I’ve done a lot of work on the use of briefing notes in policy analysis and advice communication over the years – both as a research topic and as a practicing policy analyst – and I’ve often had people ask me for a briefing note template, so I’ve made this one available on Google Docs:

This template is modelled on a standard template used by the British Columbia Government, and additional commentary is based on the work produced by my firm eBriefings.ca, published in a White Paper titled “The Briefing Process in British Columbia” written by Colleen Cunningham. The full Google Docs version contains comments that guide you through the completion of the document. (The preview does not show the guide comments). Further reference to work on the briefing note can be found in another eBriefings White Paper titled “Communication in the Policy Process”.

For some thoughts on writing the “Proposed Options” section of the briefing note, see this post on the topic. For an example of a briefing note ‘for decision’ in the Canadian federal government, see this post.