Working to a Brief LO1

Alan Smith

Contractual BriefDefinition- A company signs an agreement to complete a task within a specific time

period for a set amount of money. The brief contains the duties required and how the business will approach them. The brief contains all vital information such as how much the business will get paid from the client and they are encouraged to understand exactly what they need to do.

Advantages- Advantages are that you have less risk of getting something wrong if you assign another person or company with that skill set to do the project, this is because they have experience in dealing with those kinds tasks. Thus meaning you as the company can have spare time to focus on another part of the business that needs assessing. Another advantage is that as the business has a more of an understanding of the project, they can have more control over the full process.

Disadvantages- Disadvantages are that the client and company may have different ideas on what they want on the contract, and may result in argument or maybe even disturbing the project over the long.

Here is an example of a contractual agreement. It is clear that there is two spaces for both parties to sign.

The contract includes all the conditions that you must read before signing, this is often in a smaller font to other writing.

Many contracts start with an explanation of what this document represents and for long this will be valid for.

Many contracts, like this are set in a very formal manner and explain every detail about what the two parties are agreeing.

After the contract is signed and dated, if you are found to go against the terms or conditions you can be held for ‘breach of contract’

Formal BriefDefinition- This is the negotiation between the client and the business that is part of

an official discussion on what the product is and how they want it to made and when by. This discussion contains only a slight insight to what is needed and should the business need more then the information given then they will get that at a later date.

Advantages- Advantages of having a Formal brief is that should there be any disagreement then there is an official document to back your claim up and evidence of wrong doing. This therefore reduces risk. Also having it all on paper can help you when you are unsure on what exactly you need to do, meaning that it reduces the risk of producing the wrong product for the client and stopping yourself for being liable to any mistakes.

Disadvantages- Disadvantages of having a formal brief is that it may take up a lot of time. If the contract is not read properly this may result in misunderstanding on what you have to do and you may go off task, meaning time and resources will be wasted and you may not get paid by the client.

Informal BriefDefinition- This is a verbal conversation that is done face to face with

the two parties. There is no legal agreement or any signing documents of real importance, meaning a gentleman's handshake will be the only thing that has happened to an extent.

Advantages- Advantages are that you do not have to carry on with the idea if you get second thoughts as nothing is legally tying you down to the project, this is because there is no evidence in doing business with the other party. However if the company and client know each other, such as a musician and a photographer then they could both receive benefits without having to spend time and resources making it formal and relaxed environment in which they are negotiating can help them decide on how the task that need to be done in a much better way than a formal meeting around a table.

Disadvantages- Disadvantages that are seen with an Informal brief is that there is a lot of risk, you do not have much security that the other party will go through with the deal. Also as nothing is confirmed on paper the date on which you want the product to be done by may be interpreted differently from both client and company. Thus meaning more disagreement can occur as it is very unclear in the approach. As can there is no clear understanding on what to do it is seen as very unorganised and not a good way to do business.

There is not any signing of documentation when the brief is informal and the parties just rely on peoples word.

Co-Operative Brief

Definition- A Co-Operative Brief is where two businesses work together to complete a product or service for a client. These two businesses would be required to work together and solve any issues or disagreements by submitting a negotiated brief to later be submitted. This is the only brief where there is more than one business signing on with the client.

Advantages- Advantages of having a Co-Operative brief would be that you have more people on the product meaning more ideas to bounce from each business. Also you have much more room for delegation and can provide the tasks to much more employees, thus meaning getting the product created on time if not before schedule which would please the client.

Disadvantages- Disagreement would be one disadvantage to having two different businesses but also the payment, having more people would mean that you would pay a lot more for the product to be done and may get the same outcome from just one party alone.

Negotiated BriefDefinition- This is seen as very similar to the formal brief however as the name suggests, negotiation

is involved from many parties involved, if more than two companies have been brought in they will need to compromise so all everyone involved is pleased. Negotiation can be on anything about the product such as the content or style to the legal obligations that may be seen.

Advantages- Advantages can be that relations between the companies can be seen as strong meaning they can work together better for the product, meaning it would be of much better quality then that of something where disagreement is involved. As this kind of brief is quick it can be resolved with time left for the product as meeting the deadline is important. Doing business such as a negotiated brief can have huge positives by only using such little time in the product. Should a compromise be met then future business may happen with the companies.

Disadvantages- Disadvantages of a negotiated brief could be that a very good idea about the product or task may be missed if one business is strongly against it and eventually over ruled through compromise and trying to please one another. Again as it is not usually face to face discussion there is no evidence of having reached an agreement and one business may still go off task and both parties will be held responsible resulting in not getting paid by the client.

This is an example of a Negotiation brief. Here two businesses come together to decide how to progress forward.

It is often very formal with notes made and phone calls to other members of your business occurring.

Both parties must agree on the same product if they are to successfully complete the task, therefore it is important to make sure you pitch your ideas well and try make the other business compromise.

