Unfortunately, I have seen many misalignments. The people with the power are often busy, don’t check the details of the charter, and want changes only after they see the first results of the implementation. In one case, my director failed to socialize the plan with his VP, and right at implementation I had to completely re-design the project. Fortunately, I was able to use the 6 months of technical work to re-negotiate a contract rather implement the planned technical re-design and still captured most of the savings. That’s why I say if a high enough stakeholder demands a change, it doesn’t matter about scope or charter, plans change.
Seems to me, The Project Charter is the the original concept finally laid out on paper in one document for all to see. All the ideas that have been kicking around in people's heads and on dinner napkins is finally in one place. Someone took hold of the "Vision" and made a concrete plan, thus the Project Charter is born. People/Groups/Companies/ all have a vision of what they want. The Project Charter is the interpretation of that vison laid out in concrete terms. Concrete in the sense of what it will take to get the job done. Does the mission statement align with the original vision and also work under the umbrella of the overall mission of the Company. Who are the cast of characters needed to make this project a reality. What does the end result look like and what is the estimate arrival time. What are the estimated costs to this new reality. What are the obstacles: both risks and contraints? Can they be dealt with? What are the possiblities and parameters? Can we show success along the way. This blueprint should give a full awareness of what the stakeholders are agreeing to fund and what they are putting their energy behind to give it the push it needs to become "real". Without it you just have a bunch of ideas that stay on the dinner napkin and in the board room. All talk and no plan of action make a very frustrated working environment.
The project charter is similar to a constitution i.e. it establishes parameters, rules and objectives that must be achieved to be successful.
The project charter should provide the guidance to develop project plan. Without good clear project charter, everything is floating around. Take some time to really work on project charter will save a lot of time later on to try to make clear the scope, time and budget.
A project charter is the "touchstone" for what you are trying to do in a project. As such it is a concise documentation of why there is a need for the project, what the purpose of the project is, who will be involved, what the deliverables will be, and how it will benefit the organization goals. It also summarizes major project assumptions, constraints, and risks. Since all the members of a project sign the charter it ensures that everyone from the project sponsor to a project team member are all on the "same page" at the start of the project.
It is critical not only because it determines what the project is, but because is continues to act as the source code for how the project will proceed through the rest of the project stages.
In the planning phase of the project, it becomes somewhat of an arbitrator of disagreements, since the arguement that best supports the charter has the upper hand.
During the execution stage, it becomes a compass for the project decisions that everyone has agreed to in advance. Thus it helps keep the project on track.
Finally, as the project concludes, the charter is the primary benchmark to compare the project results to. So as Lessons Learned are documented, they are often a reflection of reality as compared to the original project charter.
Provides the depth and breathe of the project. It outlines the scope and purpose and the reason for the project. It answers the questions necessary for the success of the project
Monty is (unfortuanately) SOOOO right! I have seen the same thing happened in a large corporation that I worked for. One of the other reasons is that there is often a shuffle of senior management during a project and you get a new "project champion". Of course their vision and the charter usually have nothing to do with each other and you risk your job if you try to hold up the original charter.
I have found that, if you sit down with the new "project champion" and go over the charter in order to "revise it" according to the new vision, you stand a better chance of salvaging at least some of the work already done, and making a case for additional funding for the new vision.
Without proper organization and development in business can create huge costly mistakes where one way to avoid this instance can be utilizing a project charter. A project charter can be defined as a documentation list of mission statement, sponsor name, scope, description, goals, time frame, budget, assumptions, constraints, quality, risks, benefits, and sponsor signature. A project charter can be a large contributor to a project management process by ensuring business success. A project charter can be thought of as a roadmap. If you are traveling in a car going to an exotic vacation destination proper directions will get you there. If you are not using a project charter then poor communication to workers will occur without a roadmap (project charter). Poor communication to workers can experience in not completing construction tasks on milestones, untrained workers on tasks, idle workers on tasks, and misunderstandings of confusion to everyone on the worksite without a project charter.
Lee Demuth
Yes agree that is a good point here!
You stated, "A project charter is the "touchstone" for what you are trying to do in a project."
Also a project charter is where you have a vision on what you want to accomplish as being a project manager. You would want to ensure all phases are met on time. Also being on time with efficiency is another good move and after the project ends learning lesson about what worked and didn't is also very very important. Just like taking exams you would want to know where you messed up on any incorrect answers.
Good posting!
The Project Charter is an overview of the goals of the project, including cost/time/risk/quality assessments. Without a Project Charter, a project can lose focus on the original goals and take the project on a path that may compromise the outcomes desired. One key element of the Charter is level setting expectations for all parties involved, eliminating assumptions as to the outcome of the project, as well as identifying potential hurdles. A well written Project Charter will help keep the project on its' intended path from start to completion.
The Project Charter is an outline of the project, detailing the scope, responsible parties/team members and their roles, the sponsor, the budget, the timeline and any foreseen challenges. This is an important element to any project, as it establishes communication and objectives from the start of the project.
Hi Theresa,
Excellent posting and summary of the project charter. Is there something that you'll be working on in the near future where a project charter would be valuable?
Your project charter defines the project’s mission statement, objectives, defines duties and responsibilities, states higher and lower project goals with established milestones, project constraints, project risks, states budget, personnel requirements, project logistics, approval authority.
The sponsors signature informs the project manager that there was a thought process for the idea (project) and accountability to the stakeholders for that particular idea (project)to find out the feasibility to go into production or not.
joseph,
Excellent and comprehensive points about the project charter. If you had to focus on one particular aspect of the charter where would you focus?
Dr. Eric Goodman
As many have stated,a project charter is a written document containing some or all of the following: mission statement; outline of roles & responsibilities; project scope; objectives; relationship between project goals & the organization's goals; time frame; budget; constraints; assumptions; quality requirements; major risks; benefits; and last but not least, the sponsor's signature.
It is such a large contributor to the process of project management because it delineates as precicely as possible how a project is to be completed. I see it as a form of protection for everyone involved: from senior members who must protect their organization's goals or project managers who must avoid getting off track.
Without a project charter, a project may run the risk of being unfinished, over-budget, or becoming detrimental to the company and its employees.
Hi Pamela,
Excellent summary of the project charter and I really like the analogy of this being like protection!
Dr. Eric Goodman
The Project Charter is simply a roadmap for the entire project team to follow. Each team member must be willing to sign off that he/she completely understands and will abide with its content. In addition, I feel it is necessary to review key points of the Project Charter during team meetings in order to reinforce its key points. It is sometimes easy for team members to lose focus during a long and complex project. Reviewing the Charter will help to bring everyone back into the fold and will make the project run more smoothly with minimal misunderstandings.
Walt,
Nice point about the use of the Project Charter to keep people focused. What have you been helpful in creating a project charter that captures the entire project?
Dr. Eric Goodman
A Project Charter is simply a much more concise and detailed vision/plan of the project. It includes the finite details that can easily get overlooked from a macro level. It answers more of the who's and what's, and sometimes why's. These minor details could make/break a project. The charter can also answer questions for other people in the organization that need to know some of the specific information such as the objectives, the budget, and maybe even the timeline, so other projects can get planned for the future.
Joshua,
Thanks for your response and is a project charter really a vision?
Dr. Eric Goodman
