# Project Charter

> One page. If it grows past three, the extra is planning detail that will go stale and dilute the
> parts that need to be read.
>
> Circulate it to the people whose expectations differ. If nobody objects to anything, either it is
> genuinely agreed or nobody read it — and it is worth finding out which.

**Project:** _______________  **Date:** _______  **Version:** ____

## Purpose

**Why this, why now** (one paragraph): _______________

## Success criteria

Measurable, with a baseline. Someone must be able to determine in a year whether these were met,
without a discussion.

| # | Criterion | Baseline today | Target | Measured how | By when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | | |
| 3 | | | | | |

**What must NOT get worse:** _______________

Most projects improve one number by damaging another, and the damage is discovered by whoever owns
the second number. Name it here.

### Writing a criterion that can be assessed

This is the section people find hardest, and the one that decides whether anyone can tell at the
end whether the project worked. Three tests:

**Could a stranger determine the answer without a discussion?** "Improve the claims process" fails.
"Reduce average claim handling time from 14 days to under 7, measured on claims received after
go-live" passes.

**Is the baseline recorded?** A target without a starting point cannot be assessed, and the
baseline becomes much harder to establish once the project has started disturbing the process.
If you do not have the baseline yet, that is the first task on the plan, not a detail for later.

**Would you accept the measurement if it went against you?** If a criterion is written so that it
can only be judged favourably, it is a statement of intent rather than a success criterion.

Where a sponsor is reluctant to commit to measurable criteria, that reluctance is information —
usually it means the benefit is not well understood, or nobody wants to be held to it. Both are
worth surfacing before the money is spent, because the project will otherwise be judged at the end
against whatever criteria people remember then.

## Scope

**In scope:** _______________

**Explicitly out of scope:** _______________

## Deliverables

| # | Deliverable | Accepted by |
|---|---|---|
| | | |

## People

| Role | Name | Decision rights |
|---|---|---|
| **Sponsor** (one person, not a group) | | |
| Project manager | | |
| Business owner | | |
| Key stakeholders | | |

🔴 If the sponsor cell holds a committee, this project does not yet have authorisation — it has
interest. Every difficult decision will escalate into a meeting, and scope will be set by whoever
is most persistent.

## Constraints

| | |
|---|---|
| Budget | |
| Date, and what drives it | |
| Mandated technology or supplier | |
| Regulatory deadline | |
| Resource availability | |

## Assumptions

| # | Assumption | Who confirms | Confirmed |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | | | |
| A2 | | | |

## Top risks

| # | Risk (cause → event → effect) | Owner | Initial response |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | | | |
| R2 | | | |
| R3 | | | |

## Milestones

A handful. This is not the plan.

| Milestone | Target date |
|---|---|
| | |

## Approval

| | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | | | |
| Project manager | | | |

**Review date:** _______

A charter that is never revisited becomes progressively less true, and at some point people stop
citing it — which is the moment scope control ends.