Project Charter (Individual project)
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Overview
The purpose of this Indivdual assignment is to develop a project charter based on the Case Study. The
charter is the initial document that ensures everyone has a common understanding of the project and
authorizes the project to proceed. Details of the project will be developed later.
Details of the Project Charter assignment
Read “Mamma’s Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe Case Study” (Course Resources).
Determine the initial project management roles of each team member (assume a team size of 6-8) on
the IT project team for planning, designing, and installing the IT system.
Some team roles might include:
• Project Manager
• Functional or technical managers, such as telecommunications, application software designer,
database developer, Web page designer, etc.
• Budget/Finance
• Project Management Support such as procurement or human resources
Use the textbook and other academically credible sources, as a minimum, to define an IT System and
then to determine the proposed scope for this project. For example, including a scheduling software
package may be within the scope. Providing a learning application for new employees might be not be
within the scope of this IT project.
Use the Case Study to be clear on the basic requirements for this project. What will the IT project team
provide if the proposed plan is accepted? You may email the client/stakeholder (your instructor) to
further define requirements, if you do not have enough information.
As in many real-world projects, the requirements are the weakest part of the project. The lack of detail
is deliberate to encourage identify what might be missing and then work with the client/customer to fill
in the blanks. Does it seem as though perhaps there is not enough information to complete the project
and the charter? If so, please ask the customer (your instructor).
Now prepare a Project Charter for your project. This document becomes the basic agreement to
describe the project with enough detail that the approximate scope and magnitude is clear and
understandable by both the team and the client/customer or executive sponsor.
Project Charter Contents
Executive Summary
Begin the document with an Executive Summary, which contains:
• A summary of the document’s purpose.
• A problem statement (need for the project).
• Project objectives and how they align with the business strategy.
• The project management approach.
• Technical solution (a high-level description of the IT system, which might include a graphic).
This is a Summary, so it should be a paragraph or two, not to exceed one page.
Project Scope
The scope statement expands on the Executive Summary with a clear and concise statement of what the
outcome of the project will be. Although it is the anticipated scope at this time, the intent is to set the
project boundaries as you know them at this time. State (at a high level) what the project will deliver.
Project Charter (Individual project)
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You should be able to draw this from the Case Study. Do not over promise here. State what is in scope
(to be delivered) as well as what is not in scope (not to be delivered).
Project Estimates
At a high level, show the estimated project schedule. The easiest to understand is a list (perhaps in table
format) of projected major milestones/deliverables for the project and their forecasted completion
dates. This information is preliminary only, or a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM). Once the project has
been approved to move forward, a comprehensive project plan will be developed
In addition, show the current estimated project costs, as a ROM. Identify the source of the needed
funding, i.e., Software, Hardware, Networking, Internal Resources, Contractor Resources. Include a Total
ROM Budget Estimate.
Primary Stakeholder(s)
List the individual(s) who will use the final product, influence decisions about the project, and (most
importantly) pay for the project.
Project Team
Identify team roles and responsibilities on the project (you can use actual names based on who is in your
group).
Project Constraints and Assumptions
Constraints are any events or circumstances that may restrict or limit a project (and the team’s options).
Examples of constraints are things such as due dates, fixed budget, skill levels, or resource availability.
Assumptions are the driving force that determines project success and they are typically outside the
total control of the project team. Stakeholders must agree on these assumptions to produce a shared
understanding of project success.
Preliminary Risk Statement
List any risks that can be identified from, for example, the project constraints and assumptions. Included
briefly stated (short sentence) risk mitigation strategies.
Preliminary Communication Plan
Lay out the proposed methods of gathering and communicating project progress to the sponsor. This
could include team standups, task progress updates, project status reports, project reviews, project
post-mortem. Also identify the communication frequency, i.e., daily, weekly, at milestones, at end of
project.
Change Threshold
This identifies the magnitude of changes requested by the customer that would exceed the bounds of
the original charter with relation to cost, resources or schedule. Once the threshold is met or exceeded,
a new Project Charter would be required with signature from the customer.
Definition of Project Complete
This is a high-level statement of the criteria that define when the project has been completed. This is
date and funding agnostic. In other words, “End date reached” or “Funding is exhausted” do not define
Project Complete. This statement should present the completed deliverables that evidence a completed
project.
Signatures
This includes signature blocks of the parties that are agreeing to the charter.
Project Charter (Individual project)
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Formatting Your Assignment
Consider your audience – you are writing in the role of a project manager and your audience is Mamma
Mia. Do not discuss Mamma’s Bakery as if the reader has no knowledge of the organization. Do not use
the term “case study” – this is terminology used in a classroom and would not be in a business report.
Use third person consistently throughout the report. In third person, the writer avoids the pronouns I,
us, you, your, we, my, and ours. The third person is used to make the writing more objective by taking
the individual, the “self,” out of the writing. This method is very helpful for effective business writing, a
form in which facts, not opinion, drive the tone of the text. Writing in the third person allows the writer
to come across as unbiased and thus more informed.
