4.1: Project Charter

Sections and Questions

Section 1: Background

Questions Answered:

• What is the purpose of the project?
• Where did the project originate?
• Have we conducted similar projects in the past?
• Who is the project manager and what level of authority will the project manager have?

Section 2: Business case

Questions Answered:

• Why was this project selected to move forward (project justification)?
• What selection criteria were used?
• What problems is this project solving or what opportunities is it creating?
• What are the high-level requirements?

Section 3: Goals

Questions Answered:

• What are the broad goals of this project?
• How will we know if the project is a success (what are our metrics for success)?
• Are there industry standards that we are trying to meet or benchmarks for performance that we want this project to attain?

Section 4: Key stakeholders

Questions Answered:

• Who are the key stakeholders and what is their interest in our project?

Section 5: Major milestones

Questions Answered:

• When are the major deliverables expected to be completed?
• Are we receiving progress payments for our work and, if so, what milestones are tied to payments?

Section 6: Project budget

Questions Answered:

• What is the initial budget for this project?
• How was that budget developed?
• Are the numbers used for budgeting rough estimates based on top-down estimation techniques, such as analogous or parametric estimating, or are they hard constraints?
• What contingency funds have been allocated?

Section 7: Constraints

Questions Answered:

• What are the constraints on our project or final product?
• Are there regulatory constraints that our product must meet?
• Are there other limitations that we need to consider in terms of our scope of work?

Section 8: Assumptions

Questions Answered:

• What assumptions are we making about this project or the environment in which we are operating?

Section 9: Risks

Questions Answered:

• What risks can be identified?

Section 10: Project authorization

Questions Answered:

• Are we authorized to proceed with the project?

Project Charter Questions

1. Background and description of the project

2. False

3. False

4. True

5. Use the Drupal CMS

6. False

7. Tell them that such work is specifically outside of the scope of work as described in the project charter, and ask them to focus on content that is within the scope of work.