Project charter template
A project charter is the short document that starts a project. It says why the project exists, what it must achieve, what's in and out of scope, who the sponsor is, how success will be measured and what limits it must work within. Once the sponsor signs it, the project manager has the authority to spend time and money on the work. This free Word template fits on two or three pages.
Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.
It comes before the detailed project plan, and its job is to get the people who fund and run the project agreeing before anyone works out tasks and dates.
What's in the template
Project charter
| Project name | |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Owns the outcome and the budget |
| Project manager | |
| Prepared on | |
| Version | |
| Decision needed by |
1. Purpose
The problem or opportunity in two or three sentences, and what happens if we do nothing.
2. Objectives and success measures
| Objective (a result, not an activity) | How we'll know | Target | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
3. Scope
| Included | Excluded | Not yet decided |
|---|---|---|
4. Main deliverables
What will exist at the end: a system, a building, a trained team, a new way of working.
5. Sponsor, team and stakeholders
| Person or group | Role in the project | What they need from it |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | ||
| Project manager | ||
| Team member | ||
| Affected team or customer |
6. Key dates
| Milestone | Target date | Fixed or flexible? |
|---|---|---|
| Charter approved | ||
| Project plan approved | ||
| Project complete |
7. Budget and resources
| Budget limit | Including contingency |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Budget or cost centre |
| People needed | Who, and roughly how many days |
| Outside help | Suppliers, contractors or advisers |
8. Constraints, assumptions and known risks
| Type | Description | Effect if it changes or happens |
|---|---|---|
| Constraint | ||
| Constraint | ||
| Assumption | ||
| Risk |
9. Authority
| Project manager can decide | e.g. spending within budget lines; task dates that don't move a milestone |
|---|---|
| Sponsor must decide | Changes to scope, milestones or the budget |
| Goes to the board when | e.g. the budget limit or the completion date would be exceeded |
10. Approval
| Name | Role | Decision | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | Approved / not approved | |||
| Project manager | Accepted | |||
Charter or project plan: what's the difference?
They share some headings but answer different questions.
| Project charter | Project plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Should we do this, and on what terms? | How exactly will we do it? |
| Written | Before work starts, usually by the project manager with the sponsor | After the charter is approved, by the project manager with the team |
| Detail | Purpose, objectives, boundaries, limits, authority | Tasks, dates, named people, budget lines, risks, communication |
| Changes | Rarely; a big change means the project itself has changed | Through change control as the work goes on |
For a small internal project, the charter can be the first page of the plan. Keep the sponsor's signature on it either way.
How to write a project charter
- Draft it with the sponsor, not for them. An hour together is usually enough. A sponsor who won't give that hour won't make time for the decisions later.
- Describe the problem before the solution. "Paper job sheets are re-typed in the office, so invoices go out late" is a better purpose than "introduce a mobile app", because it leaves room to choose the best fix.
- Turn the purpose into two to four objectives, each with a measure, a target and a date. If nobody can say how success will be checked, the project isn't ready.
- Draw the boundary. List what's excluded, especially the natural extensions people will assume, and the questions still open.
- State the limits: the budget ceiling, any fixed date, and rules such as using existing systems.
- Set the project manager's authority and the point where decisions go back to the sponsor. If several teams are involved, agree a RACI matrix at the same time.
- Circulate it to everyone named, fix what they question, then get the sponsor's signature.
Example: a charter for a fictional contractor
A summary of the charter for a fictional 140-person heating and air conditioning contractor in Ohio, whose 85 field engineers are moving from paper job sheets to a phone app. It's a US company, so the figures are in dollars.
| Purpose | Office staff re-type engineers' paper job sheets, so invoices go out about a week after the work and some sheets are lost. Doing nothing means slower cash and more disputed invoices. |
|---|---|
| Objectives | 1. Every job recorded in the app by 30 June. 2. 95% of jobs invoiced within two working days of completion by 30 September. 3. No more admin time for engineers than today, checked by a survey in July. |
| Included | The app for planned and reactive jobs, photos and customer signatures, and the link to the accounting system. |
| Excluded | Scheduling and dispatch (unchanged), van stock, a customer portal. |
| Not yet decided | Whether subcontractors will use the app. |
| Sponsor | Operations director |
| Limits | $75,000 including the first year's software fees; must work offline in basements; live before the autumn heating season. |
| Authority | The project manager can move tasks within a milestone; changes to scope, the June date or the budget go to the sponsor. |
Common mistakes
- Writing it after work has started. Its value is the agreement reached before money is spent.
- A sponsor in name only: someone too junior to make the calls, or who signs without reading.
- Objectives that are activities. "Roll out the app" can be done and still fail; "invoices out within two working days" can't.
- No exclusions, so the scope grows to fit everyone's hopes.
- No authority section, so the project manager either asks permission for everything or decides things they shouldn't.
- Turning it into a plan. If it runs past four pages, move the detail into the project plan.
Frequently asked questions
Who signs a project charter?
The sponsor, who takes responsibility for the outcome and the budget. The project manager often signs to accept the role, and for larger spends the managing director or board approves it too.
Is a project charter the same as a business case?
No. A business case argues whether the investment is worth making, with costs, benefits and options. The charter authorises the project and sets its terms. On a small project, a short business case can sit in the purpose section.
Does a small project need a charter?
If it spends real money or needs people from more than one team, a one-page charter is worth the hour. For a few days' work inside one team, an email covering the same points will do.
Can a charter be changed?
Yes, but rarely, and the sponsor should sign the new version. Day-to-day changes to tasks, dates and costs go through the project plan's change control instead.