Project Charter - What is it and how can Customers use it?

So, your projects started and you’ve heard us mention the Project Charter? And possibly you’re thinking - what do we need another document for? 

This one is key in project-world, to ensure we are aligned on the delivered scope and any specific requirements that each party has. Don’t worry, it's a plain English 2 pager, so it’s very easy to digest. 

Most of the Charter is a table of deliverables labelled ‘D#, with a title and description. For example: “D1 - Build VPC”. Right next to them are numbered requirements, and together these form the checklist of what the project will be checked on at project close. It looks like this:

Ref	Deliverable	Requirements
D1	User Whitelisting allows entry without challenge.	[Customer] ID not required if user matches whitelist. [RS] Customer to provide an initial whitelist.
D2	User MFA authentication, allows ID based entry.	[RS] Verify that Customer Azure is ready for integration.

Why is it important?

1. Alignment. The clear table ensures we are both talking about the same scope. This is a common failure globally for projects and it informs planning which is another common failure point.
2. Clarity. Quotes often have a significant amount of technical detail, whereas the Charter has simple, direct and clear components.  In the requirements section this may include essential dates that a customer wants to meet. 
3. Checklist. The list can be used by all parties to make sure requirements are provided, and that deliverables are completed.

We draft this from the quote, bring it into the Discovery Workshop, add any requirements you as the customer have, then use it to finish planning, and as the project completion checklist. 

Aligned - Clear - Reliable.