janellecipriano Project Charter
Produce a clear, one-page charter that gets a team and its stakeholders aligned before work starts.
When to use
- A new project, program, or workstream is starting and needs scope + alignment.
- A stalled effort needs to be (re)framed and re-aligned.
Not for: detailed requirements (use prd-review/PRD), or ongoing status (use status-report).
Inputs to gather
Ask only for what's missing; infer the rest from context and state your assumptions:
- The problem and who has it; why now.
- Desired outcome and how success will be measured.
- Known scope, constraints, deadline, and budget/headcount.
- Sponsor, lead, and key contributors.
Process
- Sharpen the problem statement to one or two sentences — the pain, not the solution.
- State 2–4 goals as outcomes, and 2–4 success metrics that are measurable (baseline → target).
- Define scope explicitly: what's in, and — just as important — what's out.
- List stakeholders with roles (sponsor, lead, contributors, informed). Use RACI if helpful.
- Lay out milestones with target dates and a clear definition of done for the project.
- Capture top risks/assumptions and any dependencies.
Output format
Use the structure in templates/charter-template.md. Keep it to one page. Mark every assumption explicitly and flag the 2–3 open questions that most need answers to proceed.