PrintWhat is a Project Charter?
A project charter is a formal, typically short document that describes your project in a general fashion — including what the objectives are, how it will be carried out, and who the stakeholders are. It is a crucial ingredient in planning the project because it is used throughout the project lifecycle and is a living breathing document that may change from start to finish. It provides a very simple guideline to which the project manager and team members can refer for clear guidance when reaching or (not reaching) milestones. It can be modified as the project evolves, but will always provide the direction to ensure that the project does not drift. Typical elements of the project charter will include the following elements:
- Reasons for the project
- Objectives and constraints of the project
- The main stakeholders
- Risks identified
- Benefits of the project
- General overview of the budget
As we will be going into a great deal of detail on many of these elements as that is the point of the course, the only elements that the Project Charter that must be included for now are:
- Reasons for the project
- The potential benefits of the project
- The locale
- The client
- The stakeholders
- The technology
In Canvas, please take a look at the example project charter and stakeholder register submitted by your peers in a previous semester. They provide great examples for how to think about this.