- A project charter explains what is the project all about, the approach to solve it & who are the team members.
- It is living document, meaning project charter can be revisited on need basis, we will understand the details in further slides
Project Charter
Project Charter Questions
-
Along with the basic project details like project title, the process
owners project charter must answer following several questions:
- 1. Why should we do the project? - Business statement.
- 2. What is the problem all about? - Problem statement.
- 3. What do we want to achieve? And by when? - Goal statement
- 4. What are the project boundaries? - Project scope
- 5. Who are the stakeholders and team members? - Team & Roles
- 6. When are we starting the project and how long is it expected to run in ? - Project timelines
- 7. How the project is aligned with the organizational strategic objective? - Strategic objective
- 8. Are we making any assumptions in the project? – Assumptions
- 9. Do we have any dependency in the project? - Dependency
Project Charter Terminologies
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Business Case
- Asks “…Why should we do the project?”
- It should also answer
- Brief introductionabout the Process
- What is the problem?
- Why is itimportant now?
- What are the consequences of not doing i -
Problem Statement
- The problem statement is a crisp document qualifying the problemand the impactif not resolved
- Problem statementmust quantify
- What is the Problem?
- Where is the Problem?
- From When is the Problem?
- What is the Impact if not solved quickly?
- Should NOT contain unverified causes, or solutions, or blame -
Financial Benefits
- What are the expected financial gains from the project?
- Could be intangible or tangible
- Possible expenses incurred should be subtracted from the gain
- Can be a rough estimation but requires finance approval
- Direct – Actual cost saved which will show in the balance sheet(hardDollar)
- In Direct – Gain of additional projects from the customer (soft Dollar)
- Cost Avoidance – Penalty, customer dissatisfaction
- Opportunity Cost – Probability of new projects to be identified -
Goal Statement
- Should address only the CTQ
- Should be short, clear& crisp
- Straight from the problem statement
- Should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Time-bound
- Should address
- Improve what
- By how much &
- By When
- Example: Reduction in defects from 1.8 defects/Kloc to 0.2 defects/ Kloc by Nov 2019
- Example: To reduce the internal defect level from 20823/ppm(2.36σ level) to 1000/ppm(4.59σ) by June 2019. -
Project Scope
- The boundaries of a project are contained in Project Scope
- The Project Scope (In Scope) refers to the boundaries of the project. It is an attempt to define the operating range ofthe six sigma clearly.
- Longitudinal / Horizontal Scope refers to the length of the process; it is a clear articulation of the “Start” and “End” of the process. It describes the Length of the process.
- The Lateral / Vertical Scope refers to the width of the process. It refers to business/ product verticals/location.
- The Project Out Scope (Out Of Scope) refers to the areas which the project does not want to focus
Project Charter Template
Project Charter Example
- Project Title Reduction of defects/ Kloc in Cityexpen
- Process Cityexpen development team
- Process Owner John Smith
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Business case:
- City bank is the most valued clients of ABC company. ABC team is developing a Java-based banking application (project Cityexpen), which City bank‘s end-users will use. There has been an increase in the number of defects from 0.2 Defects/ Kloc to 1.8 Defects/ Kloc. This has impacted the customer business, which is dependent on the application & has caused a huge customer dissatisfaction (CSAT score < 3). This could result in a permanent loss of business for ABC in the near future. Initiating a Six Sigma Black Belt Project (as per FY 2019 plan) will help reduce defects/ Kloc & help us retain the customer. -
Problem Statement
- The Cityexpen project's defects have increased from 0.2 defects/Kloc (SLA) to 1.8 defects/ Kloc from Nov 2017 to May 2018. This increase in defects has resulted in CSAT scores below 3 for the first time in the last 2 years. The continued trend would result in a permanent loss of business forABC -
Start & End
date
- Start: 13 June 2018,
- End: 28.Oct.2018 - Sponsor / Champion Robert Jones
- Black Belt & Master Black Belt Steven White
- Project Lead & Green Belt Steve Smith
- Finance Rep David Miller
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Team Members/Role
- John Smith – Process owner
- Richard Jones – Statistical Quality Analyst
- Maria – Testing Lead for Citiexpen
- Keven Coggin – Java development team lead
- Sarah – Java developer
- Jeff Young –Citi bank Customer support -
Scope
- Longitudinal scope: Customer Requirement to Testing.
- Lateral Scope: Cityexpen project IS NOT (out of Scope): Other projects of City bank -
Project Goals:
Qualitative &
Quantitative
- Reduction in defects from 1.8 defects/Kloc to 0.2 defects/ Kloc by Nov 2018 -
Meeting
Frequency &
Attendees
- Every Wednesday, 10 am to 11 am, Must attendees- All the team members, Green Belt & Black Belt. Optional on a need basis: Champion. -
Expected
Benefits
- Reduction in defects. Increase in CSAT score above 4.5, retention of City bank client worth of $ 6 MM, and new opportunities from City bank -
Dependencies
&
Assumptions
- Project is dependent on a cross-functional team and assumes that team members would support the project