It is set in a formal manner, however nothing is signed nor agreed on paper. These just consist of meetings or phone calls.

Commission BriefDefinition- This is where a large business hires a smaller one to make a product for them. The brief is

negotiated between both businesses and not anyone else. Should the larger business want then they could use the product or give it to an external business. An example can be ITV the broadcasting Television channel hiring a small film company to make a short TV series to be filmed on their channel.

Advantages- Advantages of having a commission brief is that you as a smaller business have a say and can progress with your idea without it being completely stolen by the client. Taking commission off each time the Film is aired would mean it can provide the small business with heavy income and can result in them expanding at a later date. Compensation may be claimed if the film is used by anyone else should the smaller business sign the appropriate papers when dealing with ITV in this example.

Disadvantages- Should the small business not read any documents given to them before signing they may be giving away there product and it may be used globally without them getting a cut of the profits received. To go with the example, should ITV get all the rights for the films then they can sell them onto external clients around the world with their connections and can make a lot of money. This brief is put in place to prevent that and give the small business doing the making of the product a chance.

Tender BriefDefinition- This is where a client publishes that it wants something doing, leaving many businesses

to come and pitch for the placement. The pitch will include the budget and proposal on what they can offer. The client then gets to choose from several options and finding one or maybe multiple businesses for the product to be made.

Advantages- Advantages are that it is a very relaxed and calm approach. This can be a very useful way in getting a good deal as the companies come to them. This is because the companies will pitch against each other and only the best offer will win, leaving the client in a position where they get a much better deal such as price being the lowest possible for the quality they want, and the time margins they are dealing with will be much more slim then they first thought.

Disadvantages- Ultimately you may not be chosen to do the task by the client should your pitch not be good enough or competitors can offer a better deal. Thus meaning time has been used without any result and could hinder your performance in your own running of a business. Disadvantages of setting up a tender brief as a client would be that you will only have a small period of time to listen to what each business offers and you may not get some vital information, leaving you choosing a business that may not be right for your product. Using a tender brief and letting several people propose and idea may be less efficient t then finding one business and thoroughly going through the process.

Competition BriefDefinition- This is where a brief is made available for everyone participating. A

competition brief is where multiple businesses complete a product for the client with only one winner being found out at the end. This is often a free to enter competition which is used by smaller businesses or groups of people. The brief is used to clients trying to promote competitions. The brief is always written so it is clear to understand and the people taking part know exactly who and how many to target the work at. The detail to the brief has to be concise as the people taking part need to know how they want it done for the client.

Advantages- Advantages are that the client only has to pay the winning business. This has advantages on both sides as the winning group will get recognition for their product and the client will get it for relatively cheap and fit for purpose.

Disadvantages- Disadvantages are that you may not be picked as the winning group, meaning a waste in resources and time.

These are examples of Competition briefs. It is clear that they are very detailed, usually free and encourage freedom to explore in that field. They always have a contact number or address as well as a submission date for when the project needs to be sent in by.

As you can see the text has to be concise as there is not a lot of space and needs to look appealing.

Competition briefs are used to advertise a position needed, however they do not have as much detail as a tender brief.

They are often very time consuming and like tender briefs, only one can win the prise from the client.

The briefs are bright and vibrant as well having images of that appropriate task. These are to grab your attention first, then give you a slight indication on what needs to be done and how to do it.

My Brief Which type of brief is being used in the recipe card project? Explain your response.

A Co-operative brief is being used as two people from different businesses will be combining to produce the recipe cards for the client. It is an Informal brief however is set out in a very formal manner such as the layout and content of the text. No documents have been signed nor has any face to face action happened from both the client and the businesses which means it will a less professional project but still needs the same input and hard work to be put in.

The task may be considered to be part of a competition brief as many other groups will be participating in it, and only one can be chosen to be used by the client. The brief has no evidence of a contractual agreement meaning the project can be interpreted differently following the guidelines on the sheet given. As it will be a Co-Operative brief there will be a lot of negotiation and compromise but also a huge amount of ideas to spring board into some very good recipe cards.

Reading the Brief

Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?

It is important to read the brief well as you may miss some vital information that will have to be included in the product you are making, without doing this it may result in not getting paid for your services.

If there is some contractual agreement later on during the project then it is important that everything is read and understood as you may be signing to be liable for any bad produce.

If you do not read exactly what the client wants then you are more likely to produce something that does not correspond with their way of thinking. Such as the vegetarian recipe cards, if you do not read that no meat should be used you may use your discretion to add food that is frowned at by the person employing you. Thus meaning you may insult them and lose the task or any future business.

Reading the Brief What is the nature of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief? It has been asked that the two businesses work together to make a set of recipe cards for the

vegetarian society. These should be bright and adventurous ideas for either existing vegetarians or new ones that want to see new alternatives to what they are eating. The final product should meet exactly what is put down on the brief and follow all the instructions. This is expected to be finished within nine weeks from starting and can talk to the client during the process for extra information or questions.

