What is a project charter: In this module, you will get deep knowledge about project
charter and contents of project charter, Develop project charter process
including Inputs, tools & techniques and Outputs based on latest edition of PMBOK (Project Management body of knowledge) Guide and many more.
1.
Business documents
2.
Agreements
3.
Enterprise environmental factors
4.
Organizational process assets
Develop Project
Charter: Tools & Techniques
Develop Project
Charter: Outputs
Conclusion
Project Charter and its importance in Project Management
Introduction to Develop Project Charter
Process Group
|
Knowledge Area
|
Initiating
|
Project Integration Management
|
The
first part of project integration management is to develop project charter . Generating the project charter involves planning the project at high level to assess it's feasibility within the given constraints, but detailed planning does
not happen until after the charter is signed.
What are the seven processes of Project Integration Management?
The seven processes of project integration management knowledge area are:
What is Project Charter?
The Project Charter is the document that formally authorizes the existence of a project. In other words, The project charter is a document that is used to start a project officially which also provides authority to the project manager to apply organizational resources to accomplish project
activities. The project charter gives a direction and a sense of purpose to the management from start
to end.
Who issues a Project charter?
The
project charter can be developed by the sponsor or the project manager in
collaboration. The sponsor may need help of project manager in order to create project charter because in some case sponsor may lack the skills required to prepare it. The project manager get better understanding of the
project purpose and its objectives if he gets involved in creation of project charter with the sponsor.
The project charter is the official document that provides the authority to project manager for planning, executing and controlling the project. It is very much important to know that projects are authorized by an someone external to the project such as a project sponsor, project management office (PMO), program or a portfolio steering committee.
The project charter is the official document that provides the authority to project manager for planning, executing and controlling the project. It is very much important to know that projects are authorized by an someone external to the project such as a project sponsor, project management office (PMO), program or a portfolio steering committee.
A project charter is not considered to be a contract. The project charter is normally created by senior
management and given to the project manager along with the authority to
assigned resources. It is worth considering the key stakeholders that are
required for any project:
- Project manager
- Project sponsor
- Project champion
- Functional managers
How many times Develop Project Charter process is performed?
This
process develop project charter is performed only once or at predefined points in the project.
What are the benefits of creating Project Charter?
The main purpose of a project charter is to
authorize the project manager to start the approved project and allow him to
use organizational resources to accomplish the objectives of the project.
This process provides a direct link between the
project and the strategic objectives of the organization.
The
project charter establishes a partnership between the performing and requesting
organizations. Formal contract is the preferred way to establish an agreement in case of external projects. A project charter can be used to establish internal agreements within an organization to ensure proper
delivery under the contract.
What are the differences between Project Charter and Contract?
Project
Charter
|
Contract
|
The Project charter is issued by the Project
Sponsor.
|
Contract is negotiated and signed by
the buyer and the seller.
|
Project charter is prepared
internally within organization.
|
Contract is a legally binding agreement
between two organization.
|
Project charter is not legally
binding.
|
Contract is a legally binding
document.
|
Project charter can be prepared only
for project.
|
Contract can be used for project or
operation work.
|
Project charter is not always an
agreement.
|
Contract is always called as an agreement.
|
Inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the process Develop Project Charter
What are the inputs of the process Develop Project Charter?
The
inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the process are depicted below:
Develop Project Charter: Inputs
1.
Business documents
Two sources of
information regarding overall objectives of the project and how the project
will contribute to business goals are business case and benefits management
plan.
• Business case: It is one of the documents that
describes the necessary information from business standpoint. It is commonly
used for decision making by managers. It means, it is used to determine whether
the project is worth the required investment. The business case is created as a
result of market demand, organizational
need, customer request, technological advance, legal requirement, ecological
impacts, social need etc.
·
Benefits
management plan: It is one of the document which captures desired benefits obtained from the project and also provides idea to maximize the benefits.
2.
Agreements
Agreements
may take the form of contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), service
level agreements (SLA), letters of agreement, letters of intent, verbal agreements,
email, or other written agreements. Typically, a contract is used when a
project is being performed for an external customer.
3.
Enterprise environmental factors
The enterprise environmental factors that can influence the Develop Project Charter
process includes:
- Governmental standards
- Industry standards
- Legal and regulatory requirements
- Marketplace conditions
- Organizational culture
- Organizational political climate
- Organizational governance framework
- Stakeholder’s expectations and risk thresholds.
4.
Organizational process assets
The organizational process assets that can influence the Develop Project Charter
process includes:
- Organizational standard policies, processes, and procedures
- Portfolio, program, and project governance framework
- Monitoring and reporting methods
- Templates
- Historical information and lessons learned repository
What are the tools and techniques used for Develop Project Charter?
Develop Project
Charter: Tools & Techniques
1. Expert judgment
Expert
judgment is used to assess inputs for developing project charter. Such
expertise comes from any group or individual with the appropriate technical
knowledge and experience. This is not the judgment done by project manager. You
may find Experts from various sources like consultants, key stakeholders,
industry groups, other units within the organizations, PMO etc.
2. Data gathering
- Brainstorming: In the case, if we have limited period to identify a list of ideas, this technique is very useful which is conducted in a group and is led by a facilitator. While we are in the process of developing the project charter, it can be used to gather ideas, data and solutions from team members, SMEs and stakeholders.
- Focus groups: To have idea about issues, risk and success criteria in a more conversational, focus groups bring together Project team members, SMEs and stakeholders.
- Interviews: Interviews are commonly used to gather
information from project team members and stakeholders by talking directly to
them on topic such as success criteria, assumptions or constraints, high-level
requirements etc.
3. Interpersonal and team skills
- Facilitation: Ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution, or conclusion is also known as facilitation. A facilitator needs to take care of few things like:
- there is effective participation
- participants achieve a mutual understanding
- all contributions are considered
- conclusions or results have full buy-in according to the decision process established for the project
- the actions and agreements achieved are appropriate.
- Conflict management: Conflict management help bring stakeholders into alignment on the objectives, success criteria, high-level requirements, project description, summary milestones, and other related elements of the project charter.
- Meeting management: Meeting management ensures that a representative for each key stakeholder group is invited. Meeting management includes preparing the appropriate agenda,and preparing and sending the follow-up minutes and actions.
4. Meetings
Meetings are held with key stakeholders to identify the project
objectives, success criteria, key deliverables, high-level requirements,
summary milestones, and other summary information.
What are the outputs of Develop Project Charter?
Develop Project
Charter: Outputs
1. Project charter
As
described previously, project charter is the document issued by the project
initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and
provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational
resources to project activities.
The project charter document includes the following information:
- Project Purpose or justification
- Business needs and justification for the project
- High-level requirements and project description
- Overall project risk
- Resources preassigned
- Project objectives and success criteria
- List of key stakeholders lists
- High-level constraints and assumptions
- Summary milestone schedule
- Summary budget
- Name and authority levels of assigned project manager
- Name and authority of project sponsor
- Project exit criteria
2. Assumption log
Primary output of develop project charter process is project charter and we can say secondary output is assumption log. Assumption log consists of lists of all
Conclusion
Most hopefully, you would like this
information, and this will be more beneficial for you. The information
provided above about Develop Project Charter is an extremely important document
for any project.
For certification examination point of view also,
this chapter is very much important .
Next article will be about second process "Develop Project Management Plan".
Share your views/questions about this script in the comment box below which would be highly appreciated and of course, you can also contact me on my email id: sdeepak222@gmail.com.
Share your views/questions about this script in the comment box below which would be highly appreciated and of course, you can also contact me on my email id: sdeepak222@gmail.com.
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