BADM 634 – Initiating the Project 

Project Charter – Residency Weekend

Develop a professional project charter for assigned hypothetical project scenario (below).

PART 1: PROJECT CHARTER DEVEOPMENT

1.) Create each section of a charter for a sample project using given project information provided below.

2.) Constructing the project charter:  

The sponsor and project team typically work together. In practice, often the team prepares the first draft and then discusses with sponsor. For this exercise the project charter is being designed by the team to present to the sponsor in order to secure a contract for the project.

a. Provide a descriptive title to you event that provides detail as to what the project entails.

b. Develop scope overview and business case: This is the “elevator speech” – a half minute summary of the project or approximately 100 words.

c. Provide a background of what is going to be accomplished and why.

d. Develop detailed team operating principles.

e. Identify Stakeholders. Create a Stakeholder Register with all primary stakeholders. (Use Exhibit 6.4 as template)

f. Create a detailed Communication Plan for stakeholders. (Use Exhibit 6.9 as template)

g. Provide a project scope statement. (Use Exhibit 7.4 as template)

i. Identify Deliverables and Acceptance Criteria. Use SMART criteria in development of these elements.

1. Deliverables are smaller projects that when combined make up the overall project. Project Charter and Project Plan are not Deliverables. Documents and research are not Deliverables.

ii. Identify all assumptions and constraints 

h. Create a detailed WBS with Activity List. Use SMART criteria in creating the WBS. (Use Exhibit 7.12 as template)

i. Activities, or tasks, are the smallest work packages identifiable within a Deliverable.

1. Draft your Activities as a state of completion and not as “on-going”.

a. For example, “Secure 300 folding chairs” provides a definitive statement of how many chairs are needed and can also be “check off” the list when 300 chairs are secured. However, “Find folding chairs” is an on-going process with no end and no specific amount assigned.

b. Avoid words that end in “ing” as this represents on-going activity.

2. The Activity list should read like a check list. A project team member can readily review the situation and identify whether the task has been completed or not and can “check it off” the list.

i. Provide a detailed Risk Register for identified risks. (Use Exhibit 11.9 as template)

i. These should be known unknowns and not potential risks that can be planned for within the planning phase. These are typically low probability/high impact events or high probability/low impact events.

j. Provide a detailed Milestone Schedule

k. Create a RACI chart based on your Stakeholder Register. (Use Exhibit 9.5 as template)

l. Provide a detailed budget. 

i. Include a detailed budget justification narrative explaining how you compiled the budget estimates and why these costs need to be included in the budget.

m. Create a Glossary that defines the following concepts (or terms) as well as any others that may need to be explained or defined within the Project Charter. Thoroughly define and explain these concepts (or terms) as well as any of the other concepts or terms that may need to be explained that appear in your Project Charter. This is a professional document so citing is not necessary, but you must utilize your own words to define/describe the concepts or terms.

i. title

ii. scope

iii. business case

iv. background

v. project vision,

vi. enterprise environmental factors,

vii. organizational process assets, 

viii. objectives, 

ix. stakeholder list,

x. team operating principals, 

xi. milestones,

xii. communication plan

xiii. project risk planning, 

xiv. assumptions, 

xv. constraints 

xvi. organization and implementation plan.

xvii. Any and all terms that may need to be defined that appear in the Project Charter

n. Create a signature page

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS: 

As your team prepares the project charter, please attend to the following additional guidelines:

1) Format of the Project Charter is at the discretion of the project team but must look professional. Completed Project Charter must be submitted as a single document (Word or PDF). All portions must be legible (inserted charts from Excel must be easily read). 

2) All sections need to be easily reviewed. And tools created clear and concise.

3) Tools should be organized in a logical framework.

4) Proofread the document carefully before submission!

5) Project Charter will be submitted only by the Group Leader or designee.

Project Charter Details

Hypothetical Scenario: The non-profit organization One World, One Community, a non-profit promoting the introduction of lessor known cultural festivals and holiday celebrations throughout the United States, has selected the University of the Cumberlands to provide project management services to plan some of its events for the year 2022. The University has approached your group to identify and potentially project manage one of these events. Your group, if selected, will be provided an initial seed grant of $25,000 to plan the event. However, you will be expected to raise enough funding to put on the event through donations, sponsorships and other fund-raising methods which must be identified within the project charter. Your professional project charter will determine whether your project group is selected to continue with this project or not.

Project baseline considerations: 

• What is the cultural event you have      selected and where will it be held? City and specific site(s).
  • Why this city?
  • Why this site? 
  • How long will it last?
  • Indoors or outdoors?
  • Single site or multiple sites?
  • What form will the event take? 
    • Will there be multiple events        associated?
• The purpose of these events is to      introduce residents to a cultural event that may not be familiar to them.      Identify a unique cultural event that is not well-known among the      population.
• Establish a budget to demonstrate all      potential costs have been considered and are included. This should include      revenue streams and all potential expenses.
• Source costs from websites or other      Internet resources. If no specific costs can be identified then use local      tourism or convention bureau websites to get rough estimates. This process      needs to be detailed in the budget justification narrative.
• A list of the major deliverables from the      project are thoroughly described.
• Specific reviews: The Project Charter      will be reviewed by the project team and approved.
• Follow SMART protocol throughout.
• The final approval will be the Sponsor (Course      Instructor).

Project Knowns: 

• The cultural event needs to be held in a      city where no similar major event is held. For example. You would not hold      an Oktoberfest event in Cincinnati, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or St.      Patrick’s Day event in Chicago as these events are already the largest in      the United States for these cultural events, plus these are common      celebrations that are held in many cities and are well-known to most of      the population.
  • However, you should research these to       get ideas for what form your event will take.
• The dates of the event must occur      sometime in 2022 and should be around the traditional dates of the      cultural event if there is a traditional date associated.
  • Potential constraint: An event early in       the year will not provide as much time needed to plan and execute as one       later in the year. 
• The COVID-19 pandemic has ended and will not be a contributing factor for this project. This will not be a      constraint and should not be considered within the scope of the project.
• There is no set budget assigned to the      project. The project team will need to create a detailed budget proposal      as cost and feasibility of fund generation for the event will be criteria      used for officially selecting the project team to proceed.
• Students will utilize detailed Internet      research to establish potential costs.
• Constraints: It is important to define      any and all constraints on the project or those working on the project.