What is the demand of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?

The demand for the project is that of a lot of hard work from both businesses to meet the deadline of nine weeks. As not many people will be employed it will mean that time management will have to be quick and the schedules for meeting certain tasks will be brought more forward in order to stay on course, such as the two week deadline for making the cards will be just under 10 days so there is time to show the client what has been done so far leaving a contingency to go back and change should it not be what they want.

Negotiating a Brief Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production?

It is important to discuss the brief with the client prior to production of the product because if you have gone off task and interpreted the brief wrong you may waste a lot of time and resources such as material and machines on making the wrong product. If you speak to the vegetarian society before you make the recipe cards then you can get a full understanding of what they need meaning it can benefit you in making what they want.

Also if you have had any new ideas since the brief was first given you can share them with the client and see if they approve to the changes, if there is no discussion this may be seen as not going with what was set and public relations may be affected with the two parties as well the task being lost, and as no contract has been signed, it can be easy to stop business and drop you from making the recipe cards. If the recipe cards don’t match the brief you don’t get paid, so any alterations should be acknowledged by the buyer.

Negotiating a Brief What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?

Advantages of employing discretion are that it encourages a creative side to your work rather than some simple produce. Also Freedom to explore within the task is good as this means you can add your personal style to the product meaning more ideas and as you are the expert rather than a client with little experience you can do what you know best rather than following orders.

Disadvantages of employing discretion are that it is too open and some businesses may take it too far and go way off task, leaving the client not happy. Misinterpreting the brief is not a very good idea as this is what holds the payment from the client to the business and not meeting what is put can have mean a waste of resources for no reason.

Negotiating a Brief Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the Vegetarian Society brief’s proposed product?

Examples of potential issues can be ideas such as religious conflict with some of the food used, maybe some cultures do not approve of the alternatives given and may be part of some sacred community, it is important to see other peoples views on what you are making. Also using organic and fair trade goods are encouraged as it helps support the minority in third world countries rather than the cheaper alternative in supermarkets. (This however can be a problem due to the limited budget for the project and may not be able to afford a more ethical option)

Copyright issues that can occur are the design of the product, this is seen in the brief to be your own and not that of another person’s taken off the internet. Also another major issue of copyright is that of Recipe theft and stealing another persons measurements and claiming it to be yours, this is not as common as a design theft but still as severe in the consequences. Finally another major part in copyrighting is that of image theft and that of taking photographs from another person. The brief does state that you can use other images that are not yours, however you must state the source and reference where you took it from somewhere in the work.

Race discrimination can be looked into, should the business choose to do a certain theme for the recipe cards, when looking at doing a certain nationality or location then it should be noted that being prejudice can not be accepted. For example the names of the dishes, if they offend the people that may see them then it is not a good idea. Themes such as best of British vegetarian dishes or a many different countries.

Negotiating a BriefAmendments you have considered to;The Product- The product can not be made in two weeks by two people so as the time scale is not

negotiable then more people must be brought in to help on the design and making of the cards.

As there will not be enough budget to hire a professional photographer, the businesses will need to use images taken off the internet, leaving a chance that copyright is looked into. This is will be stated that the images are not our own.

The Budget- The budget does not have to alter however the time taken may be a little longer than expected as the product will have to be done independently rather than getting experts involved in the production. Thus meaning the cards may not be as of a high quality as first expected, which could result in sales. However this is unlikely as the cards and ingredients used will be of a high standard.

The Conditions- As not being paid what we expected for the project, the amount of people hired will be changing, it has been decided that a smaller group of people can handle the work load and be able to produce the work to the deadline with more reward. A exact number in employees will be figured out before any contract is signed.

OpportunitiesWhat opportunities could this brief allow you to explore? Be specific with your responses. Thisbrief is quite different to others you have come across and offers lots of new experiences. Checkthe unit overview to help you with this. Self Development- Working to an actual real life brief and client rather than all theory based. This can help get an

understanding of what it is like when working in this job and how it is expected to be handled. This work done through this project can be added to any port folio as it is demonstrating a good understanding of following instructions and sticking to what is wanted from you.

Learning new skills- New Skills can be learnt such as working in teams, time management and keeping to deadlines. Other briefs do not offer the chance to actually create a product. Therefore skills learnt can be that of learning a variety of media, helping get a better understanding of how the industry works. Keeping to a deadline is a good skill and not something that can come easy, once this is understood then the media can be considered to be easy. Meeting a deadline not only means you are reliable, it means you are organised and know what is needed from you. This skill can help in the future, not just media jobs.

Multi-skilling- Multi-skilling that has happened is that of being trained to work quickly and efficiently, as well as learning specialist terms that occur in briefs that are given to you. Also have learnt to do own work required as well as organising and advising other people in the group working on the task with you. Over the project I have learnt to multi- task on many tasks to save time.