The most important things to discuss at this stage are: what a Charter is, what is included in a Charter, why a Charter is important, and how a Charter is developed.

What is a Charter?

“A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.” (PMI, 2004, 368)

Why is a Charter Important?

The project charter is an indispensable part of the Six Sigma project, and the foundation for the project’s success. The creation of the project charter begins at the top of the organization as management creates a one-page document that summarizes the project. The charter is a dynamic, living document and can be updated as information becomes available in the DMAIC process. When developing a charter to documents we need to ensure we understand the goal of the project so that we can ensure the deliverables will help obtain it.

The charter provide parameters for the project – think of it as being similar to a contract, between a team and a client. It is important the organization and people working on the project understand why they are doing it.  This will also help them to stay focused on the outlined goals and objectives. This is done through questions such as:

• What are the benefits of this project?
• Who will be impacted by the project?
• How will we know the project is successful?

How to Develop a Charter

You will have a Project Sponsor or “client”.  For a Capstone project, this is likely your industry partner or perhaps a faculty member supporting the project within your institution.

This person should be providing the initial SOW (Statement of Work) or objectives to define their goals.

The first step of a project should be to have a kick-off meeting.  In this meeting you will do the following:

• Review the SOW and any other documents provided
• Ask about ‘Project Objectives’
• Understand who will be impacted and potentially the outcomes they are looking for once the project is completed
• Contrast requirements between proposal and expectations — try to be as specific as possible
• Set up deliverables, with milestones and checkpoints
• Identify success criteria and create a schedule (tools with automatic reminders will help with this aspect)
• Processes for executing monitoring, controlling and overall management of the project

Project Goal

The project goal the business need, opportunity, or problem that the project was undertaken to address – i.e., the project justification. This should not be the deliverable (or “what you are doing”), but rather what the project is trying to accomplish (the “why”) . i.e. – Company XYZ wants to increase their revenues by 25% through social media campaigns in 2020. Goals should be SMART – specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (HubSpot SMART goals).

Simon Sinek and his concept of the Golden Circle is critical in your understanding of what you are try.ing to accomplish and more importantly ‘Why’.

Deliverables and Research Goals

Provide a high-level list of “what” needs to be done to reach the goals of the project.  The overall project should be split into 3 or 4 main deliverables, with 5-6 sub-deliverables or “tasks”.  Each deliverable should be sufficiently detailed and measurable so that the Project Team will understand what needs to be accomplished.  Describe the deliverable using action words (verbs) such as “deliver, provide, create, research, etc.

Steps to Define Deliverables:

1. Provide a high-level list of “what” needs to be done to reach the goals of the project.
2. Break this into 3-4 smaller defined pieces (sub-deliverables) along the way.
3. Each deliverable should be detailed in a way that both the client and team have a clear view of what is to be provided.  This should include things such as format, suggested length and items included. 

The charter deliverables will need to define what will be handed in at each phase and what they will look like in detail.

What Do Deliverables Look Like?

Deliverable #1: Research Phase

This may include primary or secondary research (i.e. interviews versus scholarly analysis). For some projects in which both primary and secondary research are necessary, this phase would consist of solely primary research and secondary research would fall into deliverable #2.

Deliverable #2: Action Phase

For those projects only requiring one form of research, this stage begins the analysis and summary of research into actionable recommendations.

For projects which require secondary and primary research, the secondary research would be conducted as this deliverable – with a thought towards application and filtering of secondary research to the findings from deliverable #1. Note – most institutions have a requirement for specific approval of primary research endeavors – you should check with your professor before proceeding into any primary research.

Deliverable #3: Presentation Phase

For all forms of projects, this phase is the conclusion of the project. Therefore, this should be the deliverable in which the client is presented with a result that seeks to satisfy the original goal of the project. The presentation format is at the client’s discretion but can be in the form of a drafted policy, recommendation report, presentation, or other. The idea is that the students hand a hard copy of the accumulation of all their work to the client in a format that allows the client to easily see the original goal as accomplished.

Many projects will not be completed fully over one semester and will have an additional team picking up where you left off. It is okay to clearly identify a portion of a project or game you are completing over the semester. This means as part of your final document you should have a clear handoff for the next team, including a drive where the files would be accessible.

