Project charter
Encyclopedia
In project management
, a project charter or project definition is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project. The terms of reference
is usually part of the project charter.
The project charter is usually a short document that refers to more detailed documents such as a new offering request or a request for proposal
.
In Initiative for Policy Dialogue
(IPD), this document is known as the project charter. In customer relationship management
(CRM), it is known as the project definition report. Both IPD and CRM require this document as part of the project management process.
The project charter establishes the authority assigned to the project manager, especially in a matrix management environment
. It is considered industry best practice.
The purpose of the project charter is to document:
The three main uses of the project charter:
Project management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
, a project charter or project definition is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project. The terms of reference
Terms of reference
Terms of reference describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. The terms of reference of a project are often referred to as the project charter.- Terms of...
is usually part of the project charter.
The project charter is usually a short document that refers to more detailed documents such as a new offering request or a request for proposal
Request for Proposal
A request for proposal is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to...
.
In Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Initiative for Policy Dialogue
The Initiative for Policy Dialogue is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University in the United States.IPD was founded in July 2000 by Joseph E...
(IPD), this document is known as the project charter. In customer relationship management
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
(CRM), it is known as the project definition report. Both IPD and CRM require this document as part of the project management process.
The project charter establishes the authority assigned to the project manager, especially in a matrix management environment
Matrix management
Matrix management is a type of organizational management in which people with similar skills are pooled for work assignments. For example, all engineers may be in one engineering department and report to an engineering manager, but these same engineers may be assigned to different projects and...
. It is considered industry best practice.
The purpose of the project charter is to document:
- Reasons for undertaking the project
- Objectives and constraints of the project
- Directions concerning the solution
- Identities of the main stakeholders
- In scope and out-of-scope items
- High level risk management plan
- Communication plan
- Target project benefits
- High level budget and spending authority
The three main uses of the project charter:
- To authorize the project - using a comparable format, projects can be ranked and authorized by Return on InvestmentReturn on investmentReturn on investment is one way of considering profits in relation to capital invested. Return on assets , return on net assets , return on capital and return on invested capital are similar measures with variations on how “investment” is defined.Marketing not only influences net profits but also...
. - Serves as the primary sales document for the project - ranking stakeholders have a 1-2 page summary to distribute, present, and keep handy for fending off other project or operations runs at project resources.
- As a focus point throughout the project - for example: project as people walk in to team meetings and use in change controlChange ControlChange control within Quality management systems and Information Technology systems is a formal process used to ensure that changes to a product or system are introduced in a controlled and coordinated manner...
meetings to ensure tight scope management.