Project Charter Template

Introduction

Purpose of the Project Charter

The purpose of this Project Charter is to detail the project scope boundaries (what is and what it is not included in the project). It communicates the project’s purpose and justification. It designates the project manager (PM) and gives the PM the individual authority to manage the project and to use resources.

The Project Charter also communicates to the stakeholders what constraints management has placed on the project (resources, time, and budget) and what assumptions management has made about the project’s organization and product. It is a living document updated during meetings, conference calls, etc. It is also reviewed by various stakeholders.

Organization / Department Overview

This section should describe, at a high level, the internal management structure of the project. It may also include information about the requesting and delivering organizations. An organizational chart may be included to depict the business, technology and functional areas involved in the project.

Business Need

Here are a few examples or justifications for doing the project, which should be described in detail:

Project Objective (goal) and Scope

Project Objective and Scope

This section should describe the desired outcome when the project is completed, and when the product or service is in use and supported. It should describe a detailed and non-technical description of what the solution will do, who will use it, and how it will be supported. It should also describe the scope and inclusions of the project. The scope is a statement of project constraints and assumptions for its completion.

List of Constraints

This section should describe the constraints that management has placed on the project (resources, time, and budget) – the operational limitations which cannot be changed by the project manager.

An external Constraint Checklist may be beneficial to have in place to list typical project constraints. Constraints are usually beneficial to the project; however, if constraints turn out to be negative, they will have a negative impact on the project. The following is a list of constraints which can be part of a Constraint list:

List of Assumptions

This section should describe the assumptions that management has made about the project’s organization and project’s product. An external Assumptions Checklist may be beneficial to have in place to list typical project assumptions. Assumptions are usually beneficial to the project; however, if assumptions turn out to be negative, they will have a negative impact on the project.

The following is a list of assumptions which can be part of an Assumptions list:

Product of the Project

This section should provide a description of the product. It should describe the characteristics of the outputs or deliverables the project will create, and it should detail the relationship between this product of the project and the business need it fulfills. It should answer the question “What is it that you want the project to produce?”

Major Deliverables

This section should list major deliverables, high-level timelines and phases of a project, whether an agile, waterfall, or other implementation disciplines are used to manage a project. A table listing the metadata is provided below to log the details.

Phase	Deliverable	Timeline

Initial Situation

Initial Environment or Situation (Analysis)

This section should be completed by holding iterative customer meetings. The following are key areas that should be investigated in detail and documented in this Project Charter. A high-level business case may be used to obtain such information.

Problems to be solved

What problem exists now that will be solved by implementing a system, tool or other solution?

What work cannot be done, or cannot be done well, until a new system, tool or other solution is in place?

Business processes or systems

This section should include all current business systems, processes, or tools that will be changed or replaced by a new system, tool or other solution.

Customer description

If the customer is a separate company or companies, or a set of consumers, write a description of such customer as a ‘consumer’ of your project, and a description of any relevant elements (systems, tools, processes, etc.) of their business environment or life situation.

Computer systems and other equipment or facilities

This section should describe all systems that will be replaced by or will interact with the new system, tool or other solution. It should include hardware platforms, operating systems, and data management systems. It should also include user interfaces and systems that will receive or send data through import/export functions. If documentations of existing systems are available, a reference to those documents should be included.

Risk evaluation

What elements of the current environment are undocumented or unknown?
What issues might we find that would create problems for the project?

Roles and Responsibilities

This section should be used to identify responsibilities assigned to each major role in the project. It should identify the individuals who are responsible for specific functions or activities. This list differs from the Organization / Department Overview section in that the goal here is to list the specific names of individuals with the right authority to perform activities necessary for the project. Here are a few examples:

Name	Role	Responsibility
	Project Sponsor	Monitors the project
	Chief Information Office (CIO)	Monitors project, approves staff, etc.
	Project Manager	Initiates, plans, monitors, controls, and executes the project
	Director of Information Technology or Operations	Mentors project manager and may release specific resources to the project
	Human Resources	Recruits staff and provides assistance with hiring, interviewing, etc.
	Director of Purchasing	Assists in purchasing hardware and software

Current Situation

This section should provide a status description of where the project is today. This section should be updated regularly prior to the planning phase of a project. Current situation is the Initial Situation (above) plus the completed steps. This section is important because it may include any ‘deltas’ to the Project Charter.

Options Considered

This section should be used to list all the options considered for the project. Options may consist of all the vendors considered to deliver certain components of the project. Options may also consist of all the tools or systems considered for the project.

Project Information

Project Name:

Project Start Date:

Project Finish Date:

Project Manager:

Project Manager

Project Manager Authority

The Project manager (PM) assigned to the project will have the authority to directly assign work to team members assigned to the project. In addition, the PM will participate in performance reviews for any team member. Finally, the PM will be accountable to the project sponsor and for end-to-end project management.

Project Charter Acceptance

Approver for (company name)

Name of approver

Title of approver

Project Manager’s Approval:

Project Manager’s name

Company name

Dates