The Project Charter

RESEARCH

According to PMBOK;

The project Charter is used to satisfy the stakeholder’s needs and expectations, by developing a document which is formally allowed the project or a phase to document initial requirements. So the charter establishes a partnership between the performing organization and the requesting organization. The project manager participating in developing the charter, so then project manager has the authority of applying resources to project activities. The project charter is developing before starting planning session. The approved project charter is initiated the project.

To develop a project charter it needs inputs, tools and techniques.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
1.      Project statement of work	1.      Expert judgment	1.      Project charter
2.      Business case
3.      Contract
4.      Enterprise environmental factors
5.      Organizational process assets

1.      Project Statement Of Work (SOW)

The statement of work describes about the products or services that would be delivered from the project. So based on business needs, product or service requirements the project initiator or sponsor provides the statement of work for internal projects.

The statement of work references:

·         Business need

·         Product scope description

·         Strategic plan

2.      Business case

The business case provides the details of the necessary information from business standpoint to decide whether the project is worth the required investment. The reason of creating business case has mentioned below.

·         Market demand

·         Organizational need

·         Customer request

·         Technological advance

·         Legal requirement

·         Ecological impacts

·         Social need

3.      Contract

If the project has been done for external customer then only the contract become an input.

4.      Enterprise environmental factors

To develop the project charter the enterprise environmental factors can be involved, but it doesn’t limit the governmental or industry standards, organization infrastructure and marketplace conditions.

5.      Organizational process assets

The organizational process assets also can be influenced the develop project charter process and it is not limited to organizational standard processes, policies and standardized process definitions for use in the organization, templates and historical information and lessons learned knowledge base.

Expert judgment

During this process the expertise and judgment can be applied to any technical and management. Expert judgment evaluates the inputs which are used to develop the project charter.

Finally all the inputs and tools and techniques create the charter as the output.

According to PMBOK (2008) “The project charter documents the business needs, current understanding of the customer’s needs and the new product, service or result that is intended to satisfy, such as”

·         Project purpose or justification

·         Measurable project objectives and related success criteria

·         High level requirements

·         High level project description

·         High level risks

·         Summary milestone schedule

·         Summary budget

·         Project approval requirements

·         Assigned project manager, responsibility and authority level

·         Name the authority of the sponsor or other person(s) authorizing the project charter

As Kathy Schwalbe (2006, p.147) said, “A project charter is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project’s objectives and management”.

The project manager mainly involving, in developing the project charter. So he/she gets the access to use the organizational resources to complete the project. The format of the project charter can be different. But it should include at least the following basic information.

1.      The project’s title and date of authorization.

2.      The project manager’s name and contact information.

3.      A summary schedule, including the planned start and finish dates. If a summary milestone is schedule is available, it should also be included and referenced.

4.      A summary of the project’s budget or reference to budgetary documents.

5.      A brief description of the project objectives, including the business need or other justification for authorizing the project.

6.      Project success criteria, including project approval requirements and who signs off on the project.

7.      A summary of the planned approach for managing the project, which should describe stakeholder needs and expectations, important assumptions and constraints and refer to related documents, such as a communications management plan as available.

8.      A roles and responsibilities matrix.

9.      A sign-off section for signatures of key project stake holders.

10.  A comments section in which stakeholders can provide important comments related to the project.

Starting with a project charter helps a lot in taking decisions in the project. Otherwise because of the unclear requirements and expectations projects can be failed.

ANALYSIS

In developing a charter, PMBOK is all rounder when comparing with Kathy Schwalbe. Because Kathy Schwalbe has only concentrate about creating the document which should be impressed the customer. But it is the base of the project. Once the charter accepted, them it initiates the project.  While developing the charter project manager and the developing team has to imagine the whole scenario of the project gradually. Then only the developing team can impress the customer by providing all the details of the project. As both PMBOK and Kathy Schwalbe said the project manager has to contribute mainly when developing the charter.

According to PMBOK, to develop the charter it involves project statement of work (SOW), it includes of request for proposal, request for information and etc. So as Kathy Schwalbe mentioned all her details are included in this statement of work. Business case in PMBOK provides the business analysis of the whole project. So then customer gets the idea that how much he/she has to invest to the project. so then the developing team also can have an idea whether this project makes profits or loose and then they can take decision about the project. Market demand and legal requirement of the product is measure when analyzing business case. If the project is for an external customer then it becomes contract base. Enterprise environmental factors and Organizational process assets can influence the project charter but not limited to governmental or industry standards or organizational standard processes. It means it is independent from any other organizations or government.

In both (PMBOK and Kathy Schwalbe) it has mentioned that judgment and expertise is applied to any technical and management details during the process. In PKBOK it has clearly explained what the charter is, the project charter is a clear document which provides the details of business needs, current understanding of the customer’s needs and the new product, service or result which can satisfy the customer. And also it provides the decision whether the project is doing or not.

CONCLUSION

To develop a project charter project manager and developer team should have knowledge of how to create and what are the facts have to be concerned. So we can mainly concentrate about what PMBOK said. Because it has clearly and specifically mentioned, all the steps that has to follow while developing a project charter. From project charter, customer would able to get an idea, how the project going to flow. As Kathy Schwalbe said the project charter should provide the details such as the project’s title and date of authorization, project manager’s name and contact information and etc. Information can help the customer whenever he/she wants to contact them. And also this explains that project manager is the mainly responsible character in the project. To develop a good project charter both PMBOK and Kathy Schwalbe’s explanations and ideas really useful and then we can come up with a good project charter which can be a combination of both. Finally I would like to say a project charter must be a good document which provides the direction of the project’s objectives and management and including business needs, current understanding of the customer’s needs, and the new product, service or result which would satisfy the customer.

Reference List

Project Management Institute. (2008). Project Management Body of Knowledge,4^th ed.Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, Inc.

Schwalbe, K., (2006), Information Technolog  Project Management,4^th ed. Thomson Learning