Support Charter Development
Support Charter Development is a significant process in PMI's approach to business analysis. Let's delve into the main aspects of this process:
Purpose and Overview
Support Charter Development revolves around collaborating with stakeholders and sponsors. It's aimed at bridging the gap between the needs assessment, business case development, and the actual charter formulation. The primary advantage is the smooth transition it ensures from business case development to charter development. This transition equips stakeholders with a foundational comprehension of the objectives, including the product scope and requirements.
Definition and Role of the Charter
Portfolio Charter: Ties the portfolio to the organization's strategic objectives. It spells out the portfolio structure.
Program Charter: Connects the program to the organization's strategic goals and provides authorization to utilize organizational resources for the program.
Project Charter: Formally acknowledges a project's existence and gives the project manager the mandate to allocate organizational resources to the project activities.
The charter is more than a document; it’s a pact between the business and the product development team. It establishes scope boundaries and serves as an official record of initiation. It facilitates communication, agreement, and commitment at senior management levels. Moreover, the charter development process helps to clarify the objectives, elucidate roles, responsibilities, delegate authority, and align team expectations.
Collaborative Development
The charter's creation is a group effort, pulling in resources like the product development team, sponsor, customers, and other stakeholders. Those who were involved in the Needs Assessment, especially those behind the business case, should back the charter development. The initiator or sponsor, crucially, should have the authority to secure funds and assign resources.
Content and Depth of the Charter
While the charter provides high-level information, it offers more detail than what is typically included in the solution recommendation phase. The charter leans towards tactical discussions on execution, detailing required elements for the chosen solution. Some key components of a charter are:
- Purpose and description
- Business objectives
- High-level scope of the product, program, or project
- Identified risks
- Summary of schedules and budgets
- Success criteria
- Info on internal and external stakeholders involved or impacted
The charter's size and depth depend on the complexity of the project and the known information. Regardless of its size, it should, at the least, provide a comprehensive overview of the solution to facilitate the development of detailed requirements.
Formality and Variations of the Charter
The nature of the charter can differ based on the organization and its requirements. In bigger or strictly regulated entities, a formal documented charter is the norm. Conversely, in smaller organizations or ones that have a more adaptive approach, the charter might be less formal, possibly even verbal. Regardless, the groundwork established in the Needs Assessment phase remains applicable.
Importance of the Charter
The charter serves as a validation tool, ensuring that projects align with the organization's strategy and ongoing tasks. Depending on the organization, the charter can range from a comprehensive document needing sign-offs to a more streamlined verbal approval. If a formal charter isn't produced, analogous information should be sourced or formulated as the basis for the detailed project scope statement. Some organizations may even draft a charter before deciding on the project life cycle approach, be it predictive or adaptive.
The Support Charter Development process is crucial in setting the stage for a project, program, or portfolio. It's a comprehensive approach to ensuring alignment, understanding, and commitment across all stakeholders, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent phases of the initiative.
Inputs
Business Case
The business case is a critical input for supporting charter development. It provides a structured presentation of the business need and expected benefits, costs, risks, and opportunities associated with the proposed solution. A comprehensive business case aids in the establishment of the charter by articulating the justification for undertaking the project, thus ensuring that the project aligns with strategic objectives.
Product Scope
The product scope defines the features and functions of the product, service, or result, and the relationship between the stakeholders' needs and the product. It forms the basis for understanding the project scope and is instrumental in the development of the charter. Clear articulation of the product scope ensures that the charter accurately reflects the intended outcomes and deliverables of the project.
Tools and Techniques
Document Analysis
Document analysis involves systematically reviewing and interpreting information from existing documents to elicit requirements. When supporting charter development, document analysis helps to clarify and validate the information provided in the business case and product scope. It ensures that all necessary elements are considered and incorporated into the charter.
Facilitated Workshops
Facilitated workshops are structured meetings led by a skilled facilitator. These sessions engage stakeholders to define the high-level objectives and scope for the project, which are essential components of the charter. Through collaboration, these workshops build consensus on the project's direction and foundational elements.
Glossary
A glossary is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with definitions for those terms. Within the context of charter development, a glossary ensures a common understanding of terms among stakeholders, which is crucial for clear communication and effective agreement on the project's objectives and scope.
Interviews
Interviews are a formal or informal approach to elicit information from stakeholders by asking relevant questions and recording responses. Interviews are valuable in charter development for gaining insights, clarifying information in the business case and product scope, and ensuring alignment between stakeholders' expectations and the project charter.
Outputs
Charter
The charter is a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It includes essential information such as the project purpose, objectives, scope, deliverables, stakeholders, and high-level requirements. The charter is a critical output that serves as a key project initiation document.
Shared Product Information
Shared product information refers to the comprehensive understanding and documentation of the product's features, functions, and requirements that are shared among stakeholders. It is an output of the charter development process, ensuring that there is a collective understanding and agreement on the product objectives, scope, and constraints among all stakeholders.