Project Charter

The project charter is the document that formally authorizes a project. The project charter provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. A project manager is identified and assigned as early in the project as is feasible. The project manager should always be assigned prior to the start of planning (if possible) and preferably while the project charter is being developed.

The project charter officially sanctions the project. Without a charter, the project cannot begin.

The inputs to develop project charter document are:
1) Project statement of work (SOW):
The project statement of work (SOW) is a description of products or services to be delivered by project.
2) Business Case:

A Business Case document says why it’s worth it to spend money on the project.

The business case document contains project description, market demand, organizational needs, legal requirements, strategic analysis, benefits, dependencies, conclusion.

3) Contract:

The contract is what you agreed to do, but not all projects have a contract.

4) Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF):

Enterprise Environmental Factors tell you how your company does business. An important one is the work authorization system, which determines how work is assigned, and makes sure that tasks are done in the right order.

5) Organizational Process Assets (OPA):

Organizational Process Assets tell you how your company normally runs projects. One of the most important assets is lessons learned, which is where you write down all of the valuable historical information.

The expert judgment required to validate the project charter document.

The project charter document contains:

• Project purpose
• Project justification
• Project objectives (measurable)
• Critical success factors
• High level project description
• High level project requirements
• Delivery milestones
• Budget summary
• Project approval hierarchy
• Assigned project manager and responsibilities
• Sponsor name