The Project Charter is the documented output of the project initiation phases of project management. As such, it is the foundation scoping document describing the reasons for doing the project, the work to be done, who is involved, what costs will be incurred, when it should complete, and how issues will be addressed along the way. The student will follow this rubric in completing the Project Charter. The more thought given to the critical elements of the Project Charter the more prepared the student will be in completing Milestone Three and the Final Project.

Create a document that describes the objectives and purpose of the selected project for the organization. Identify benefits to be achieved that will define project success and how they will be measured. Identify what's in scope and out of scope for the project or the current phase of the project. Identify the job function/title of project stakeholders, specifically the sponsor executive, the project team doing the work, and the users of the delivered technology solution. Describe the project governance and communications plan among the stakeholders. Define completion criteria, key deliverable milestones, and high-level timeline targets. Identify budgetary items in terms of things and services to acquire and existing staff effort. Identify project risks in terms of likelihood, impact, and means for mitigation. Describe constraints in terms of impact to quality, time, and cost. Determine if this project has any interdependencies with other projects.

Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

Project Initiation Control Information: including project name, approval date, project sponsor, project manager, primary customers/partners and project core team (by function)

Business Need: including a brief overview and background information about the project, and a high-level explanation of what the project is to accomplish

Objectives: including main objectives, benefits, and justifications for completing the project

Scope: including an itemized description of the work of the project, and what is "in scope" and "out of scope" Stakeholders: including a list of stakeholders and summaries of stakeholder expectations

Project Completion Criteria

Budgetary Elements: including cost elements, skills required, estimated dollar value, and person hours with hourly rates
Target Completion Timeline: including high-level milestones and an estimated target date for completion

Risks

Constraints

Interfaces