03 project charter
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
The Project Charter The driver for requirements and use cases
The charter is to the project what the Constitution is to the United States
¡ Scope ¡ Objectives ¡ Participants
¡ Roles ¡ Responsibilities ¡ Stakeholders
It is usually a short text
document
What does the charter tell us? ¡ Reasons for undertaking the project ¡ Objectives and constraints of the project ¡ Directions concerning the solution ¡ Identities of the main stakeholders ¡ In scope and out-of-scope items ¡ High level risk management plan ¡ Communication plan ¡ Target project benefits ¡ High level budget and spending authority
How to use the charter
¡ As proof of authority ¡ As a one-pager to sell
the project ¡ As a refocusing point
for the team
What is in the project charter?
Project Authorization ¡ A brief statement identifying the project by name
and maybe number
Project Manager
¡ The name of the project manager, including a description of his or her responsibilities
Key Stakeholders ¡ All key stakeholders ¡ Their functions or roles ¡ How they will contribute to the project
Project Goals
¡ The goals should be SMART: ¡ Specific ¡ Measurable ¡ Agreed upon ¡ Realistic ¡ Time bound
Project Priorities ¡ Time ¡ Cost ¡ Scope ¡ Etc.
Scope Statement
¡ What we will do ¡ What we will not do ¡ Makes scope creep obvious
Product Requirements ¡ Very big picture ¡ High-level ¡ Soft ¡ What the product is expected to do ¡ How it must perform
Project Assumptions ¡ May include the availability of specific ¡ Resources ¡ Information ¡ Funding ¡ Skills
Project Constraints & Boundaries
¡ Budgetary ¡ Time ¡ Regulations ¡ Quality standards ¡ … and so on
Initial Project Risks ¡ List ¡ Obstacles ¡ Risks ¡ Threats
¡ Each risk must be ¡ Analyzed, ¡ Quantified ¡ Prioritized
¡ Then list ¡ Risk responses ¡ Mitigations ¡ Risk sharing ¡ Risk avoidance ¡ Risk tolerances
List of Deliverables
Cost Estimates
Integrated Change Control ¡ Define how changes to the project charter and
other key documents will be managed ¡ Configuration management ¡ Software release centers ¡ Who has the authority to accept of reject these
changes
Conclusion ¡ The project charter defines the project we are embarking on ¡ We identify risks, mitigations, stakeholders, and the project
manager ¡ It is used as a compass to guide the team, marketing collateral
to sell the project, and a management tool to keep the team on track