Painless Project Management: A Step-by-Step Guide for Planning, Executing, and Managing Projects

Chapter 5. Developing the Project Charter for Larger, More Complex Projects

The Project Charter is the first step in the development of the Project Plan. The more complex and complicated the project is, the greater the need for a detailed and unambiguous Charter. In addition, the more “real estate” (business areas and a multiplicity of stakeholders) the project covers, the more hands must be involved in its development and the more reviews and revisions it will go through. The project manager may need to assume the role of lion tamer, or at the very least, referee. While the material in the Charter comes from or is generated by the sponsor and stakeholders, the project manager is the willing interpreter and scribe, and at times, has valuable contributions to make.

Figure 5.1 is the “big picture” of the Planning process from Part I of this book. Developing the Charter is the “kick-off” to the rest of the Planning process.

© Copyright 2007 Pamela McGhee and Peter McAliney.

Figure 5.1. The Evolution of a Project Plan.

A project needs boundaries. It will neither encompass nor do everything. What’s in? What’s out? Who’s in? Who’s out? How much? How long? What is success? How do you measure success? Who makes decisions? What is quality? All those associated with the project—the stakeholders—must have a common understanding about the project. They need to share a common set of assumptions around ...