content-engine.the desk that refuses briefs

Four of these twelve briefs cannot be written from what was handed over.

An agency does not lose money on the briefs it turns down. It loses money on the ones it accepts, spends three weeks on, and then discovers need a customer signature it was never going to get. This desk reads each brief as it arrived, marks what it needs before a word is written, prices the time honestly, and says which dates cannot be promised rather than quietly missing them.

SimulationThe briefs, the sources and the timings are written for this demonstration, and the assessment is real code running in your browser. Nothing is connected to a project board or a client folder. The production build reads the briefs from the board you already use and posts the missing items back as requests on the card.

12Briefs inas they arrived
8Writable nowevery source in hand
4Need a reply firstnot a refusal, a request
3Dates to movethe agreed day is not reachable

The month end close, automated

Needs a reply first

What it has to achieveStart a conversation with finance directors

What it needs before a word is written

  • open

    A subject that exists outside the title

    With no source at all the piece is written from the writer's assumptions, and it will read that way to the audience it is aimed at.

  • open

    Something countable

    A claim without a number behind it is the first thing a reader discounts, and the piece cannot be defended if the client is challenged on it.

  • open

    A person who can be quoted

    Without a named voice the piece has no one behind it, so a case study reads as marketing copy rather than as a report.

  • met

    A customer quote the client is allowed to use

  • open

    A review pass the client has agreed to

    On a piece that speaks for the company, an unsigned review means the version that publishes may not be the version the client approved.

What to ask the client for

  1. Thirty minutes with whoever does this work, recorded
  2. The export or the figure this claim rests on, even a rough one
  3. A named person who will be quoted, and their approval to be named
  4. Confirmation of who approves the draft and by when

The realistic shape of the job

Writer hours
8
Internal lead time
2 days
Client asked for
3 days
Can be promised
4 days

The agreed date is 1 day short of what this needs. The date has to move, and the scope with it.

What was handed over

  • Nothing yet

Try handing something over

Add a source and the assessment is recalculated in front of you.

How the assessment works

What it counts

  • Every brief has to pass four tests before writing starts, and each one carries its consequence.
  • An interview is a person's account, not a figure, so a measured claim still needs a number.
  • Hours come from the words, the channel, the familiarity and the fixed part of the process.
  • The promised date is the internal lead time with slack, never earlier than the client asked.

What it does not claim

  • It does not write anything. It decides what has to be true before writing is worth starting.
  • It does not predict whether the piece will perform, which no desk can know in advance.
  • It does not judge the client. A blocked brief is a request, not a complaint.
  • It does not replace the editor's judgement on a piece that is worth the argument.