Project charter

A project charter is a document that describes the project: goals, scope, success criteria, people, dates and budget. It is created from a template that defines the sections and fields (see Project charter templates). The charter is on the project’s Project charter tab, provided the Project charters module is switched on for your organization (main menu: System settings, Project charters tab, the Enable / Disable switch; switching it off does not delete data) and ticked in the project (project menu, Functionalities; see Project functionalities).

The charter list has the Name, Approval (when the organization has the Approvals module), Version (the charter status), Created and Last update columns. The newest charters are at the top. The filter narrows the list by a word in the Filter by name box and by status.

A charter has one of these statuses: Draft, Awaiting approval, Approved, Needs work or Rejected. The tab is visible to users with the Project charter project permission (View or Admin). The Add button and charter editing need the Admin permission (see Project permissions).

Creating a project charter

1. Open the Project charter tab in the project.
2. Click Add. The New project charter window opens with the list of templates.
3. Choose a template and click Add.
4. Enter the charter name (the template name by default) and click Add.

The charter is created with the Draft status and opens right away. If the organization has no template at all, the list is empty and the message No project charter templates defined appears. A project can have many charters, also from the same template.

New version of a charter

1. Open the charter that the new version should be based on.
2. Click New version.
3. Check the name and click Add.

The new version is a Draft charter with the values copied from the previous one. Its fields follow the current template: values of fields that no longer exist in the template are dropped, and list choices and table columns that disappeared from the template are removed. The New version button is visible when the charter template still exists, shares a workspace with the project, and you have the Admin permission for charters.

Workspaces and charter templates

When you create a charter, the New project charter list shows only templates that share a workspace with the project. A template assigned only to another workspace does not appear on the list, and a new version of a charter from such a template cannot be created.

Charter templates are managed by users with a workspace permission (see Workspaces and charter templates). For what workspaces are, see Workspaces; to grant permissions, see Users and permissions.

Filling in a project charter

Click a charter name in the list to open it for filling in. The charter has the fields of its template: texts, dates, numbers, lists, tables, attachments, links, and data of the project, schedule, budget, risks and products. A change in a field is saved at once and the Changes saved message appears.

• Project data fields change the project itself: the project name and description, Project status, project manager, project roles, project attributes, and also Start date and Project end date (these two only in a project that has no schedule items yet). A change in the charter is therefore a change in the project.
• Charter fields (texts, dates, numbers, lists, tables, attachments, links) are stored in the charter itself.
• Calculated fields from the schedule, budget, risks and products, charts, and the workspaces and portfolios fields are read-only. A field of a module that is switched off in the organization shows the Inactive module message.
• The Selected elements of the schedule, Selected elements of the budget, Selected risks and Selected products fields point to the project elements that should go into the charter.

In lists of tasks and milestones, click a column header to change the order of rows. The chosen order is kept in the charter export.

A charter can be edited only in the Draft and Needs work statuses, and only with the Admin permission for charters. A charter that is Awaiting approval, Approved or Rejected is read-only and shows project data as of the moment it was sent for approval. Enter new values in a new version of the charter (see Creating a project charter).

Deleting a charter

The Delete button above the charter deletes it after confirmation (Delete operation can be permanent. Do you want to continue?). Deletion cannot be undone. You can delete a Draft or Needs work charter. A deleted charter also disappears from the approval request it was attached to.

Exporting a project charter

1. Open the charter.
2. Click Export.
3. For an Approved or Rejected charter, choose Without approval (the charter content only) or With approval (the charter together with the approval history). For other charters the export starts at once.

A new browser tab opens with the charter prepared for printing, and the print window where you choose to save as PDF. The file is named after the charter, with the date and time. When done, the tab closes by itself, and the printout always uses the light theme.

The With approval option adds the current approval path and all earlier ones: stages, names of approvers, their decisions with dates, and comments, including formatting, links and images.

Approving a project charter

A Draft charter is sent for approval from its own screen. The button is available to users with the Admin permission for the plan (the Baseline tab) and for charters.

1. Click Send for approval.
2. In the Approval window, choose an approval path in the Approval path list. The list shows paths from the project’s workspaces and the Empty option (the option may be missing, see Required approval path).
3. Set the Schedule and Budget switches, which decide whether approving the charter also saves the baseline of the schedule and budget (see Approving a project charter).
4. Click Send for approval (with no path: Approve baseline).

Effects of sending:

• The charter gets the Awaiting approval status and becomes read-only. It shows the state of the project at the time of sending.
• People on the first stage of the path get a notification in the application and, if their Awaiting approval notification is on, an email. They get access to the project for the duration of the approval.
• With no path, the charter is approved at once and the status changes to Approved. The operation cannot be undone.
• After sending, the button changes to Approval. It opens the baseline window on the Approval tab, where approvers make their decisions and the whole course is visible.

After a decision the charter becomes Approved, Rejected or Needs work. A Needs work charter is corrected and sent again: in the baseline window (the Approval button) choose a path and click Send for approval. A Rejected charter stays in the history, and work continues in a new version. Withdrawing an approval in progress (Withdraw from approval in the baseline window) restores the Draft status.

For the approval course, see Approvals; for paths, see Approval paths.