Project Charter

The key purpose of project charter is to do the following:

 Identify the benefits the organization expects out of the project
 Define the project sufficiently for a qualified project manager to begin developing a project plan
 Determine the organizational viability of the project Identify and communicate risks,
assumptions, and issues currently known about the project to both executive management and
the project management team for planning purposes
 Formally sanction the project and assign the project manager

 the project charter is the one project document that cannot change.
 The charter is a contract between executive management and the project manager.
 Appropriate project management and subject matter expertise must be employed in
developing the business case, to ensure a balance of scope, time, and cost.
 Elements of a
Project Charter

Source: A Managers Guide to Project Management Learn How to Apply Best Practices by Michael B.
Bender
 Sample Project Charter
Project Title: Additional soft-
drink manufacturing plant
 Key Skills of Project Managers
1. Project Management Fundamentals
2. Business Management Skills
3. Technical Knowledge
4. Communication Skills
5. Leadership Skills

They excel in at least two of the five key skill categories (Project Management Fundamentals,
Business Management Skills, Technical Knowledge, Communication Skills, Leadership Skills)
and are either “good enough” in the other categories or staff their teams to compensate for their
deficiencies.

Source: Absolute Beginners Guide to Project Management (2 nd Edition) by Gregory M. Horine

 Lecture 6

PM’s role: Managing Conflict & the art of

negotiation
 Video on Conflict resolution
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyXFirOUeUk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz0py-lzb3s
 Ethical issues often arise in connection with projects
 the temptation to understate costs or to withhold information in order to get a project approved,
 pressure to alter or make misleading statements on status reports,
 falsifying records,
 compromising workers’ safety, and
 approving substandard work.

 Decentralized decision making, the stress of achieving project milestones on time and within
budget, and surprises can contribute to behavioural problems.

 Project work is often based on team efforts, workers are usually evaluated on the basis of the team’s
overall contribution relative to project metrics, and not on an individual basis.
 Conflict Resolution Matrix (CRM)
 Competing strategy: When a competing strategy is employed, the person is viewing the situation as
though someone must lose in order for the other to win, or in this case, I win and you lose (win‐lose).
This competing strategy may be appropriate in situations where the decision must be made quickly.
 Avoiding strategy: This is a lose‐lose strategy because you are neither cooperating with the other person to help
them achieve their goals nor are you actively pursuing your own goals. This strategy might be applied when the
issue is not that important or you deem the detrimental effects from the conflict outweigh the benefits of
resolving the issue in a desirable way.
 Collaborating strategy: Here focus is on achieving goals but with the
recognition that the best solution is one that benefits both parties. This
strategy can be considered a win‐win strategy and preferred in most
situations and particularly in situations where the needs of both parties are
important.
 Accommodating strategy: In this case, the focus is on resolving
the issue from the other person’s point of view. Here the situation
can be described as I lose, you win, or lose‐win.
 Compromising strategy: In these cases, nobody wins and nobody
loses. Thus, you have likely arrived at a solution that you and the
other party can live with but are not particularly happy about.
 Next Class: Project Panning
 Work Breakdown Structure