and be patient while the contractor makes all the necessary edits (and this can be slow), then you don't have to bother with a technical brief.

If not, spend the effort and time on drawing up a competent TB, and then you'll get the result you're counting on.

I think each of the scenarios described above is not too pleasant, because no one wants to lose clients, sales, and profit just because of a poorly drawn-up TB and, accordingly, work performed poorly by the contractor.

And the main thing – don't forget about the clarity of stating your requirements, because every person perceives the very same thing in completely different ways:

Conclusions

There's no longer any need to talk about the importance of a technical brief.

If you collaborate with outsourced specialists, then sooner or later you'll face the task of drawing up a technical brief.

Even if your first TB turns out not too successful and clear to the contractor, don't get upset and don't give up on this endeavor.

The main advantages of a TB are:

• universality (it works in different spheres);
• reliability (in any conflicts between the parties, you can read the terms on which the work was originally built);
• making life easier for both the customer and the contractor (the former immediately spells out all their requirements, and the latter can reread the text at any moment and find answers to many questions).