The Use and Value of a Project Team Charter

I'm currently working with two teams to prepare new project team Charters: one team already 8 weeks underway, another just forming this month. This caused me to explain to the new team leaders the use and value of a signed project team Charter.

There can be many reasons for having a signed team project Charter. Examples include: (1) authority for the team leader, (2) authorization for the project, (3) commitment by the team members, (4) endorsement and support by sponsoring management, (5) allocating resources for the team by identifying team members and their roles/responsibilities, (6) establishing agreement among stakeholders, (7) identifying team deliverables, (8) setting standards and processes for the team, (9) documenting the project team’s goals so they can be called upon when/if scope is debated. There are further variations on each of these as well.

You might ask: what is the risk of not having a signed Charter? Some risks for the operating tempo of the team – there can be potential disagreements over authority, process, membership, roles and responsibilities. There are risks for auditing and oversight – especially for government agencies and contractors involved in government acquisitions. Oversight agencies such as Inspectors General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will almost always ask first for the project team’s Charter when reviewing a project (I have painful experience in this matter....). These kinds of teams should always have a signed project Charter.

Signatures on a Charter can get complicated, and can take a lot of time and may distract the team leader's attention. Accomplishing #6 above can make for multiple signatures (recently, I saw one that was headed for 10+ signatures). This can get very convoluted and may not be worth the time and effort.

Here is a simplifying alternative you can consider: if we want to accomplish #7, 8, 9 above, you can simply have the team leader sign a Charter. It gets something out there, and it can be revised later to add more signatories to bolster stakeholder support, if necessary.

I always recommend some sort of signed project team Charter, even if it doesn't get done before the team forms, though that is ideal. The format doesn't have to be pretty, it doesn't have to be lengthy, and it doesn't have to be formal. What's important is that it represents a documented effort to define the team, which goes a long way toward legitimizing it. And that will help everyone in a variety of circumstances.