A project charter is a project definition document that answers the question “How is the project going to get done?” A good project charter functions as a project management execution plan template.
Every project starts with a business case: the problem (or opportunity) statement that a project sets out to solve (or capitalize on). In the Approach section, a project charter outlines the solution.
When organizations are specific with the problem, they can be specific with the solutions. From there, the tasks needed to create that solution become apparent. And once a project manager has the tasks, they can map the necessary skills, which will serve as the basis for the people and effort necessary to perform the project.
A sound project charter, then, can support the rest of the project like the trunk of a tree. The business case serve as the roots, which should feed directly into the project charter, and the more detailed the charter is, the more stems and branches can flow from it, creating a sturdy, healthy plant.
What Holds Project Charters Back
Unfortunately, there are many things that hold project charters back from reaching their potential in practice.
One challenge is that creating project charters straddles the domains of project management and lifecycle management. The project manager should not be responsible for determining the solution for a problem, but they are accountable for its execution. They rely on a solution architect to provide several of the details they need. This highlights the question and answer dynamic that exists in project-based organizations. Project managers need to know how to ask the right questions to the product management team in order to get answers they can stake their job on.
Another challenge for project charters can be cultural. Charters are often seen as optional, so it is often seen as a victory to have a project charter at all, much less a strong one. Project managers may develop project charters just to tick the boxes, rather than to use them as intended: as a foundational artifact from which the entire project flows.
Organizations need to put standard in place for project definition, and charters need to comply with that standard. The competency of developing charters will only mature and evolve through oversight of the governance bodies who have the expertise to make them strong.
In the IT world in particular, Agile approaches have taken over, which further encourages weak charters. Many organizations don’t even place value on requirements, which leaves open the most basic project question of all: the What. Without knowing Why a project is happening, or How, or even What the project is in the first place, executives are often just throwing money and bodies at problems with the hope something valuable will come out the other side.
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