Create a decision-ready project proposal from my notes. Do not fill gaps with invented estimates, benefits, stakeholder commitments, technical facts, or dates. Mark assumptions and open decisions clearly. Project and problem: [PROJECT AND PROBLEM] Desired outcome and success measures: [OUTCOMES AND METRICS] Scope, constraints, and exclusions: [SCOPE AND CONSTRAINTS] People, dependencies, and approvals: [STAKEHOLDERS AND DEPENDENCIES] Resources, timing, and known costs: [RESOURCES AND TIMELINE] Write a 900-1,200 word proposal for the decision-makers I describe. Use these sections in this order: executive summary; problem and opportunity; proposed approach; scope and out-of-scope items; deliverables; work plan and milestones; roles using a named accountable owner for each deliverable; dependencies and approval gates; budget and resource needs; risks with mitigations; success measures; decision requested. Make the recommendation testable. Each milestone needs an output, owner, target date or date assumption, and acceptance criterion. Separate confirmed costs from estimates. Include a short alternatives section that compares doing nothing, a lower-effort option, and the recommended approach when the notes support it. Do not bury the requested decision in background. Finish with a one-page implementation table containing workstream, owner, start condition, milestone, and status signal. Then list the five most important unanswered questions or assumptions. Before answering, check that scope and success measures align, and flag any milestone that depends on an unnamed owner, unapproved budget, or unresolved external dependency. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [PROJECT AND PROBLEM] | Describe the project, the current problem, affected users, and why it matters now. | Launch a self-serve customer onboarding center because new users open 2.1 support tickets in their first 30 days and setup completion is 61%. |
| [OUTCOMES AND METRICS] | Enter the intended results and how success will be measured. | Raise setup completion to 75% and reduce first-30-day tickets by 20% within two quarters; track analytics events and Zendesk tags. |
| [SCOPE AND CONSTRAINTS] | Enter included work, excluded work, requirements, limitations, and relevant policies. | Include five setup guides, in-app links, and analytics; exclude product redesign and multilingual content; use current help-center platform. |
| [STAKEHOLDERS AND DEPENDENCIES] | Enter sponsors, contributors, approvers, affected teams, and systems or vendors the work relies on. | Sponsor: VP Product; accountable owner: Head of Customer Education; contributors: product marketing, support, engineering; depends on event tracking and legal review. |
| [RESOURCES AND TIMELINE] | Enter known budget, staffing, existing assets, deadlines, and cost estimates. | Eight weeks, 0.5 FTE writer, 40 engineering hours, $6,000 video budget pending approval; desired launch June 30. |
How to use
- Paste notes from discovery, prior plans, budgets, and stakeholder conversations into the five fields.
- Read the decision requested and implementation table first; make sure owners and approval gates are real.
- Replace assumptions with confirmed facts before circulating the proposal.
- Follow up with: “Turn the approved proposal into a weekly status plan with risks, owners, and decision dates.”
Variations
One-page proposal
Use this when an executive needs a fast approval document.
Turn my notes into a one-page project proposal for an executive decision. Use headings for problem, recommendation, expected outcome, resource ask, key risks, and decision needed. Keep it under 550 words and put the request in the first and last sections. State assumptions as assumptions; do not invent ROI or dates. [PROBLEM] [RECOMMENDATION] [EXPECTED OUTCOMES] [RESOURCE ASK] [CONSTRAINTS]
Technical proposal
Use this when engineering or IT must assess an implementation.
Write a technical project proposal from the notes below. Include context, user and system requirements, proposed architecture at a conceptual level, interfaces and data considerations, rollout plan, observability, security or compliance considerations, risks, and decision points. Use a table for dependencies and owners. Do not invent system behavior, security controls, or capacity figures. [BUSINESS PROBLEM] [CURRENT SYSTEM] [REQUIREMENTS] [TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS] [TEAM AND TIMELINE]
Client proposal
Use this when proposing scoped work to a client.
Draft a client-facing project proposal that defines a clear engagement. Include objectives, deliverables, client responsibilities, phased timeline, assumptions, out-of-scope work, change-control process, fee structure supplied by me, and acceptance criteria. Use neutral contract-ready language but do not give legal advice or invent terms. Flag terms that should be reviewed by counsel. [CLIENT NEED] [DELIVERABLES] [CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES] [TIMELINE] [FEES AND TERMS]
Tips
- Write the decision requested as a sentence someone can approve, such as funding a named phase by a date, not as “feedback requested.”
- Give each deliverable one accountable owner; listing a department or several co-owners often hides an execution gap.
- Put exclusions in writing early because they prevent later scope disputes more effectively than a broad goal statement.
- Use acceptance criteria that can be observed, such as a published guide set passing legal review, rather than “complete onboarding content.”
FAQ
How detailed should a project proposal be?
Use enough detail for the audience to approve scope, resources, and risk. Put operational detail in an appendix or implementation plan when executives only need the decision.
Should a proposal include alternatives?
Yes when there is a meaningful choice. A brief comparison demonstrates why the recommended path fits the constraints.
Can AI create a timeline for me?
It can organize a timeline from your dependencies, but the owners must validate dates, capacity, and approval lead times.