A project charter is a short document that answers the questions every project needs answered before work begins: why are we doing this, what will we deliver, who is involved and how will we know it worked? It is one of the most useful planning tools you can learn, and creating one makes an excellent professional goal.
Did you know? The Project Management Institute's PMBOK Guide defines the project charter as the document that formally authorises a project and gives the project manager authority to use organisational resources. In other words, a charter is what turns an idea into an official project.
What to include in a project charter
1. Project title and sponsor. Who is paying for or championing the project.
2. Purpose or business case. Why the project matters, in two or three sentences. What problem does it solve?
3. Objectives. What the project will achieve, written as SMART goals. See SMART goals vs regular goals.
4. Scope. What is in and, just as importantly, what is out. Scope creep starts where this section is vague.
5. Deliverables. The tangible outputs: a system, a report, a new process.
6. Key milestones and timeline. Major checkpoints with dates.
7. Stakeholders and roles. Who is on the team, who approves, who needs to be kept informed.
8. Budget and resources. Money, people and tools needed.
9. Risks and assumptions. What could go wrong and what you are assuming to be true.
10. Success criteria. How you will judge whether the project worked.
Keep it short
A charter should usually fit on one to three pages. Its value is in forcing clarity and agreement, not in length. If it grows beyond that, detail belongs in the project plan.
Creating a charter as a professional goal
If you want to build project management experience, writing a charter is a practical goal:
- "Write and get sign-off on a project charter for the new supplier onboarding process by April, then lead the first phase."
- "Introduce a one-page charter template for all team projects over £5,000 by Q3."
It shows initiative, structured thinking and the ability to align stakeholders, which are all skills managers look for.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the "why". Without a clear purpose, projects drift.
- Undefined scope. "Improve the website" invites endless requests.
- No named sponsor. Projects without an owner stall at the first obstacle.
- Never revisiting it. The charter is a reference throughout the project, not a formality.
The bottom line
A good project charter covers purpose, objectives, scope, deliverables, milestones, people, budget, risks and success criteria, on a few pages. Learning to write one is a valuable goal in its own right. For deeper project skills, see our Project Management course, and for connecting projects to business goals, our Business Planning and Goal Setting course. A lessons learned log is the natural companion at the end of a project.