Criteria of a project charter

The first thing to note is that a project cannot begin without a charter. I know you are thinking: "we do it all the time!", and I'm not surprised at all. Not every organization uses a project charter to kick off their projects, but we have to return to the perfect world for a moment and assume you need a charter to begin project work.

Note

You may see questions about the project manager being asked to start work without a project charter. In that situation, what do you do? You are expected to explain the risks of not having a charter and turn down the project until the charter is created. I'll pause for virtual laughter… but that is the correct answer. In my world, turning down a project without a charter is called an RPE – a resume producing event!

Typically, a project charter will be developed once everyone making the decisions agrees on all the items thus far – the scope of work, the business case,...