Project Management Lecture
Project Charter
Ayanda Pekane
Department of Information Systems
Department of Information Systems
Project Charter
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Sometimes called ‘Terms of Reference’
Formal acceptance and commitment of the project
Must align with Business Objectives
Legitimises existence of the project
• Check Notes – Initiating a Project Page 17
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Environmental Factors
• Market place conditions,
• Organizational culture
conditions,
• Standards and Structure
• Government
standards/regulation,
• Industry standards
Business Case
• What is the business case
comprised of?
Prioritising Project constraints
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Typical Elements in a Project Charter (1 of 2)
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Introduction
Key project stakeholders (especially the project sponsor and project manager)
Business background
Description of the business problem or opportunity
Project objectives
Key performance indicators and user acceptance criteria
High-level scope of the products or services (the project’s output)
High-level timeframe
High-level costs
Expected project benefits
Possible deliverables
Project assumptions
Related projects
Related documents
Prioritised time, cost, scope, and quality (the project constraints
Typical Elements in a Project Charter (2 of 2)
Title
Scope overview
Business case
Background
Milestone schedule
Risks/assumptions/constraints
Spending approvals/budget estimates
Communication plan requirements
Team operating principles
Lessons learned
Signatures and commitment
Typical Elements in a Project Charter
CHARTER ELEMENTS AND QUESTIONS ANSWERED
CHARTER ELEMENT
ANSWERS THE QUESTION
Scope overview
What & Why?
Business case /Objective
What & Why?
Background
Why?
Milestone schedule
When?
Success criteria
What?
Risks, assumptions, and constraints
Whoa!
Resources
How much?
Stakeholders
Who?
Team operating principles
How?
Lessons learned
How?
Signatures and commitment
Who?
Kloppenborg, Contemporary Project Management, 4 th Edition. © 2019 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly
accessible website, in whole or in part.
Project Charter
Example
• Short enough so that the
project team and sponsor
can examine it carefully to
ensure they understand and
agree.
• Two to four pages in total is
generally about the right
length.
Discussion Questions
• If you are a project manager and have the choice of forming
your core team either before or after charter approval, which
would you do and why?
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Discussion Questions
• Explain how a charter helps secure both formal and
informal commitment.
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Discussion Questions
• In your opinion, what are the three most important items
in a project charter?
– Think about any of your past projects.
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End !
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