5.1 Project-Initiation Process

The project-initiation process ensures meeting all of the conditions necessary for project success. It starts with a clear understanding and agreement among all of the project stakeholders on the expected project results and ends with a clear under- standing of who is responsible and accountable for doing what, by when, to achieve the result.

Figure 5.1 illustrates an overall process to successfully initiate a project. It starts with the project charter, an often overlooked but necessary part of any project. It ends with a project work plan that is sufficient to start work on the project.

Figure 5.1: The project-initiation process.

The PMBOK Guide [1] separates the project-initiation process from the project-planning process. This chapter considers both of them as part of project initiation. With this definition, the outputs of project initiation include the project charter, project manager assignment, project constraints, project assumptions, and other elements of the complete project plan, including the schedule and budget.

5.2 The Project Charter

A project charter is a brief written statement to enable the assembly of an effective team to plan the project. This definition goes well beyond the charter described in the PMBOK Guide, including summarizing the five Ws and an H (i.e., what, when, who, why, where, and how) to plan the project. It should normally include all of the elements described by CH2MHILL [2] as essential:

• Vision;

• Purpose;

• Membership;

• Mission;

• Organizational linkage;

• Boundaries;

• Team and individual responsibilities;

• Measures of success;

• Operating guidelines.

The primary distinction between...