Project_Charter

Project Charter The creation of a project charter that describes the organization’s need for the proposed project should be the initial step of any project. Charter Information gathering is essential in providing a firm high-level view of the project requirements, constraints and risks. The project charter helps in ensuring that everyone starts with a comprehension of the scope of the project and the resources required. Such comprehension goes a long way towards reducing future misunderstandings as the project progresses. Typically the charter is created by the project manager (PM), although it is not unusual if someone from the program management office creates it before a PM is chosen. The Project Charter is a manuscript that grants authority to start the project, typically defining its intention, objectives, and goals. Resources necessary to fulfill Project Planning (High Level) are also acknowledged and budgeted. The Project Charter is often seen as a contract involving the Project Team and the Project Sponsor. The Project Charter is the beginning of a succession of project definition documents that identify the projects business goals and objectives and can be amended during subsequent project activities. Purpose         A convincing case must be made for the practicality and prioritization of a project before it can commence. In establishing the Charter, a business need (Business Case) is prepared accompanied by a description of the project solution. The owner of the Charter, who may originate from any office within the organization, serves as the Project Sponsor through at least the assessment and decision phases. The Project Charter main purpose is to officially sanction initiation of the new project. In particular, the charter authorizes the sponsor to designate a project manager and to utilize resources needed to establish a Project Initiation Plan (PIP). The PIP furnishes the project parameters and includes: stakeholder roles, objectives, goals, scope, risk plan and success criteria. In addition, the Charter ought to identify all available funding sources that are available. In instances in which the project is expected to encompass more than one budget cycle, a multi-year funding strategy should be addressed. Develop Business Case The Business Case is another essential document that provides information needed to justify launching the project and maintaining the project in succeeding stages. By identifying an existing business need the Business Case lays the groundwork for fashioning a possible solution to satisfy that need. It should establish whether the project is part of a bigger solution or if follow-up projects will be needed. Lastly, it should categorize the probable clients of the project and how the project will help them. In addition to the justification of the solution selected an evaluation of all alternatives that were considered should be included. A synopsis of what would happen if nothing at all was done should be addressed as well. All constraints that hinder the project’s implementation should be noted with a detailed breakdown of how they hinder the project as well as what benefit will arise from their elimination. Identify any constraints that will affect the “Triple Constraints” of scope, schedule, and budget. If the project lacks constraints be sure to note this as well.  Project Planning resources and budgets are compulsory to the Charter. This is the resources and budget that will be needed to implement the PIP. The Project Planning resources and budget for the overall project as well as any constant costs will be addressed in the PIP once the project is authorized. However, any time and cost estimates for the complete project should be acknowledged in the Charter to include calculations of how accurate the estimates may be.  Develop Project Governance The Charter should contain an authority chart that specifies the management group that will be responsible for producing the PIP. The entire Charter should then be submitted for the evaluation and selection process. Scope Statement The scope statement is the very first statement that needs to be incorporated before the project starts. It defines the general character of the project and defines what kind of problem needs to be solved (problem statement) and what is supposed to be delivered to solve the specified problem (project deliverables). It is in effect a blueprint that expresses the how the successfully completed product should appear The scope statement is also great for managing stakeholder expectations as it can be used as a reminder of what the stakeholders agreed upon during inception of the project. A best practice is to review the scope statement periodically as reviewing the scope statement increases the chances for project success while maintaining stakeholder’s expectations by keeping them aligned with the original project goals. While in no way all inclusive, the following list highlights some of the components that a detailed project scope statement should include: * Project objectives that are measurable and quantifiable. * A product scope description that clarifies all the characteristics of any services or results for which the project is responsible. * An analysis regarding prioritized requirements. * Change control requirements for the project. * Conditions that must be satisfied by the project deliverables in order to fulfill all project requirements. * A detailed breakdown of what is included and what is excluded in the project. * Cost estimate for the project. * Documentation of all assumptions with the purpose of defining project boundaries. * Project deliverables specifications that define project outputs to include project reports and documentation. * The procedures and criteria that will be used to accept finished deliverables. * Project Constraints related to the project scope that restrict the team’s options. * Initial defined risks, known or anticipated. * A schedule of milestone decided by developer and/or the customer. * Configuration management. * Approval requirements for project objectives and deliverables. Conclusion In comparison it can be seen that whereas the Project Charter can bee seen as a document that is developed by a corporate sponsor in order to formally acknowledge the initiation of a project by defining the responsibilities and boundaries of the project manager and the project , the Scope statement can be likened as a a kind of a “response” to the sponsor from the project manager and his team that formalizes the scope of everything that the project must produce and that can also be used as a tool to for decision making as the project progresses.