The format could be modified to improve readability. You could use tables in certain spots, i.e., Project
Estimates. Tables are single-spaced, so that would make the document neater looking.
• Create an APA format title page that includes: The title of report (Project Charter), your name,
Course and Section number and date (use assignment due date); do not include graphics or
themes.
• No running header required for this document.
• The body of the paper should be double spaced, and no longer than 7 pages.
• Tables should be single-spaced, and use no shading.
• Use 1″ margins on all sides.
• Font should be 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, 12-point Times
New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern.
• Font should remain consistent throughout the paper, i.e., not changing from one font to
another.
• Use at least one external reference and one from the course content (from the class reading
content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself) with APA formatted citation and
reference. For information on general APA format and specifics related to citing from the class
content, refer to Content → Course Resources → Writing Resources. Resources must not use
Wikipedia, general information sites, blogs, or discussion groups.
• The list of References must be its own page at the end of the document and it must be in APA
format, i.e., double spaced, .5″ hanging indent. No more than 10% of the paper may be in the
form of a direct citation from an external source. All in-text citations must appear in the
References list and all entries in the References list must be used as in-text citations.
• Run Microsoft Word’s grammar/spell checker; there should be no errors in grammar, verb
tenses, pronouns, spelling, punctuation, first person usage, or contractions.
• If headings are used, do not leave blank lines after the previous section, and do not use subheaders.
• Submit your paper as a Word document, or a document that can be read in Word.
Submit this assignment in your Assignments folder.
IMPORTANT: The submission file should be named as “LastnameFirstname” ” Assignment Name”, such
as – MylastnameMyfirstname Project Charter.docx
Project Charter (Individual project)
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Grading Rubric
Criteria
90-100%
Far Above Standards
80-89%
Above Standards
70-79%
Meets Standards
60-69%
Below Standards
< 60%
Well Below Standards
Criterion
Score
Executive Summary
Provides a brief overview of the
Project Charter and is the first
thing your reader will see.
14-15 Points
Contains all five of the
specified Executive
Summary elements,
accurately summarizes the
Charter, and is no more than
two paragraphs.
12-13 Points
Contains four of the
specified Executive
Summary elements,
somewhat summarizes the
Charter, and is no more than
two paragraphs.
10-11 Points
Contains three or four of the
specified Executive
Summary elements, refers to
the Charter, or is more than
two paragraphs.
8-9 Points
Contains one or two of the
specified Executive
Summary elements, wanders
off topic, or exceeds the
specified length.
0-7 Points
No Executive Summary
included, or does not include
any specified elements. 15
Project Charter
The basic agreement describing
the project in enough detail that
the approximate scope and
magnitude is clear and
understandable by both the team
and the client/customer or
executive sponsor.
41-45 Points
Contains all ten of the
specified Project Charter
elements, clearly laying out
the size and cost of the
project, and is no more than
seven pages.
36-40 Points
Contains eight or nine of the
specified Project Charter
elements, giving an idea of
the size and cost of the
project, and is no more than
seven pages.
32-35 Points
Contains six or seven of the
specified Project Charter
elements, giving some idea
of the magnitude of the
project, and is no more than
seven pages.
27-31 Points
Contains up to five of the
specified Project Charter
elements, talks at a high
level about the project, or
exceeds the specified length.
0-26 Points
Most of the specified Project
Charter elements are
missing, or do not follow the
assignment guidelines,
and/or exceeds the specified
length.
45
Research
Use at least 2 references from
academically credible sources
with APA formatted citation (intext).
18-20 Points
Required references are
incorporated, used
effectively, and cited using
APA style. References used
are relevant and timely and
contribute strongly to the
analysis.
16-17 Points
Required references are
relevant, and somewhat
support the analysis.
References are appropriately
incorporated and cited using
APA style.
14-15 Points
Only one reference is used
and properly incorporated,
and/or reference(s) lack
correct APA style.
12-13 Points
A reference may be used, but
is not properly incorporated
or used, and/or is not
effective or appropriate,
and/or does not follow APA
style for references and
citations.
0-11 Points
No course content or
external research
incorporated, or reference
listed is not cited within the
text.
20
Format
Uses format provided. Includes
Title Page and References Page.
18-20 Points
Well organized and easy to
read. Very few or no errors in
sentence structure,
grammar, or spelling; doublespaced, written in third
person, and presented in a
professional format.
16-17 Points
Effective organization. Has
few errors in sentence
structure, grammar, and
spelling; double-spaced,
written in third person, and
presented in a professional
format.
14-15 Points
Some organization. May
have some errors in
sentence structure,
grammar, and spelling;
double spaced and written in
third person.
12-13 Points
Not well organized, and/or
contains several errors in
grammar and/or spelling,
and/or is not double-spaced
and written in third person.
0-11 Points
Not well organized, and/or
contains several errors in
grammar and/or spelling,
and/or is not double-spaced
and written in third person.
20
