4.1 Develop Project Charter
Process Definition
The marching orders for the project manager are called the Project charter. The charter contains as much information as possible about the mission for the project manager. It defines what the customer wants. The charter can be a simple document, with further project planning adding necessary details. It can also be a very detailed document, to include a Statement of Work (SOW), Performance Work Statement (PWS), contract or other legally binding document. The charter is signed by the customer and the performing team, forming the basis of their relationship during the project, and it gives the project manager formal authority to apply resources to the project.
Process Assessment
Lack of a clearly defined project charter leads to project plans that don't align with stakeholder and customer objectives, ill-defined roles for the project team and other stakeholders, and get the project off to a poor start on defining requirements. This all leads to more project risk and reduced likelihood of a successful project outcome. Unfortunately I've never used a charter in the real world, I've just taken over failing projects that didn't use them to begin with. I wish I had one for every project I've ever undertaken.
Figure 2. Develop Project Charter: Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs. Reprinted from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th Edition" by Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 66. Copyright 2013 by Project Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted without permission.
- Statement of Work for HoverCycle new product development: This statement of work is a homework problem from PMGT 614, WBS 1.9. The SOW, as an input to this process, provides the business need and a product scope description for the Project Charter.
- Expert Judgment: A brief personal essay outlining a technique for writing a good project charter.
- HoverCycle Project Charter: This project charter from PMGT 614 is for the HoverCycle project described in the SOW, also attached in this section. The project charter is the only output for this process. This is the document that formally authorizes a project, identifies the project manager, and summarizes the requirements, acceptance criteria, high level risks, stakeholders and assumptions and constraints for the project.