Project Charter template

A project charter template is a document contain project information such a size, type and complexity of the project. Here you can get the template and its contents about the project and how to create project charter template.

The Project Charter is a formal agreement between the Project Owner and the Project Manager of project deliverables that establishes the purpose, participants and direction for a project. The Project Charter will be used as the basis for Project Plans and Change Management. 

The components of the Project Charter are: Project Overview, Opportunity Statement, Impact Statement, Constraints and Assumptions, Project Scope, Project Objectives, Project Justification, Project Approach, Project Risk, Project Organization and Project Charter Acceptance.  The Project Charter does not include the Project Plan. Plans should be published separately.

What to include in project charter template?

Mission

The mission, or goal, for the project should be documented in this row.  What is the project?

Objectives

This section must define the goal of the project in measurable terms, such as the schedule, budget, and so forth.  Any critical expectations defined during the quality assurance should be documented in this section. Why is it important to achieve the project mission? What do you hope to achieve by executing the project?

Project Approach

Project Approach identifies the general strategy for completing the project and explains any methods or processes that will be used during the project.  A Project Plan should not include in the Project Charter; the Work Breakdown Structure will be created in the Planning Processes Phase.

Deliverables

What will the project actually produce?  These should be measurable items.

Stakeholders

Who will be on the team? Who is the project sponsor?  What other stakeholders have already been identified? Include contact information if possible.

Roles and Responsibilities

Are there some roles/responsibilities that need to be clarified now before the detailed planning begins?  Are you clear on your responsibilities as the project manager?

Assumptions

What high-level assumptions have already been made about the project?

Communications

What will be the main channels of communications?  Do you anticipate any communication problems that should be clarified here? How often will the team meet?

Project Risks

What are main high-level risks that have already been identified?

This section should include an analysis of the project risks.  The analysis should be discussed with the Business Owner.  The Project Manager and Business Owner should jointly determine possible contingency plans.  If the Business Owner commits to action items to alleviate risk, they should be documented in this section.  The following is an example of the contents of this section.

Quantity and Definition of Scope

[Describe the high risk areas]
[Describe the plan to alleviate the risks described.  Include commitments made by all Project Organizations in an effort to reduce the risk.]
Experience of Project Team
[Describe the risk areas]
[Describe the plan to alleviate the risks described.  Include commitments made by all Project Organizations in an effort to reduce the risk.]
Technical Factors
[Describe the risk areas]
[Describe the plan to alleviate the risks described.  Include commitments made by all Project Organizations in an effort to reduce the risk.]
Project Organization
[Describe the risk areas]
[Describe the plan to alleviate the risks described.  Include commitments made by all Project Organizations in an effort to reduce the risk.]
Environmental Factors
[Describe the risk areas]
[Describe the plan to alleviate the risks described.  Include commitments made by all Project Organizations in an effort to reduce the risk.]

Documentation

Where will project documentation be kept?  How will it be kept up-to-date?

Decision Making Process

What will be the decision making process(es) for the project?

Project Organization

The Project Organization identifies the roles and responsibilities needed to create a meaningful and responsive structure that enables the project to be successful. This Project Organization must identify the people who will play each assigned role.

A Project Owner is required for each project. This role must be filled by one or more individuals who are the fiscal trustee for the project to the larger corporate organization. 

This function considers the global impact of the project and deems it worthy of the required expenditure of money and time. The Project Owner communicates the vision for the effort and certifies the initial Project Charter and Project Plan. Should changes be required, the Project Owner confirms these changes and their influence on the Project Charter and Project Plan. 

When project decisions cannot be made at the team level, the Project Owner must resolve these issues. The Project Owner must play an active role throughout their project, especially ensuring that needed resources have been committed to the project and remain available.

Project Manager

A Project Manager is also required for each project. This person is responsible for initiating, planning, executing and controlling the total project effort. Members of the Project Team report to the Project Manager for project assignments and are accountable to the Project Manager for the completion of their assigned work.

Project Team

A Project Team is assembled for each effort to perform the actual work of the project. This team represents a collection of skills and opinions that are considered significant to the success of the project. Team members are commonly selected from many internal and external organizations.

Signatures

You may want to ask people to sign an agreed-upon final version of the charter to document everyone’s agreement.

Project Charter template

Process for Project charter acceptance

When a formal confirmation of Project Charter review and validation is needed, a Project Charter Acceptance section should be included.  This section should include approval from the Project Owner. It may also include locations for approvals from any corporately designated funding agents and service provider management who are corporately charged with certifying the project.

The signatures affixed below indicate that the undersigns:

• Have read the Project Charter.
• Have formally voiced any documented concerns, Appendix A.
• Certify that the Project Charter accurately represents their expectations and conditions required for the project
• Are unaware of any conditions that prevent this agreement from being followed
• Agree that any changes to this document will follow the Change Request Process that has been set.

Signatures

You may want to ask people to sign an agreed-upon final version of the charter to document everyone’s agreement.


As a representative from the Quality Assurance area, I have confirmed with all parties above that they are in agreement that the contents within this Project Carter are expectable.  I further more confirm at this time that this project meets all of the Quality Assurance Standards to this date.