What is a Project Charter? [Free Template]

Have you ever sat down to dinner and had a selection of delicious food descend on your plate, all on its own?

No? Shame, neither have I.

Expecting a meal to fall onto our plate when we haven’t prepared one obviously doesn’t make sense, nice as it would be! A less-known fact, however, is that expecting a project to evolve successfully without a project charter is pretty much equally senseless.

The good news is that this blog can help you quickly set up your project charter, which will serve you well throughout your project.

What is a project charter?

A project charter literally ‘charts’ your project, plotting the information you need to get your project started and stay on track throughout. It helps you make decisions about things like scope and goals, gives you a document that all stakeholders can refer to throughout the project, keeps everyone on the same page, makes expectations clear, and minimizes risk. A project charter can also be edited during the project to allow for unforeseen necessary changes.

Why is a project charter useful?

• Identifies issues at the outset: Since a project charter is shared with stakeholders at the outset, many issues that could have derailed the project can be identified before any harm is done. For example, if you had a certain project goal but your client was imagining something else, this will come to light as you create the project charter.
  
  
• Serves as a reference point: A project charter anchors the project in that it can be referred to throughout the project and shows whether you are meeting your original goals.
  
  
• Keeps clients happy: Clients (rightfully) love knowing exactly what to expect from a project, and a project charter gives them all the information they need to feel secure that their project is in the right hands.
  
  
• Provides clarity: So much time and money can be wasted when people don’t know what they’re doing. You can have two employees doing the same task because neither was clear what was expected of them. Or you can have no one doing a particular task because it wasn’t clearly assigned to anyone. You can also easily miss milestones and deadlines when it’s unclear when various things are due. A project charter effectively eliminates excuses for mishaps - it’s all clearly laid down in writing and available to everyone involved in the project.
  
  
• Helps you manage resources: A project charter helps you plan what resources you need, which in turn helps you figure out your project budget and allocate your resources.
  
  
• Minimizes risk: If you go hiking through the mountains with a compass, you’re far less likely to get lost than if you don't take one. Similarly, embarking on a project with a project charter minimizes the risk of project failure as you have given thought and plan to possible problems and can always go back to your project charter for clarity if things start to veer off course.

What is included in a project charter?

• Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this project? E.g. If you are helping a company recreate its brand messaging, a goal would be to attract the right audience.
  
  
• Resources: What talent will you need to recruit for the project, and how much time do you need to allocate to various aspects of the project? Will you need any physical materials besides office space?
  
  
• Stakeholders: List all the project stakeholders and any notes about them, such as how much they wish to be involved in the project’s progress.
  
  
• Scope: What is included in the project? And just as importantly, what is NOT included in the project? (This will help you identify scope creep if it comes up during the project.)
  
  
• Timeline: Plot your project’s start and end dates and when major milestones should be completed.
  
  
• Budget: Estimate your overall budget based on the resources you will need and divide it into individual costs.
  
  
• Communication plan: What will you communicate with various stakeholders, how will you communicate it, and when will you communicate it?
  
  
• Risks: Think of some risk scenarios that could come up in your project and plan how you can 
  a) prevent them in the first place 
  b) Deal with them if they arise.
  
  
• Signatures: Authorize your project charter template by having key stakeholders sign it.

Project Charter Template

Get your free template here.

How can Workamajig help you run smoother projects?

Creating a project charter is a wonderful first step. Now, how are you going to keep things sailing smoothly?

Workamajig is a one-stop-shop project management software that has been designed especially for creative agencies.

Workamajig smooths out your processes, ironing out creases before you even notice them.

We provide you with easy-to-use software tools like:

• Project management 
• Resource management 
• Sales and CRM
• Tasks management
• Time management
• Real-time agency insights

Sounds awesome? It’s even more awesome than you think.

Check us out here!