MGTS7527 Chap.4 Initiation, the Project Charter and Scope
Initiation, the Project Charter and Scope
Why before what
Week 3 opens with two questions. Initiation asks why the project is being done and whether it should be authorised; scope management asks what the project must deliver and what work that takes.
The seminar links them in one flow: business need, authorisation, requirements, defined scope and scope structure.
The charter and three easily confused words
The project charter formally authorises the project at a high level, recording its purpose and objectives, the value it should return, its main requirements and key stakeholders, the starting assumptions and constraints, and how it is governed.
Assumptions carry uncertainty, constraints set limits and requirements describe needs, and this chapter shows how to sort a real brief into the three and how to turn a vague wish into a requirement that can be tested.
Drawing and defending the boundary
Product scope is what is being created; project scope is the work to create it.
In-scope and out-of-scope lists and acceptance criteria stop stakeholders forming different ideas of the deliverable, a work breakdown structure breaks the work into manageable pieces, and change control separates a properly assessed scope change from uncontrolled scope creep.
From brief to boundary in an assessment
The Team Project Plan asks for three to five measurable objectives, the major deliverables, principal success criteria and the key exclusions, assumptions and constraints.
That is this chapter's vocabulary applied to a case: objectives and deliverables from the charter, exclusions as out-of-scope items, and assumptions and constraints kept apart.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Initiation and scope management questions
- 02
Business need, business value and business case
- 03
What the project charter records
- 04
Assumptions, constraints and requirements
- 05
Eliciting clear requirements
- 06
Product scope and project scope
- 07
In scope, out of scope and acceptance criteria
- 08
Work breakdown structure
- 09
Scope change and scope creep
Worked example · free
Trace a café's online-ordering idea from business need to scope structure
- 1Business need: queues at lunch are losing customers who will not wait more than ten minutes.
- 1Authorisation: the owner approves a charter with a budget ceiling and a target launch before the summer trade.
- 1Requirements: customers can order and pay on a phone, and orders print in the kitchen within one minute.
- 1Defined scope: in scope are the ordering site and kitchen printer; out of scope is a delivery service.
- 1Scope structure: a first-level WBS of ordering site, payments, kitchen integration, staff training and launch.
Key terms
- Business Case
- The justification for undertaking a project and the value it is expected to deliver.
- Project Charter
- The document that formally establishes and authorises a project at a high level.
- Assumption
- Something believed true for planning purposes but not yet confirmed.
- Acceptance Criteria
- The conditions a deliverable must satisfy before it can be formally accepted.
- Work Breakdown Structure
- A breakdown of the deliverables and work into smaller pieces that can be planned and managed.
- Scope Creep
- Additional work or deliverables entering a project without assessment and control.
Initiation, the Project Charter and Scope FAQ
What is the difference between a project charter and a project plan?
The charter authorises the project at a high level: why it exists, its objectives, expected value, major stakeholders, initial assumptions and constraints, and who has authority. The project management plan comes later and sets out the detailed approach to delivery.
How do I tell an assumption from a constraint?
An assumption is believed true for planning but not yet confirmed, so it carries uncertainty and should be checked. A constraint is a limit already in force, such as a budget ceiling or a fixed opening date, and the plan must work within it.
Is every scope change scope creep?
No. A scope change that is assessed for cost, schedule, resources and risk and then authorised is normal project management. Scope creep is extra work that enters without that assessment, which is why change control matters more than avoiding change.
Where do requirements come from?
From customers, end users, the sponsor and regulators, drawn out through interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and surveys. A requirement is good enough when it states the need precisely enough to design, deliver and later accept; a vague wish such as a better space has to be turned into a specific, testable condition.
Assessment move
Take a short project brief and highlight every statement in one of three colours: assumption, constraint or requirement. Rewrite any vague requirement so it states a number or condition, then write two acceptance criteria and a first-level WBS made of deliverables rather than phases.
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