After reviewing the SAMPLE CHARTER tab in the workbook think critically about your project scope, about how many engineers and technical staff you will need to get the project (NOT JUST THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE) done in 12 weeks to deliver value to our client. If an engineer or senior analyst costs $100 per hour and a technician or junior analyst costs $50 an hour, what budget would you need? What kinds of risks could your project encounter, and how can you prepare so they won’t happen? Lastly, HOW are you going to describe what is IN SCOPE and OUT OF SCOPE and what are your GOALS and METRICS?Instructions for each section (READ AND FOLLOW CLOSELY):
- Header: All stakeholders who have signature authority over your project need to be recorded in the header (waterfall template: blue; agile template: maroon)
- Product Mission (agile): A 2-3 sentence description of the problem the project is going to solve.
- Product Vision (agile): A 2-3 sentence description of the value that the finished product is going to add to the business (for agile, see also this explanation)
- Key Deliverables: A very clear and detailed description of what the project is going to build, meaning what is INCLUDED (in scope) and what is EXCLUDED (out of scope). Changes to this contractual statement will have to be authorized by the product owner or project sponsor later in the project lifecycle.
- Success Criteria/ Goals and Key Metrics: In the Goals or Criteria section, describe what the product owner or project sponsor can expect from your final product. In the Key Metrics section, describe how the product owner or project sponsor will be able to measure that you have fulfilled your goals (and completed your scope). The metrics section MUST CONTAIN METRICS, meaning numbers (or boolean) and measurement units, for example, “20% increase in positive customer reviews” (NOT “customer satisfaction” because how do you count satisfaction? You can, however, count reviews).
- Assumptions and Constraints: This part is the most important section to guarantee your project success. Here you must list all the things you EXPECT to be AVAILABLE to you to be successful in your project (assumptions) and the things you expect to LIMIT your project activities (constraints). If any of these change, your project might be negatively impacted (they don’t often change in your favor).
- Risks: Risks have a “grammar”–if/ then/ because. That is because a risk is a combination of a condition or trigger that might potentially happen (if), a consequence that will occur if the trigger happens (then), and a root cause why the consequence is going to occur (because), for example, “If the test lab space is not available during the third week of each month, product testing may be delayed because test cycles are automated and run on a set schedule.”
- Budget and Timeline: These are intricately connected. Develop your timeline first so that you can estimate how many people will be working on the project for how long (and how many hours). Research the rates customers are charged for this work (in contrast to how much workers are being paid–BIG difference!). That will help you.
- Team: Your team must include a project manager or scrum master. product owner is also part of the team. You will need your developers or engineers, probably designers and testers (and QA), and possibly technical writers to prepare your user guides and train your end users and your helpdesk personnel.
