Today I lost all of my email files. After the moment of disbelief came the crushing feeling of despair. All of my email for the last 10 years was in that database — every project, purchase order, contact, my to-do list, everything for my work life.
We all know it can happen. That is why we have backups. Of course, my backup was more than a few days old. So today I am piecing together the last few days’ messages, rebuilding my task list, and hoping I don’t forget anything (like a co-worker’s birthday or tax filing).
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Memories
As part of the cleaning up and restoring files, I came across an older email from the beginning of a project. It outlined the client’s desire to produce a flyer. We didn’t do it. In the process of talking with the client about why they wanted a flyer, and what they needed to accomplish, it became apparent a flyer was the wrong tool.
Creative briefs
We looked at the goals. Who is the audience? How does the audience prefer to get their information about this topic? When does the audience want the information? The answers to these questions form a simple creative brief: the who, what, how, and when for a project.
The brief in this case identified a better message delivery method — a combination of email and web pages.
Timeline
With the brief as the guiding document we develop a timeline. For this project it was a very simple timeline based on a deadline for message delivery, a starting point, and a few updates along the way. Our timeline allows a few days for web page layout and design, time for crafting the message, and time to gather and prepare the lists.
For larger projects our timelines would have designers, photographers, and other vendors scheduled to bring all the pieces together, meetings and work sessions, and even holidays and vacations.
The beginning and the end
However, all timelines have two things in common — the beginning and the end. For me, I start with the due date and work backwards, giving each step enough time.
Good luck with your projects — I’m going back to cleaning up my email.*
A note
* I must note that this is ‘only’ my individual email client database. Client messages, files and records are stored safely on our server where they are backed automatically onsite and offsite. And one reason we swear by the Basecamp service from 37signals is its capacity to store large production files at the end of a project for ready access from anywhere at any time.
