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Project Charter

Hi guys, lets take a look at project charter – a term not so familiar in social sector project management

Part of ‘Integrated Project Management’ and at ‘initiating process group’ stage, this document named project charter authorizes the project manager to apply the organization’s resources for project activities

Project Charter always includes project objectives, an outline of scope, an approximate schedule estimate, what are all the anticipated risks at the beginning of the project, likely cost implications (or) high-level budget, and who the stakeholders envisioned at the beginning

Project Charter always includes project objectives, an outline of scope, an approximate schedule estimate, what are all the anticipated risks at the beginning of the project, likely cost implications (or) high-level budget, and who the stakeholders envisioned at the beginning

Why Project Charter

  • Creates a formal record and approved by the project sponsor *
  • Provides clarity to all the stakeholders
  • The project Manager is authorized to apply the organization’s resources – Human, Financial, and material **
  • Enables Project Manager to get a better clarity of the project purpose, objectives, and expected benefits
  • Helps document changes made to project’s scope, deliverables or schedule, etc., (Version control documents)
  • Project charter helps the project manager to negotiate on the scope creep ***

* In the Social sector usually a written contract between the implementing agency and the funder exists. However, the Project Manager is advised to prepare the project charter and share it with the funder for consent. In any case internally, the project head or organization head should give internal approval for the project

** Organization to assign a Project Manager at the early stage of a project, preferably before the project begins as it helps the project manager enough time to prepare, plan, and execute the work. He/ she can negotiate for suitable resources available in the organization that leads to successful project deliveries

*** There is a general tendency in projects towards ‘scope creep’ – which contributes to budget overruns, tampered schedules, and poor project outcomes. Project charter enables the project manager to control the unwanted scenarios of expanding scope by adding more deliverables

Steps in Developing Project Charter

Lets take a look at what are all the likely inputs like documents and processes available for a project manager and also delve into what are the techniques that project manager is expected to possess while preparing project charter for a social project.

Inputs that aid in developing Project Charter

The project manager’s foremost job is to check for existing documents pertaining to the project which shall give him/her a fair idea of the project, proposed work, and anticipated benefits. Below are some of the common documents that should be checked at the beginning of a project

A. Business case

This document provides necessary information from a business angle, whether the expected outcomes of the project justify the required investment. However, developing a business case is not a regular practice in the social sector. The project manager may check with the project head or organization head about any existing document or design developed for the current project.

The general practice in the social sector: when an organization is testing a new intervention with the communities they work, internal resources may be used for piloting. In such a scenario, the project manager may not find a project proposal, but some other form of document explaining the need for the project and anticipated results may be available.

B. Project proposal

Document submitted by the organization to a prospective funder with all necessary details included – Need of the project, geography of implementation, funds required, project duration, methodology, stakeholders including vulnerable communities to be served, expected benefits or Return on Investment, and so on. This could also include any research findings (primary or secondary) justifying the need for the project.

There could be scenarios in social sector projects where a flew of email communication, meeting minutes, resubmission of an entire project proposal or resubmission of a few sections in the proposal have happened. Project manager accessing those documents or communications could be beneficial for gaining better clarity on the expectations of a key stakeholder … funder and what the organization has promised during the conversation(s).

C. Agreement

A legal document signed by at least 2 parties. Usually, the funder and the implementing agency enter into a legal agreement clearly detailing the roles of parties involved, funding pattern vs project outcomes, duration, reporting requirements, and more. There are various forms of agreements, like, memorandum of understanding (MoU), service level agreement (SLA), letters of agreement, letters of intent, or other written agreements. For any project manager, this document is the ‘go to’  and primary reference document as it is a legal document and your organization has agreed to certain deliverables and showcases the impact.

D. Enterprise environment factors (EEFs)

These are conditions or constraints that could influence the functioning of a project. They include the cultural, environmental, legal, and political landscape in which the project functions. These could be internal and external and seldom project team have no control over them like organization structure, governance, and culture (internal); political conditions, the legal framework for the organization’s functioning, infrastructure in the geography (external)

E. Organizational Process Assets (OPAs)

These are assets acquired or developed by the organization. These resources could be lessons learned, policies adopted, templates and techniques developed, guidelines followed and IT/software systems adopted/developed.

A project manager is expected to be well-versed with EEFs and OPAs that have a certain bearing on the project

Tools and Techniques used in developing Project Charter

Below are some of the tools/skills that the project manager is anticipated to possess which will help in developing the project charter

1. Expert Judgement

It is utilization of one’s expertise for an activity to be performed based on skills in a particular domain, subject knowledge, and industry experience.

