4.1 Develop Project Charter

Process Definition

The Develop Project Charter process authorizes the projects existence and the project manager's ability to use organizational resources to plan and execute project activities.  Initiated by upper management or the project initiator in coordination the project manager, the charter is a document that defines a starting point and agreed upon boundaries for the project.  It also initiates the creation formal project records wherein written agreements, acceptance and commitments to the project by stake holders, project team, customers and contractors are documented.

Process Assessment

Without a well thought out and documented charter the project initiation processes are ambiguous.  Poor communication processes, statements of work and organizational processes will lead to confusion and disarray as the project continues. These foundational elements create an increase risk the project will experience cost overruns, fail to meet expectations and many other ills related to mismanagement. The process for developing the charter uses inputs, applies the appropriate tools and techniques to achieve the outputs listed in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Develop Project Charter: Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs . Reprinted from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th Edition" by Project Management Institute, 2013, p.66. Copyright 2013 by Project Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted without permission.

As examples of how these knowledge areas were used during the course I've provided the following artifacts.: 

Input Artifact

The statement of work (SOW) is used to identify the project, product, service and the desired result. A well defined statement will aid in the initiating process by identifying in detail the requirements for the project, product or service.  During the course a SOW was developed for a simulated project Virtual Reality Learning, see VR Learning Statement of Work linked below. see 4.1.1

Tools & Technique Artifact 

Expert Judgement is one of the tools in the Project Charter development process.  Often times project managers must rely on their own or others expert judgment to obtain practical and realistic information.  The Initialing process input for making the business case or deciding whether a project is practical is critical before  proceeding.  In  PMGT 501 our Group decided to create a high-end eco home project.  Finding information on the components was easily done with the internet but obtaining information on the home build itself was difficult.  I knew of a high-end home builder who was kind enough to provide a cost breakdown of a home with very similar dimensions to what we had decided on in our project. The Prindle and Prindle associated cost estimates were included in our initial project statement.   see 4.1.2

 Outputs

The output for the Develop Project Charter is of course the Charter its Self.  In PMGT502 our team developed the project charter for a Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) home in southern Florida.  You may view the charter we created below. see 4.1.3