Project charter based on the Case Study

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 sub- headers.

• 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 (in- text).

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; double- spaced, 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