What is a project charter? Discuss the inputs that can aid the development of a project charter

Answer 1

A project charter is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project's objectives and management. It authorizes the project manager to use organizational resources to complete the project. Ideally, the project manager provides a major role in developing the project charter.

The following inputs are helpful in developing a project charter:
• A project statement of work: A statement of work is a document that describes the products or services to be created by the project team. It usually includes a description of the business need for the project, a summary of the requirements and characteristics of the products or services, and organizational information, such as appropriate parts of the strategic plan, showing the alignment of the project with strategic goals.
• A business case: Many projects require a business case to justify their investment. Information in the business case, such as the project objective, high-level requirements, and time and cost goals, is included in the project charter.
• Agreements: If you are working on a project under contract for an external customer, the contract or agreement should include much of the information needed for creating a good project charter. Some people might use a contract or agreement in place of a charter; however, many contracts are difficult to read and can often change, so it is still a good idea to create a project charter.
• Enterprise environmental factors: These factors include relevant government or industry standards, the organization's infrastructure, and marketplace conditions.Managers should review these factors when developing a project charter.
• Organizational process assets: Organizational process assets include formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines, information systems,financial systems, management systems, lessons learned, and historical information that can influence a project's success.