What Do You Know About Project Charter?

How much do you know about the Project Charter? Have you ever created one for the projects you’ve been managing? Project Charter should be the first document that is created by the project manager prior to the project initiation phase that should be approved by the project sponsor.

Creating a Project Charter might seem to be a minor and irrelevant document but it definitely brings a lot of value and clarity into the project especially in terms of its deliverables, budgeting, authorization and resources.

When a project manager creates a Project Charter this involves planning a project at a high level to understand how feasible it is based on the number of identified constraints. In order to do that a project manager needs to:

• meet with key stakeholders and identify the high-level objectives and expectations;
• determine the high-level scope of the project;
• identify possible risks;
• analyze all assumptions.

This analysis will help to authorize the project for the planning phase and functionality implementation.

Let’s take a look at the Project Charter Template I would offer you to take advantage of below:

Project Charter

1. Project Title and Description

Include high-level descriptive information about the project here. What is the project about, what will it be used for, what value it brings to its stakeholders? What is the expected project scope that will be implemented?

2. Project Manager Assigned and Authority Level

Who will be assigned to lead the project? Who will have the authority to manage and approve any changes to project budget, implementation timeline, staffing, procurement, etc.?

3. Business Case

Why should the project be implemented? How can it be justified financially or commercially? What is the project purpose and what value will it bring to business?

4. Resources Preassigned

How many resources will be provided? Which type of resources is needed and will be provided? Who will be affected by the project or might be affected by the project in terms of the business departments involved in the development activities?

5. Stakeholder Requirements as Known

List all known high-level requirements related to project and product scope here.

6. Product Description/Deliverables

What are the specific product deliverables wanted by the stakeholders? How will the end result of the project look like?

7. Assumptions

List all assumptions you and the team might have regarding the project including:

• existing requirements for the system configuration and network;
• are there any hardware requirements that should be taken into consideration;
• the staff has enough expertise to execute the required work and reach the project objectives;
• project resources will have enough time and are aligned with the project schedule to implement required features.

8. Constraints

What factors may limit the project team’s ability to deliver results? Are there any boundaries for the project team that may become blockers on the way to the project implementation?

9. Measurable Project Objectives

Does the project align with the organization’s strategic goals? List the measurable project objectives that support those goals. What are the delivery milestones?

10. Project Approval Requirements

What items need to be approved for the project delivery? Who will have enough authority to sign off? What is considered to be a successfully executed feature of the project? How will the success be measured?

11. High-Level Project Risks

List all potential threats and opportunities for the project.

12. Project Sponsors Authorizing This Project

It is the project manager who creates the Project Charter but it can be signed off only by the project sponsor.

I hope this template comes in handy for project managers who would like to improve project management processes. Please, share your thoughts if you’ve ever used the Project Charter before and have found practical value in it.