The first thing people think about when talking about companies is - projects. Projects are an important way of working in most modern organizations, with team managers always picking the right people for the right project.

And, with projects, there must be project charters—those essential elements of each task encompassing all the necessary information in one place.

Multiple project charter templates will allow you to take control of your project and know everything there is to know about it.

In this article, we will answer all the whats, ifs, and whys that you may have when constructing and founding a project charter. In the end, it is a tool, and like most tools, it needs some instructions on how to use it. You will also find some customizable templates.

So, if you want to learn more about this concept, do not click away; we will go into some excruciating detail, so be ready for that.

This project charter template is one of the most comprehensive, combining all the necessary elements with some great visual representation.

As you can see, you can add teams, schedules, as well as potential risks and benefits of this project. This is also an agile project charter template so use it in as many circumstances as you wish. It’s also a great project management charter.

If completed correctly, it can surely benefit you in many ways and provide a data basis for all employees. You can download this free project charter template for free at SmartSheet.com.

Project Charter Template #2

This template is designed for people who do not have a vast project but want something that will help them to keep track of what they’re doing. It’s pretty simple and not as shiny as the previous one, but it will allow some essential project management to run smoothly without many issues.

It is designed for some more straightforward projects, but many of them are in the end. You can download this template for free at Training.Procept.com.

Project Charter Template #3

And here we have a book. This is the biggest, the longest, and the most advanced project charter template ever. It even has a table of contents and everything.

This one is designed for all the heavy hitters that need something vast for their enormous project. And for that kind of stuff - it works perfectly. It’s extensive, excellent, and has many advantages that most of your everyday projects probably do not need, but you will know what to use when the one comes.

You can download this template for free at TemplateArchive.org.

Well, there are plenty, indeed. To keep things short - you just need to create it in the end. Whether you like it or not, a comprehensive database of all the project’s information is just something that cannot be looked over.

You will be able to optimize, have a more efficient workflow, and not be slowed down by silly issues that could be resolved with a database that everyone can access. Let’s get into some deep project charter elements.

Optimization

With a great project charter comes excellent optimization. One of the common issues in most companies is that many people do the work of one person and the other way around. This mostly comes from the fact that all the information about some of the relations between teams and stakeholders has not been laid out correctly.

Additionally, in most cases, no guidebook can help those people out. In the case of a project charter, you will quickly be able to see the project’s scope and will be able to find out what is the best way of achieving the common goal.

Clarity

The project charter introduces one more element that is essential to the success of a project which is - clarity. All the stakeholders will be able to quickly see some of their responsibilities and the idea behind this project.

One problematic element that often comes up in the workplace environment is that people often do not even know what they are doing. Whether it’s a construction project charter template or something else, everything becomes much clearer when you have this guidebook that you can always refer to.

Data Gathering

A great project charter is also a way of gathering information about the company and some ways of achieving goals. It is a document of the team’s work and could be used in the the future project planning phase for something completely different.

Think of it that way, if you had a project budget, would you create it from scratch each time? Probably not. So, you will probably use someone’s boilerplate to have a good project charter for the future.

The project charter is a unique idea, but it is an office element that can be confused with other tools used in that environment. The closest “cousins” of the project charter are the statement of work and the project proposal.

Let’s examine some of the main differences between those different project management charters.

Differences Between Project Charter and Statement of Work

Let’s first get over some definitions. Statement of work is a similar concept to project charter, although with some tweaks here and there. The basic idea is that it shows stakeholders why the project commenced and gives you an overview of some of the outcomes the project should achieve. You can say that a good project charter is based on the statement of work. 

The other difference is that a statement of work is just a document, while a project charter allows the manager to start the project, roll out the budget and just go through.

Differences Between Project Charter and Project Proposal

The difference is in the name, as you can see. The project proposal comes before the project charter and is a critical piece that happens before the project starts. It is created in the planning phase, where there is yet no clear go from the project management body that would allow the project manager to kick off.

It has a lot of details on what the project would achieve, why it is essential, what are some key project milestones and what kind of ideas are behind this concept.

Now that we know all the necessary information about the project charter and why we should invest our time and money in it, let’s talk about what should be included in such a document.

