Applied Project

Management -
Developing and
Understanding the
Project Charter
Presented by
Louise Gardner

The University of Sydney Page 1

 Developing the Project Charter
The process of developing a document that formally defines
and authorises a Project by documenting the high level
project characteristics that will satisfy the needs of the
Project Sponsor

Inputs into this process include –

- Scope and objectives
- Business need or rationale
- Business objectives
- High level requirements
- Methodologies, policies and procedures

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

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 Developing the Project Charter

Common Inputs into the Project Charter:

- Business need or rationale

- Product and project description

- Strategic Plan

- Business Case

- Regulations and standards

- Contractual requirements
- Methodologies, policies and procedures

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th edition

The University of Sydney Page 3

 Developing the Project Charter
Common contents of a Project Charter :
- Project purpose or justification
- Project objectives – should be measurable
- Project description
- High level scope
- Assumptions, dependencies, constraints
- High level requirements
- High level risks or overall risk analysis
- Preferred timeframe
- Estimated high level budget
- High level project structure – Project Sponsor, Project
Manager
- Authorisation or Governance processes
–

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

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 Types of Project Charter
– You may know a Project Charter by a different name as they
can vary depending on your industry or the particular
methodology being applied

– Some common names for Project Charters include –

– Project Brief
– Concept Paper
– High Level Plan
– Statement of Work

Sample Project Charter templates are available to download

from the eLearning course site.

Also research other organisational Project Charters available

online.
–

The University of Sydney Page 5

 Purpose of the Project Charter
The Project Charter should be used to provide background to
enable the approval of a Project to proceed

– It defines the high level scope and objectives

– It defines the preferred timeframe and expected budget

- It forms the basis for detailed project planning and requirements

gathering
–

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

The University of Sydney Page 6

 How do you develop the Project Charter?

– Do you have meetings or workshops?

– Who is consulted?
– Who contributes?
– How are the initial estimates made?
– What approval process do you have?

How might this differ from organization to organisation?

The University of Sydney Page 7

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

 Project Scope
What is it?

- What will this project deliver?

- The boundaries or range for the project

- Constraints, Assumptions, Dependencies
- Objectives, Outcomes, Requirements

Why is it important?
- Gives the Project Manager concrete goals
- Ensures the objectives of the client are met
- Provides the basis for expectation management, monitoring and
reporting
The University of Sydney Page 8
 Defining Project Scope
–

The process of developing a detailed description of the

project and end products.

– A detailed scope statement is critical to project success

– Defines high level deliverables and dependencies
– Clarifies and resolves assumptions and constraints
documented during the Initiation phase
– The detailed scope must be signed off by the Project
Sponsor

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th edition

The University of Sydney Page 9

 In/Out of Scope
– It is just as important to document and agree what is IN scope and
what is OUT of scope

– Some OUT of scope items are implied or expressed as

documented project assumptions

– Others should be explicitly called out as exclusions

– It can be difficult for inexperienced practitioners to predict and

document OUT of scope items, especially if they are uncertain of
the client’s expectations

*If an assumption is invalid or an OUT of scope items needs to be

included, then it is critical to raise a change request

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 Why is Scope Important?
– Gives the Team concrete goals

– Ensures the objectives of the Project Sponsor and Client

are understood and met

– Provides the basis for expectation management, monitoring

and reporting

– Determines the baseline against which project success can

be measured

– Determines the baseline for discussions about variations or

requests for changes

The Devil is often in the detail!

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 Project Objectives
It is critical that the project objectives and success criteria are
measurable, otherwise progress and success are difficult to achieve
The recommended method is SMART. Make sure all your objectives
are:

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

The University of Sydney Page 12

 Project Assumptions

What is a Project Assumption?

Project Assumption is “A factor in planning process that is

considered to be true, real or certain often without any proof or
demonstration” – PMBoK 5th Edition

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 Project Constraints

What is a Project Constraint?

A constraint any restriction that defines a project's limitations; the scope,

for example, is the limit of what the project is expected to accomplish.

The most common constraints on a project are time, cost and scope (inc
specifications and quality) This is often referred to as the ‘Triple
Constraint’.

The University of Sydney Page 14

 Project Dependencies

PMBoK does not define the term ‘dependency’ but in practice a

dependency is an activity or event that must be complete before a
subsequent task or activity can start.

Identifying dependencies is critical to effective project planning.

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 Work Breakdown Structure

Definition
› A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the
work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the
project objectives and create the required deliverables.
› It organises and defines the total scope of the project.
› It can be done at a high level during project initiation and
then expanded as part of detailed project planning

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

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 Work Breakdown Structure - Example

The WBS is made up of phases and work packages, deliverables

and activities, down to tasks at the lowest level

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 Deliverables vs Activities

Deliverables are the primary planning concept when developing the Work
Breakdown Structure

› Activities are the primary planning concept

when developing the project schedule

› Activities that are not connected to a

deliverable are wasting time and energy

› We often automatically think in activities, it requires discipline to develop the

deliverables first

– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio

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 QUESTIONS?

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– Adapted from PMBOK 5th editio