Project Charters Module 3 1. Project Charter States the scope, objectives and participants in a project Defines the guidelines within which the project.

Project Charters

Module 3

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Project Charter

• States the scope, objectives and participants in a project

• Defines the guidelines within which the project must be completed

• Provides information on key roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders

• Defines the authority of the project manager

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Why create a Project Charter?

• Provides a condensed overview of the project that can be shared with others

• Authorizes how the project will proceed• Serves as a method to confirm authority and resolve

problems in the future• Especially questions of scope!

• Enables the team to make decisions

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When and who should create the Project Charter?

• Project Manager is responsible for creating charter with input from stakeholders

• After approved, no changes unless there is agreement from all parties

• Create and have the charter approved BEFORE beginning project activities

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Key Components of the CharterDescription – What is the goal of this project?• What do you hope to achieve by doing the project?

Purpose – Why are we doing this project?• Describe the problem and evidence of the need

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Key Roles – Defines the function and authority of the project manager and sponsor

• Examples:• The project sponsor will approve all scope changes• The project manager may hire all required staff

• If there are other key leadership roles – such as a steering committee, those can be stated here

Key Components of the Charter

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Budget – Provides detail on development, project execution and post implementation costs projected

• Remember, the budget is not just the “do” part, it is planning and post project support too

This will be covered in detail in the budgeting section

Key Components of the Charter

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Success Criteria – Measurable Outcomes that would make the project “successful”

• Consider some of these:• Meeting government or legal requirements• Decreasing Costs• Lowering risks• Improve efficiency •Improve service•New services

Key Components of the Charter

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ROLE BASED ACTIVITY

You are going to be assigned a role.

In your teams, come up with at least 3 “key success criteria” that would make the project successful from

the perspective of your assigned role.

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In Scope / Out of Scope – what will be included in the project, and just as importantly, what will not.

• Agreement between the project manager and the “client” about what will be delivered

• What is possible: Unlimited• What you can deliver in time / within budget: Limited

Key Components of the Charter

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ACTIVITY - ROLE PLAYING Based on your assigned role in the case study,

what key deliverables will need to be completed within scope?

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Assumptions – what you have understood to be true• These are things that “if not true” could negatively impact

the results, cost or timeline of your project• They are things we have good reason to believe are true

but may not have 100% of the information required to confirm them

• Examples might include:• Current electrical capacity is enough to sustain new

building• Resources can be pulled from existing staff

Key Components of the Charter

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Dependencies – what does the completion of the project rely on?

• These include other projects or activities that need to occur before your project can be completed

• Space• Funding• Tools• People• Resources

Key Components of the Charter

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Constraints – restrictions that will guide your decision making

• They may include such things as:• Costs – May not exceed a total budget of $50000 in

Phase One and Two• Scheduling – Must be completed before re-opening

of hospital in March 2010• Staffing – Cannot use more than 2 hours of

physician time per day

Key Components of the Charter

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Key Components of the Charter

Milestones – key events in the life of a project – often marks the completion of a series of related tasks.

• Listed in conjunction with planned dates• Example of Milestone: Staff Training Complete• Example of Task: Computer training documents

created

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ACTIVITY – Brainstorm Milestones for Case Study

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Resourcing – Who do you need to get the job done?• Consider who you will need to assist you on the project

and when• If they are an existing employee, what percentage of their

time will you need them for• Will you need to bring in any outside resources?• Be sure that you have the resource’s buy-in and the

support of their boss!

Key Components of the Charter

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Risks – What are the major risks that may affect your ability to be successful?

• What is the risk?• What would the impact be if it occurred?• What is the likelihood of it occurring?• How can you mitigate it?

Key Components of the Charter

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Alternatives – what other options did you consider?

• What were the pros and cons?• Why did you decide not to go with each alternative?• Only realistic alternatives need to be listed here

Key Components of the Charter

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Importance of a Project Charter

• Avoid “Scope Creep”• Speed up the decision making process• Get commitment up front • Avoid confusion / changes around resourcing,

funding and delivery expectations• Better chance of delivery on time and on budget!

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Questions

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