In
project managementProject management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives...
, a
project charter or
project definition (sometimes called the
terms of referenceTerms of reference, abbreviated as TOR, describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, etc. When used with regard to a project, they can also be known as a project charter....
) is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project.
The project charter is usually a short document that refers to more detailed documents such as a new offering request or a
request for proposalA request for proposal is an invitation for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. A bidding process is one of the best methods for leveraging a company's negotiating ability and purchasing power with suppliers...
.
In
Initiative for Policy DialogueThe Initiative for Policy Dialogue is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University in the United States.IPD was founded in July 2000 by Joseph E...
(IPD), this document is known as the project charter.
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In
project managementProject management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives...
, a
project charter or
project definition (sometimes called the
terms of referenceTerms of reference, abbreviated as TOR, describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, etc. When used with regard to a project, they can also be known as a project charter....
) is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project.
The project charter is usually a short document that refers to more detailed documents such as a new offering request or a
request for proposalA request for proposal is an invitation for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. A bidding process is one of the best methods for leveraging a company's negotiating ability and purchasing power with suppliers...
.
In
Initiative for Policy DialogueThe Initiative for Policy Dialogue is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University in the United States.IPD was founded in July 2000 by Joseph E...
(IPD), this document is known as the project charter. In
customer relationship managementCustomer relationship management are methods that companies use to interact with customers. The methods include employee training and special purpose CRM software...
(CRM), it is known as the project definition report. Both IPD and CRM require this document as part of the project management process.
The project charter establishes the authority assigned to the project manager, especially in a
matrix management environmentMatrix Management is a type of organizational management in which people with similar skills are pooled for work assignments. For example, all engineers may be in one engineering department and report to an engineering manager, but these same engineers may be assigned to different projects and...
. It is considered industry best practice.
The purpose of the project charter is to document:
- Reasons for undertaking the project
- Objectives and constraints of the project
- Directions concerning the solution
- Identities of the main stakeholders
The three main uses of the project charter:
- To authorize the project - using a comparable format, projects can be ranked and authorized by Return on Investment.
- Serves as the primary sales document for the project - ranking stakeholders have a 1-2 page summary to distribute, present, and keep handy for fending off other project or operations runs at project resources.
- As a focus point throughout the project - for example: project as people walk in to team meetings and use in change control
Change control is a formal process used to ensure that changes to a product or system are introduced in a controlled and coordinated manner. It reduces the possibility that unnecessary changes will be introduced to a system without forethought, introducing faults into the system or undoing changes...
meetings to ensure tight scope management.
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