Çağla KAAN
19.10.2022What You Need to Know About Project Charter
The 'project charter' is actually an official document stating that the project has actually started and has been implemented.
“ The project charter is considered necessary for every project, regardless of the activity area and sector. In this article, we will talk about the preparation of this document, its inputs and how it should be prepared.“
What You Need to Know About Project Charter
The 'project charter' is actually an official document stating that the project has actually started and has been implemented. It is not quite right to talk about the existence of a project officially before the document is created and published by the sponsor.
The project charter is considered necessary for every project, regardless of the activity area and sector. In this article, we will talk about the preparation of this document, its inputs and how it should be prepared.
Preparation of Project Charter
A project charter is a document that should be intended to prepare an officially approved document and to meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders at a high level at the starting point.
The project charter is prepared by the 'project manager on behalf of the project sponsor', with the knowledge of the project sponsor. It is approved and published by the project sponsor. The project manager has the power to run the project because of this document. In this way, the project manager ensures the realization of the project by using the company's facilities, possibilities and resources.
Thanks to this document, the project manager; It ensures that all stakeholders involved in the project are informed, communicated with the stakeholders, and the aim, target, scope of the project, which is still in the first step of the project, the benefits of the project, and also its high-level requirements and risks are fully understood. Moreover, the link on whether the project has achieved the strategic goals of the organization is easily accessible.
What Are the Inputs of the Project Charter?
The information known as input is required for the project manager to generate the project initiation document. In light of this information, the project manager can create the project starting document. The required information and brief explanations are listed below.
- Project Statement of Work (SOW):It is the descriptive definition of the product or services to be delivered at the end of the project. To meet the business requirement, it may be necessary to meet a demand, create a new opportunity, etc. Within the scope of the product; the need of the job, the product scope definition and distinguishing characteristics of the product should be specified. In furthermore, it should be noted that the proposed project is consistent with the company's strategic objectives.
- Business Case: It contains the information necessary to determine whether the project is worth the investment. Information such as market demand, customer’s need, social need, technical progress, legal obligations, and so on should be provided.
- Agreements/Contracts:It is the creation of the agreement document in case your project is made outside of your company. This document will provide you with information on the project.
- Environmental Operating Factors:Any factor that can affect your project and is beyond the control of your project team. These factors consist of your company or external factors.
- Organizational Process Assets:We can explain that the standards within your company for the project's execution. We can use terms like templates, lessons learnt, methods, etc. as examples.
How should the Project Charter be?
The project charter is the initial stage of the project and should be in summary form. Moreover, it should be prepared as a document containing high-level information. Therefore; it should be written in concise, short, understandable and clear expressions.
It should not be forgotten that the project charter will serve as input for the "project management plan" that will be developed in the following phase of the project. In the project management plan, the summary information stated in the project charter will be expressed in greater detail.
Which Information Should Be in the Project Charter?
As is common knowledge, every project possesses its own unique qualities. Every organization starts a new project in its own unique way. As a result, the titles included in the project charter are subject to change based on the characteristics of both the organization and the project. On the other hand, in order to make the project charter easy to read, we can condense the necessary information into the following summary:
- Name and Surname Information of the Project Sponsor and Project Manager,
- Project Code, Project Name and Information of the Project's Customer,
- Project’s Start and End Date (Duration) if there is Warranty Information,
- Summary Description of the Project, Main Objective, Summary Rationale,
- Critical Success Factors,
- High Level Project Risks, Risk Mitigation Plan and Impact/Probability Information,
- Information on Stakeholders,
- Information on the Project Budget,
- Project Acceptance Requirements,
- Milestones of the Project,
- Product/Products to be Delivered at the End of the Project (Delivery)
In order to make the project charter more visually understandable, I would like to share the table that I have prepared as an example.
In summary,the project charter is an official document containing information about a project. Regardless of the activity area, the project charter should be prepared by the project manager for the project planned to be carried out in every sector. In this document, the purpose, objective, scope, benefits, high-level requirements and risks of the project are mentioned. This document, which is prepared as a summary with concise, short, understandable expressions, provides information for the project management plan to be created in the next process. Although every project is unique, a good project plan should include the following elements: a description of the project, the project's sponsor and manager, the project's code, date, promotion, restriction, assumption, risk, target, budget, acceptance requirements, exit criteria, success criteria, milestones, and the products to be delivered at the project's final.