The project manager’s expertise and domain knowledge can help in defining scope, estimating project duration, what are the likely challenges and risks in project implementation and who are all stakeholders.

In a scenario where organization wants to work with the government for a new education policy, project manager’s experience of earlier engaged in such situations, helps in duration of the project as he/she knows the functioning of government systems and protocols. Also, the project manager can anticipate the likely risks and plan for its mitigation.

2. Data gathering

Collecting preliminary data at this juncture helps in decision-making and for better clarity of the project. The following are a few suggested data collection techniques for this process:

  • Brainstorming: A facilitator leading the idea generation and solutions. Possible participants could be team members, stakeholders, and subject matter experts
  • Focus groups: Much familiar technique for social sector professionals where a moderator discusses a given topic in-depth and collects qualitative data
  • Interviews: An interviewer asks questions using a structured tool and the interviewee answers those

Most project managers in the social sector are familiar with data collection tools as they are extensively used in research projects. Hence, it is an advantage for project managers to develop a project charter.

3. Interpersonal and Team skills

The project manager has to manage different stakeholders in the entire project phase for their support and decision-making. Also manages the team for project work. Interpersonal and team skills like ‘Conflict management’, ‘Facilitation’ and managing meetings are highly essential for a project manager, that is helpful at this stage as well for gaining consensus among team and stakeholders.

4. Meetings

Meetings are an essential part of project management to seek opinions, consent, planning, and for decision-making process. While developing a project charter, meetings with key stakeholders and team members are important for gathering high-level data on project objectives, success criteria, key deliverables, and milestones

Need of a Project Charter in the Social Sector

Having seen what is project charter, some may question why a project charter is required for social projects. They could argue many projects are managed successfully without even having this document. This document may have not been listed among the bunch of other documents, techniques, and tools a project manager uses in general in the social sector. It is good for a self-check if a project manager in the social sector needs to spend time and energy preparing a project charter. Let’s look at the advantages of developing a project charter

  • The foremost advantage is, that adopting to systematic way of project management mandates the organization or project head to identify and assign each project a manager at the early stage. Ideally, the project manager should get involved during the process of negotiations with the funder and other stakeholders for him/her to gain a full understanding of the project’s scope
  • As we discussed in the above sections, usually the only document that the project team relies on is on project proposal and agreement with the funder. However, it may not have sufficient details on objectives, stakeholders, anticipated risks, and so on. Project charter tries to bring clarity on many ambiguous aspects
  • By approving the project charter, the organization formally authorizes the project manager to take charge of the project. He/she is vested with the power of using resources – Human, financial, and material within the organizational framework on such issues. The project charter is signed by the sponsor in all other sectors like IT and Infrastructure; in the social sector, the same practice is to be adopted, or the least funder should provide email consent for the document.
  • In the social sector, it is a common practice to have regular interactions with the funder and other stakeholders to provide project updates and to seek their input. The most challenging part is when a new idea flows into the project irrespective of the stage where it is. There is a tendency to elaborate scope of the project which is termed ‘scope creep’; This puts the project manager in a tight spot to manage it within the available resources.
    • Having a mutually agreed project charter enables the project manager to negotiate unprecedented changes to the scope and deliverables of the project
    • It could establish a structured mechanism for changes like having a change control board. The project manager has the privilege and space for negotiation of additional resources and timelines as required
    • Whenever changes are made based on mutual consent, they are documented in a newer version of the project charter which is again circulated and approved by all concerned. It eliminates any chance of ambiguity or miscommunication
  • The project team gets focused on their work as the project charter provides the necessary clarity
  • It becomes the basis for preparing a project management plan and the first attempt is made to define project scope in a broader sense
  • The process of identifying stakeholders and interactions with them begins, provides clarity to all parties involved
  • Identifying potential risks for the projects gets initiated
  • This becomes a steppingstone for establishing strong project communications
  • Above all, it becomes a document that aligns project goals with that of organizational overall strategic objectives

Project charter defines the high-level project information. Project managers should be cognizant of the fact that it is just beginning of the project and the amount of details gets included in to the project charter depends on the nature and complexity of the project. In usual circumstances, the project manager may have very little information at the beginning and gains more information as the project work progresses. The next step in the project management is to prepare a project plan which is detailed. Project charter acts as an input for the next stage.

Above template on project charter is indicative. Project manager can adopt it based on the information available and need of the project at that stage.

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