HBR Guide to Project Management (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 3

A Written Charter

Every project should have a charter that spells out the nature and scope of the work and management’s expectations for results. A charter is a concise written document containing some or all of the following:

• Name of the project’s sponsor
• Project’s benefits to the organization
• Brief description of the objectives
• Expected time frame
• Budget and resources available
• Project manager’s authority
• Sponsor’s signature

Creating a charter forces senior managers to clearly articulate what the project should do. Consider this example:

Phil was the sponsor of his company’s effort to reengineer its order fulfillment and customer service operations. As an outspoken critic of these functions, he was the right person for the job. ...