THE CONTENT STRATEGY TOOLKIT - Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right

Sep 12, 2026

A practical guide for getting content right from the outset of a content project, focusing on charter and project-planning elements that align teams. It provides word-and-phrase definitions for shared vocabulary, outlines how to structure timelines and budgets, and explains how to manage vendors, internal resources, and approvals. It also details team roles, a review process for deliverables, communication cadences, and planning approaches. The toolkit includes examples such as a project team matrix and sample status-review expectations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right

Timeline

Budget

Project Team

Review Process

Communication

Planning

Timelines

Strategic Alignment Summary Due

THE CONTENT STRATEGY TOOLKIT Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for GETTING CONTENT RIGHT MEGHAN CASEY Foreword by Kristina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy for the Web THE CONTENT STRATEGY TOOLKIT Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for GETTING CONTENT RIGHT MEGHAN CASEY To help set things straight from the beginning, include in your charter or project management plan a list of words and phrases and their deﬁnitions for the project at hand. I’ve been working on a project for a site that’s being built with Drupal (which I love) . Drupal’s deﬁnition of module is way diﬀerent than my outward-facing content deﬁnition. Some of my conversations with the development team were challenging until we agreed on how we’d use the word “module” moving forward. TIMELINE The timeline doesn’t need tobe super detailed at this point. I usually just include the project start date, end date, and key dates or timeframes in between, such as times people should expect to review work in progress. Later, as you ﬂesh out the timeline in more detail, you can append it to the charter (or electronically store it somewhere that’s accessible to everyone) . BUDGET I like to include a little information about budget to help people understand the relative size of the project. A lot of the project charters I’ve come across don’t include budget information because it’s not information that’s shared broadly. So it’s really up to you. If you’re hiring someone from the outside to do most of the work, you could just include the total budget for the work. If you’re doing the work internally, I suggest listing the number of hours you’re estimating it will take for each person or team. If it’s a combination of outside consultants and internal resources, you could do both. You’ll want to include details about how the budget will be managed and how requests for additional hours or budget will be handled. So your budget section might look something like this: The monetary budget for this project is $\#\#\#,\#\#\# for , which includes . Internal resources will also be used, and are estimated as follows: Team 1, 200 hours; Team 2, 40 hours; Team 3, 68 hours. will provide a weekly summary of completed tasks and remaining budget. Internal resources will also summarize how many hours they’ve used each week. You will discuss any requests for more time or dollars in your weekly status meetings. PROJECT TEAM Use the charter or management plan to identify the project players and what will be expected of them throughout the project. You can use a matrix similar to the stakeholder matrix, but with fewer people and details. For example, you don’t have to include every stakeholder—instead include only the ones who will have day-to-day involvement in the project. I usually include an overview of day-to-day team members with job descriptions. Then I create a matrix of tasks, such as managing the work, scheduling and performing logistics activities, doing the work, reviewing the work, and coordinating reviews and feedback from other stakeholders. Table 5.1 is an example of some tasks in a typical project team matrix. TABLE 5.1 SAMPLE PROJECT TEAM MATRIX | Discovery
Schedule stakeholder interviews. | | X | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Conduct stakeholder interviews. | | X | X | | Work with stakeholders to gather existing documentation. | X | | | | Create content inventory. | | X | | | Prepare Strategic Alignment Summary. | | X | X | | Review Strategic Alignment Summary. | X | X | | | Coordinate the review process with other
stakeholders, and compile feedback. | X | | | REVIEW PROCESS Consider including a short paragraph about how your review process for project deliverables will work. What I ﬁnd most important to include here from an outside consultant perspective is details about how I would like to receive feedback. I set an expectation that my client will

FAQs

Why include a list of words and phrases with definitions in a project charter?

It sets shared vocabulary early, preventing misunderstandings between content and development teams and ensuring consistent use of key terms throughout the project.

What should a timeline communicate at an early stage?

Include start and end dates plus key review milestones or timeframes so stakeholders know when to expect progress checks before later refinement.

How should review feedback be coordinated during the project?

Clients should compile and resolve conflicting stakeholder feedback before sending it forward, with additional tooling or procedures (e.g., using Basecamp comments) when applicable.

Sep 12, 2026

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