In project management, a project charter, project definition, or project statement is a statement of the scope, objectives, and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project's key goals, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager.[1] More broadly, this document may be referred to as a "Team Charter" for the purpose of formalizing team roles and task structure at the outset of any team-oriented initiative. Teams that approach a task with a mindful design of team dynamics and task structure are more likely to be successful.[2]
The name of this document varies by institution. The Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) refers to this document as the project charter. In customer relationship management (CRM), it is known as the project definition report. Both IPD and CRM require this document as part of the project management process.
The project charter is usually a short document that explains a project clearly and concisely, and refers to more detailed documents for additional information.[3] A project charter should:
A project charter typically documents most of the following:[5] [6]
The project charter establishes the authority assigned to the project manager, especially in a matrix management environment.[7] It is considered industry best practice.
The three main uses of the project charter are:
A project charter will be created in the initiating process group of a phase or a project at the very start. Developing the charter and identifying the stakeholders are the two main actions of the initiating process group. Typically a project manager takes the lead in developing the charter. The project manager will employ his or her expertise and experience to develop the charter. The project manager will work with the key stakeholders (customers and business sponsors), the PMO, Subject Matter Experts inside and outside the organization, other units within the organization and may also work with Industry groups or professional bodies to develop the charter. The project manager will employ facilitation techniques such as brainstorming, problem solving, conflict resolution, meetings, expectations management etc. to develop the charter.
Inputs to develop a charter can be:
The charter once signed will provide authority to the project manager to officially execute the project and employ organizational funds and resources to make the project successful.
For a large multi-phased project, the charter can be created for each individual phase. For example, there can be an initial charter during the Scope and Seek phase of a project, followed by a Planning charter and an Execution Charter during the build phase of the project.