1. Develop Project Charter

1 Develop Project Charter

Knowledge Area	Integration	Process Group	Initiating
What happens before this process	Project Manager is identified and appointed.
What is the outcome of this process	The project charter provides the project manager with the authority to plan and execute the project.

The first process we come across is the Develop Project Charter. With every Project Manager's philosophy of begin with keeping end in mind let me explain.

Lets understand what happens before this process: Pre Project Phase (NOT A PMBoK TERM)

PMBoK clearly states that “that business case assessment, approval, and funding are handled externally to the project boundaries” (Page 54). That means before the Project is authorized  the performing organization recognizes a business need that might have raised based on a market demand, technological advance, legal requirement, government regulation, or environmental consideration. Typically, the business need and the cost-benefit analysis are contained in the business case to justify the project. The Business Case is created to document this information. The Project Sponsor is presented with the Business case and he or she decides that the investment needed for the project is worth based on the justification provided in the Business Case and decides to authorize a project.

Why we need the Project Charter?

Good question to begin with. If you have checked my purpose and key benefit of each process in an earlier blog, the purpose of this process is “of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a Project and provides the Project Manager with the authority to apply Organizational resources to Project Activities”.

You can't start a project just like that. Your project needs Organizational resources, time, money etc. So creating a project charter makes sense as you as the Project Manager have the authority to start and apply Organizational resources onto your project.

How does it look like?

To better understand this process, have a look at an empty Project Charter Template (taken from PMI Site, PMBoK 5^th Edition Companion Guide. Slightly altered as required for my presentation). I have written my observations where necessary.

PROJECT CHARTER

Project Title	your project title goes here
Project Sponsor	A sponsor is the person or group who provides resources and support for the project and is accountable for enabling success
Project Manager	Its you !		Date Prepared
Customer
Project Purpose or Justification
The business case or similar document describes the necessary information from a business standpoint to determine whether or not the project is worth the required investment. It is commonly used for decision making by managers or executives above the project level. Typically, the business need and the cost-benefit analysis are contained in the business case to justify and establish boundaries for the project, and such analysis is usually completed by a business analyst using various stakeholder inputs. You use Business Case as an INPUT to provide this justification.
Project Description
This information is derived from the Project Statement of Work. The project statement of work (SOW) is a narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by a project. For internal projects, the project initiator or sponsor provides the statement of work based on business needs, product, or service requirements. For external projects, the statement of work can be received from the customer as part of a bid document, (e.g., a request for proposal, request for information, or request for bid) or as part of a contract. You use Project Statement of Work as an INPUT to describe the Project.
High Level Requirements
Derived from Business Case and/or Project Statement of Work. You might also use “Facilitation Techniques” to gather these High Level Requirements. And you might also seek the advise of any group or individual with specialized knowledge or already trained in the similar role, i.e. Subject Matter Experts to assess this information. This is known as “Expert Judgement”
High level Risks
The Business Case outlines high-level risks. If the performing organization has done similar projects in the past, then you can contact your Project Management Office to obtain the risks that were identified, analyzed, managed and controlled in the earlier projects. This is called Organizational Process Assets. If there are any risks that can be identified due to factors outside the control of the performing organization such as Government Regulations, Change in Market demand etc, they can be documented here. This is called Enterprise Environment Factors.
Project Objectives		Success Criteria		Person approving
Scope
what are the boundaries of the project work		how these boundaries will be verified and accepted		who is signing off
Time
Cost
Summary Milestones			Due Date
Stakeholders			Role
Project Manager Authority Level
Staffing Decisions
If the resources are to be provided by a Technology partner or vendor, you get this information from existing Agreements between that partner/vendor and your organization.
Technical Decisions
If the technical solutioning/Infrastructure etc are to be provided by a Technology partner or vendor, you get this information from existing Agreements between that partner/vendor and your organization.
Conflict Resolution
			This can't be the Project Manager
Signature of Project Manager			Signature of Sponsor or Organization approving
Name and Date			Name and Date

* Now we are ready to summarize this process with respect to its Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Output:

Input	Tools and Techniques	Output
Business Case Project Statement of Work Agreements Enterprise Environment Factors Organizational Process Assets	Expert Judgement Facilitation Techniques	Project Charter