Project Charters: Elements and Formats

Project Proposals and Project Charters :

The two common types of documentation Project Manager could use to keep track of details and keep stakeholders informed are: The project proposal and The project charter.

Project Proposal:

• A project proposal is a form of documentation that comes at the very beginning of the project.
• This document's purpose is to persuade stakeholders that a project should begin.
• And typically, a senior organizational leader creates the proposal.
• So you might not need to worry about creating the proposal, but you will have to keep track of the proposal's progress.
• The project proposal is a great starting point to help you understand the desired goals and impact.
• A proposal may be a formal document, a presentation, or even a simple email to get others on board with the idea.

Project Charter:

• Project Charter is a formal document that clearly defines the project and outlines the necessary details to reach its goals.
• A project charter helps you get organized, set up a framework for what needs to be done, and communicate those details to others.
• You can think of the charter as the compass for your project since you will use it throughout the life cycle of the project.
• Many stakeholders will look to your project charter to ensure that you are indeed aligned with strategic goals and set up for achieving the desired end goal.
• Since the project charter carries so much importance, it is important to incorporate the right amount of detail while omitting miscellaneous elements.
• As with any of your project documents, it is a good idea to collaborate with your team and stakeholders early and often.
• Developing the project charter in collaboration with both groups can help you make sure that your project charter addresses your key stakeholders’ most important concerns and keeps your team aligned.

Project Proposal VS Project Charter:

• A project proposal is created earlier in the project life cycle than the project charter.
• The proposal kicks off the initiation phase by influencing and persuading the company to move forward with the project.
• The project charter serves a similar purpose and often comes at the end of the initiation phase. However, its goal is to more clearly define the key details of the project.
• Another difference between these two documents is that a charter will often serve as a point of reference throughout the life of a project.
• The proposal is only used at the earlier stages.

The project charter makes clear that the benefits of the project outweigh the costs.

There are a few questions you might ask yourself when performing a cost benefit analysis. That includes questions like:

• What value will this project create?
• And how much money could this project save my organization?
• How much time will people have to spend on this project?

You'll include the answers to these questions in your charter. Including this type of information ensures that you and your stakeholders agree on the project value.

The charter also helps ensure that you and your stakeholders agree on the details of the project.

Project charter approval means that management is supportive, and it's also a key step to ensure that the project matches the needs of the organization.

After the stakeholders and project sponsor have reviewed and approved the project charter, you now have the authority to move forward with the project.

What does it contain?

• Project charters can be formatted in a few ways and can contain different information depending on the project and the organization.
• The information in a charter might also be tailored to its audience or the needs of specific stakeholders.
• For example, if you're writing a project charter for a stakeholder who is a marketing executive, the charter might include information about how the project will impact the organization's brand.
• Regardless of the format or the audience, creating a project charter is a best practice for ensuring that everyone agrees on how to move forward before entering the planning phase.
• The project charter is a living document.
• This means that it can evolve as the project progresses.
• As the project manager, you'll review and refine the charter throughout the process.

Project charters: Elements and formats

A project charter clearly defines the project and outlines the necessary details for the project to reach its goals.

A well-documented project charter can be a project manager’s secret weapon to success.

The charter is the formal way that the project’s goals, values, benefits, and details are captured.

Project charters can vary from organization to organization and from project to project.

It is key for a project manager to identify the best type of charter for the project in order to capture the relevant information and set your project up for success.?

Project charters will vary but usually include some combination of the following key information:

• Introduction/Project Summary
• Goals/objectives?
• Business case/benefits and costs
• Project Team
• Scope
• Success Criteria
• Major Requirements or Key Deliverables
• Budget
• Schedule/timeline or Milestones
• Constraints and Assumptions
• Risks
• OKRs
• Approvals

You will likely use many different project charter formats throughout your project management career.

The Importance of project documentation:

• The big part of project management is guiding decision-making.
• Even if you're not the one making final decisions on major aspects of the project, it's still your job to keep track of every new decision and use those decisions to create a plan.
• As you've learned, there are a lot of important decisions to keep track of.
• That includes everything from identifying project goals and deliverables to choosing the right people to add to a team.
• It's also important information for everyone on the team to be aware of; not just the project manager.
• If a decision affects a member of the team's tasks, they'll need to know about it, right? That's why documentation is such an important part of a project manager's role.
• While your team may work deeply on specific areas of the project, you might be the only person on the team who is aware of and communicating across all the different areas of the project.
• Clear and consistent documentation can ensure transparency and clear communication.
• Documentation helps set the stage for the project. It communicates the answers to key questions.
• For example,

1. what problem are you trying to solve?
2. What are the project goals?
3. What are the scope and deliverables, and who are the project's stakeholders?
4. Lastly, what resources does the team need to complete their work?

• This is all crucial information for anyone who's working on a project, regardless of their role.
• Documentation also helps preserve decisions made early on in the project and can serve as a reference point for team members who might join later in the project life cycle.
• It's your job to ensure that this information is easily accessible through some kind of formal documentation, like an e-mail, a presentation, or a digital document.
• Also, documenting decisions can help you uncover tasks, timelines, or costs you hadn't previously considered.
• And lastly, this process provides a historical record that can be reviewed at the end of your project. You can apply the lessons you've learned in the future.