One Page Memo

The proposal for starting a project is the 1-page memo. It should fit on a single page (using a font legible with 50+ eyes!) The format is described below. The length and format are non-negotiable.

1. The Idea. What are you proposing? This is typically one sentence.
2. Background. What conditions have arisen that led you to this recommendation? Only include information that everyone agrees upon in the Background - this is the basis for discussion, so it needs to be non-debatable.
3. How it Works. The details. In addition to How, also What, Who, When, Where.
4. Key Benefits. This is the "Why?" One of the benefits would almost certainly be that the recommended action is on strategy; examples of other benefits is how it improves something we're already doing, how it enables some new service (and which problems this new service solves), or how it will otherwise be of benefit to the PDP group, to our charge from De Nationale eInfra, to our Nikhef physics staff.
5. Next Steps. Who has to do what and by when for this to happen? Make an initial guess at the resource requirements for the project.

Background

The idea is stolen from the Procter and Gamble one-page memo. Some interesting background information can be seen under this link.