Project Charter

One of the most crucial and significant documents for every project is the Project Charter. It's the first project document and lays down the fundamentals for the project.

A Project Charter explains a project at a top-notch level and displays the project's stakeholders and method. Moreover, it introduces the project manager to the project.

When it comes to the project sponsors, they own a project charter. These professionals authorize the Project Charter; however, the project manager can create it.

Project stakeholders should approve every Project Charter; once approved, it can't be modified throughout the project life cycle.

What Does a Project Charter Have?

There's no standard norm for what data a Project Charter must have. A Project Charter's format can differ from company to company.

Here, we have listed data that a Project Charter can have:

• Project Name
• Project Description
• Project Scope
• Project Stakeholders
• Business Case
• Project Objective
• Project Timeline
• Project Deliverable
• Project Constraints
• Project Assumptions

Project Scope

The majority of the project bites the dust as the scope of a certain project is not precisely defined. For any project to be practical, the scope has to be clear to all stakeholders without any guesswork.

What is a Project Scope?

Project Scope is a project's boundary, where every project team needs to deliver as defined and agreed in the Project Scope. This document is the backbone on which the schedule and budget are created.

According to the PMBOK, Project Scope is all the work needed and only the work necessary for project completion. Therefore, every project manager needs to record the project scope and get approval from all stakeholders.

Project scope can vary over time depending on the client's demand change, business case change, or any other applicable reason. However, any modification in the scope is supported by a Change request.

The requester should raise a change request, and it has to get approval from the Change control board. Any change to the project scope will affect the cost, HR, time, communication, quality, and risk.

Project Scope Impact

The impact of project scope change on quality, communication, time, HR, cost, and risk is daunting and takes much time for any project professional to determine the effect. However, if the scope change impact isn't identified clearly, this will adversely affect the project's success.

Define Project Scope

Defining Project Scope is the initial step wherein the project's scope is defined. The scope can be defined in three ways:

1. Deliverable (Internal & external)
2. Functionality (Functional properties of the project)
3. Technical structure (Diagram determine the entire system at a high-level)

Concluding Thoughts

Defining scope is a crucial problem in many projects. An error in project scope can lead to a project disaster. Unless and until the scope is determined accurately, the project cannot be under control, and the scope will keep increasing.

A Project Charter offers a strong foundation for a project. All the project stakeholders are informed about their duties and the level of effort needed from their side.

A Project Charter is leveraged during the starting and planning stages; hence a good Project Charter can aid the project's success. Therefore, a professional must have a Project Charter before taking over a new project.

If a Project Charter is unavailable, it's better to design a Project Charter and get approval from the stakeholders before one begins the project.