Some elements must find their way into the project charter document, and some are optional. Whether it’s this or that, you can see that a great project charter will allow everyone to become the best version of a stakeholder.

Here are some elements to keep in mind when creating a project charter.

Executive Summary

In this section, you can summarize all the sections that will be explained in more detail later. In most cases - it’s best not to overwhelm the reader with too much information in this section as it will be repeated throughout the rest of the project charter so try to keep it brief and concise.

Project Vision

It is a project statement or something like that, so be sure to include all the ideas that went into this project. It’s an essential part of the project charter that sometimes gets underestimated. 

The most exciting element is that it allows people to not only understand what they are trying to achieve but also gives them some inspiration on why they should pursue it.

Project Definition

With a clear definition of the project, everything you are trying to accomplish will quickly get watered down, and it will make everything clear. Try to be very specific and extremely strict with what you’re trying to achieve.

Goals and Objectives

With a great definition, you will also need to create some explanation on the most important objectives and goals of this project and how they are going to be achieved. Be sure to add some time frame to all this and that the objectives are achievable and not just a project manager’s dream.

The Scope of the Project

Project scope focuses on all the necessary elements to make or break the project. Think about all the processes that go into getting the deliverables out there. In all project management documents, this section has one of the most views as it shows all the parties the limits of the project we are trying to complete.

Also, it will show the project's impact on the whole company. Will it change how we communicate? There may be some additional security elements that should be taken into consideration. All of that must be included in the project scope.

Project Organization

Here, you can tell who, what, where, and why in simple terms. In this section, people will see the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and everyone else involved in the project.

Stakeholders

Here you will have to list all the stakeholders involved in the project. You will also see their responsibilities, why they are essential to the project, and how long they should be working on it. 

Customers

In this part, you will be able to analyze and see who your project's customers are and what will satisfy them in the end. What is the outcome you are trying to give them?

Roles and Responsibilities

One of the essential parts for the project team members. Here you can set all the responsibilities and elements that could be important for the stakeholders. They will be able to see the scope of what they have to do, how they should go about it, and what are some relations between the parties.

You can add columns to it whatever you like, with some reviews, comments, ideas, etc. Stakeholders will be able to see what they are to the project and what they should do to get the deliverables to the customers.

Project Plan

First - you need to have a plan; then comes everything else. To achieve the goals stated in your vision, you will need to create a straightforward way of accomplishing all the tasks.

You can create some long-term goals section and short-term achievements or structure it in whatever you want. The idea is that it should be as detailed as possible and simultaneously transparent. Most people use a Gantt chart in this case, and for a reason. It allows seeing complicated data points. You will also have a project schedule that clearly shows what should be done at what time and by whom.

Remember to also set some milestones. After achieving each, you can create some kind of review of the whole process. 

You will also need to include every little element your project depends on. Whether it’s a delivery or some official decision by the government or higher-ups in your company, you need to list all the elements that could jeopardize the workflow.

With that in mind, create a resource management plan as well. Whether human resources or material, you will need to set the time and budget limits in both cases.

Of course, you also need to include some financial elements and, in great detail, explain to project sponsors why it needs to cost that much.

Project Considerations

This is the place to ask all the unpopular questions and give all the unwanted statements. See what risks your project will face, what should come up as a potential problem, and what will be an issue. 

See some possible solutions to those and who should be responsible for resolving them. If you have any issues with the project or want to speak your mind about the ideas you’re trying to spread, this is the time and place to do so.

State all the project objectives that you may find problematic, all the obstacles and milestones that you will be unachievable, and just go to the town with the concept itself. It may seem silly, but it will help you in the future.

Appendix

All the documents you want/need to add to this project charter should be included here.

We are at the end of our journey through the fascinating world of project charters. We hope you enjoyed this one as much as we did when we created it.

As you can see, the project charter is necessary, and you will not go very far with your concept without some essential guidebook that can help everyone involved get through it.

You should always put as much detail as necessary in all the sections of your document. After some time, you will be able to see the essential information with just a glance at the charter.

Ultimately, it’s a great tool, and we recommend you use it in your company. It may not be the easiest of solutions as it is pretty detailed and advanced, but if you want to get the thing done the best way possible, you will have to put up with some more advanced elements.