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Capstone: Applying Project Management in the Real World

Purpose and components

Strategic thinking involves analyzing documentation and talking with stakeholders to inform decisions based on the information available to you.

A project charter is a formal document that clearly defines the project and outlines the necessary details to reach the project's goals.

The project charter helps organize:

• Vital project information;
• Create a framework for the work that needs to be done;
• Communicate those details to the necessary people;
• Is useful as a reference throughout the project's life cycle.

The project charter contains key information about a project:

• Summary:
  • The goal of the summary is to provide an overview of the project and to outline the goals you hope to accomplish;
  • Summaries should be brief—just a few sentences at most, and to the point;
• Goals:
  • Project goals refer to the desired results of the project;
  • Project goals address the overall result that stakeholders are aiming to achieve;
  • They are determined by input from stakeholders and the project manager;
• Deliverables:
  • Deliverables refer to specific tasks and tangible outcomes that enable the team to meet project goals;
• Scope:
  • Refers to the boundaries of a project;
  • Contains information about work that's out-of-scope. Details that don't contribute to the project's goals are considered out of scope.

Stakeholder alignment

Any time you're communicating the details of your project, you need to think about your audience and what information is important to them:

• Who are your stakeholders?
• What details are most important to them?