In the everyday frenzy of monitoring progress, clearing roadblocks and re-calculating deadlines, project managers sometimes forget to revisit an important project control: the original Project Charter.

 

Of course first you have to have one. The Charter is essentially a document produced early on that describes the reason for the project, the expected outcome (product or service), the roles and responsibilities of key participants, as well as significant targets, anticipated constraints and any underlying assumptions. Everyone signs it at the outset authorizing the project to proceed. Projects that begin with a good Project Charter and hold to it are far more likely to complete on time and on budget than projects that do not.

 

Once you have a Charter, the project leader should re-examine it and align current project progress with the original Charter. If the project seems out of alignment with the Charter, that's a red flag. What functions and features did the Charter describe? Is the project still tracking to those, or have requirements outgrown the original plan?

 

If the original Charter doesn't map to the current requirements, circle the wagons and bring the stakeholders into the circle to decide whether to scale back on requirements or adjust the timeline and budget to accommodate them.