From the course: Project Management Foundations: Integration

Develop Project Charter

From the course: Project Management Foundations: Integration

Start my 1-month free trial

Develop Project Charter

“

- Do you know what can challenge you and give you piece of mind at the same time? Mountain climbing. On the other hand, it can be extremely stressful if you're climbing with no sense of purpose. Well, starting a project without a project charter is just as bad. You're jumping head first into your project without knowing if you're about to deliver will meet your customer's expectations. That's risky. First, you need to determine if the objectives and deliverables are feasible given the project constraints. Repeat after me, I will not kickoff a project until I know what it is I'm supposed to deliver. Creating a project charter is the first process in your integration management journey. In real life, you may not be given a formal project charter. However, it's your job as a strong project manager to collect the necessary information so that you're crystal clear on the expectations. You'll also need to identify the initial stakeholders and constraints of the project. Failure to do this can plague your project with a host of unsavory issues. Some examples include lack of authority, vague objectives and success criteria, and an overall increased risk of failure. Now that you're convinced that the project charter is important, let's get down to the nitty gritty. What exactly is a project charter and how does it help you manage your project? A project charter formally authorizes a project. It gives you the authority to spend the organization's resources to complete project activities. If done correctly, it ties customer expectations to project outcomes and communicates the commitment of all parties towards an agreed upon goal. Going back to our business example, the charter becomes the executive summary to the business plan that follows, AKA the project manager plan. Although you don't initiate the project charter, you can influence what's included in it by working with your stakeholders to better understand the project's purpose, objectives and expected benefits. The project charter helps you manage the project by answering the following questions. What is the purpose of the project? How is the project's success measured? What are the constraints? There are a few other questions I recommend you ask. You can download the handout 201 for a list of other questions to consider. At a high level, the project charter makes sure everyone is on the same page. It also communicates the project's vision, expectations, milestones, as well as the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders. Remember, if a project is important enough to fund, it should be agreed upon by key stakeholders and formally authorized. This way, you'll set yourself up for success as you begin climbing the proverbial mountain, your project.

Contents