All that begins well…. ends well. How often we find this saying true. A task started well, normally ends up well, inspite of so many hurdle it faces. The same thing applies to projects as well.
It is important to take care of a few things while initiating a project. And one important and key element is the project charter. The PMBOK has placed much importance to the project charter. Unless and until you are not clear of what your project is going to achieve, it is as good as sailing in a ship across the ocean without any goal and hence, any direction. I recall in Lewis Caroll’s famous book “Alice in Wonderland”, when Alice is confused which path to take from the two tunnels. She meets a cat and asks “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cat replied “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” Alice replied “I don’t much care where.” The cat then said “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.” Alice said “…so long as I get somewhere”. And pat came the reply “Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
To a great extent, I find the same thing applicable in projects. With most of the projects unclear about the objective, everyone assumes that the objectives will show up as we progress with the project.
This is where the project charter comes into place. A project charter is a document that outlines the core objective and purpose of the project. It is necessary that the project charter is complete in all aspects when a project is initiated. It is also important that the project manager should not only be assigned early into the project, but should also be mentioned in the project charter.
For those wondering as to what should go into a project charter, here are some key elements necessary in a project charter.
Project Title and Description
This section should document a summarised version of the entire project charter that should be sufficient enough for a person reading it to know what the project is and what is its purpose and objective with its tenure.
Project Manger assigned and authority
This section should clearly mention the project manager assigned to the project. It should also mention its authority level. It should help give an idea of the type of organisation in which the project manager is working. This is one aspect that is not considered seriously. I am surprised many projects kick off without a project manager. It is like a surgery that has started without the surgeon around.
Business Case
This section should explain why this project is being done. What kind of benefit (both feature and monitory) will the project provide? Here, one can also add the project financials such as Return on Investment, Payback period, Cost Benefit Analysis. These numbers might be preliminary, but that helps in taking better decision and getting relevant support for starting the project.
Resources
I agree that talking about resources at an early stage might sound a bit weird. But, it is important to have an approximation on the resources needed for the project. The resources such as Project manager, business analyst, consultants etc. required during the initial phase should definitely be mentioned here.
Stakeholders
This is yet another important aspect. The stakeholders that will be affected by the project should be mentioned. Those would include customers, senior management, sponsor, resources, consultants etc. A rough count of the number of stakeholders is also advisable.
Project Deliverables
What are the important deliverables expected by the customer or end user should be detailed in bullet points. It may be prudent to mention which of these can be delivered in how many phases.
Measurable Project Objectives
This is different from the Project Deliverable in the sense that it talks at a higher level than the product, service deliverables. Here one should explain how does the project align with the organisational strategic goals? How do the project objectives support these goals? These objectives must be measurable as well. e.g., Summary milestone deadlines, budget allocation intended for the project. Majority of the projects are not approved because the managers and sponsors are not able to align the project objectives with the organisational strategic goals.
Project Approval requirements
This helps in removing any kind of confusion by clearly listing who will approve what. Many times, the project related documents or deliverables keep shuffling through various desks because clear responsibilities and accountabilities are not assigned and nobody wants to take the risk of approving these later.
High Level Risks
One may wonder as to why should one list risks so early. The reason is that there are risks right from the beginning till the end of the project. There are high level risks that can jeopardise the project such as market currency fluctuations, highly competitive industry, a new product or service being launched etc. A list of high level risk may help one to access the project more pragmatically.
Project Sponsor
Finally at the end, the project charter should contain the name of the sponsor who is going to authorise the project with his signatory.
A project charter helps one to list down the project definition, deliverables, business case, stakeholder list, high level risks, project approval requirements, and most importantly project manager assigned and the project sponsor. The project charter therefore, has so much importance. Ironically, still many projects have all documents available except the project charter.
Very well written article Sambit. Indian IT companies have tools for 'Project Initiation Note'. Some times projects are began without the PIN in place but most times they create one.
wonderfull artical..I realised now..keep posting..Tiru