Briefing notes
A briefing note is usually written for someone else who requires concise background information on an issue or situation. Senior officers use briefing notes to prepare for meetings, conferences or similar events. The Director-General and Assistant Director-General both use briefing notes to prepare for meetings with ministers of Member States, ambassadors and other dignitaries. Briefing notes are often part of the preparation for high-level strategic discussions. However, they may also be used in more administrative settings: for example, a briefing note might make it possible for a manager to explain a complex new finance procedure to individuals who must use the procedure.
Typically the briefing note outlines an issue or situation, analyses the issues involved and offers solutions. The briefing note must provide just enough background for the reader to understand the situation, and should cover only the main issues to be addressed. Briefing notes may be as short as a few sentences, and typically are no longer than one page. Briefing notes never include details, nor do they include references. Your reader relies on you; that is, he or she must trust that there is supporting information for the points covered in the note even though that information is not included.
Each briefing note you write represents an opportunity to showcase information (e.g., findings of a study, successes of a programme), highlight the main points of a strategy or argument (e.g., recommendations) or focus attention on a particular programme or problem (e.g,. in conjunction with a funding proposal) or focus attention on a new process or procedure (e.g., new reporting requirements or administrative policies).