Research Goals

Data: Information to be used for research purposes.

• Will the use of data/information aid in your project?
• How will you obtain the data/information?
  • Secondary Research – requesting existing data from external organizations/government – Library resources or Google Scholar are excellent for this.  You need to make sure you are using quality reputable resources
  • Primary Research – through human interaction (in-person/online/phone) with participants.  This can be difficult to manage due to the inherent risks.  It requires a solid plan and Research and ethics board approval.
  • Program Evaluation and/or Quality Improvement data
  • Your client – data that they have already collected internally
• Having considered the above information, are you planning on conducting and/or analyzing research to aid in the project goals and deliverables?

There should be metrics included in this section. i.e., we plan to survey 100 people over the course of 3 weeks, we will analyze 10 different companies, we will provide 20 marketing pieces, etc. These will help in developing your updates or check-ins throughout the term.

Scope

Scope – The extent of what a project will produce (product scope) and the work needed to produce it (project scope).

Document the scope of work to be delivered. To assist in defining scope, use documentation such as RFP, sales proposals, business requirements, functional specifications, etc. to set and limit the scope.

In-Scope is what the project will include, meeting the requirements of the project goals.

Out of Scope excludes responsibilities, activities, deliverables, or other areas that are not part of the project.

Scope Creep: Adding additional features or functions of a new product, requirements, or work that is not authorized (i.e., beyond the agreed-upon scope).

Top 5 Causes of Scope Creep, Larson, R. & Larson, E. (2009).

Assumptions, Constraints & Dependencies

Identify the assumptions that were made to define the scope and to complete the deliverables. Assumptions are elements that need to be ‘true’ in order for your project to proceed.

Objective: Set the boundaries and address how the triple project management constraint (scope, time, cost) could be impacted or managed (Baratta, A., 2006).

List any constraints (potential factors that will impact the delivery or make it difficult to manage the project) on the project or dependencies (on resources or funding to the project). Consider time, cost, dates, rules, and regulations, etc. as constraints or dependencies to the project.

These should be specific to your project.

• What would limit you?
• What information/data/access are you expecting provided by the client?
• What do you need the client to do by when? IE give feedback, post to social media, provide reports?
• Provided funding? Tools? Equipment?
• What tools will you be engaging with for your project? (Hootsuite, oculus, raspberry pi, databases etc)

Include any required equipment or resources that will be needed and who is expected to be providing them.

Related Documents

Reference any related documents that were used to define scope and assumptions. Include a description, along with a copy/attachment/link to the documentation.

Project Organizational Structure

Think of this as a contact list for the project. It should include you client (and other secondary contacts), as well as your course contacts ([professor, TAs, mentors, etc.).

Identify the key stakeholders and team members by function, name, and role. One team member will be designated Team Lead and will act as the main point of contact for communication for the project external partner.

What’s a Stakeholder?

• A stakeholder is an individual, group or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project (Project Management Institute, 2013).
• Key Stakeholders can include: customers/users, sponsors, portfolio manager, program manager, PMO, Project Manager
• It is important to remember to identify the project stakeholders in your Charter.

Confidentiality Agreement

It is important to understand that there is a confidentiality agreement on your projects and you should be cautious with how you save, share or use the information provided.  Consider things such as:

• Keep anonymous the identity of the interviewed respondents, including the project sponsor (client) and any associated party of the sponsor.
• Not use the respondents’ contact information for any other purpose than to conduct the present study.
• Not use the collected data for any purpose other than to complete the present study.
• Not provide the collected data to any third party other than our client and the professor, and to keep all the research information confidential by not discussing or sharing it in any form or format (eg. disks, tapes, transcripts) with anyone other than our client and the professor. The research results will be discussed with the faculty involved in the Capstone course at the final presentation only.
• NOTE – you should never sign any external confidentiality documentation without consulting with your professor or faculty advisor.

Project Authorization

Once you have completed your charter, it should be reviewed by the main stakeholders for acceptance; this is what will ‘kick off’ the project and allow you to begin work. This can come as an email from your client confirming acceptance, but it is most preferred to have a written signature and/or verbal agreement in a meeting.