These terms are not consistently used company-to-company and there is no "one" standard for them.
Usually a business case would precede the inception of a project and would be considered an input into the project evaluation/selection processes.
A charter is normally the document used to authorize the existence of the project.
Project Scope is not usually a document but rather a set of information contained in a variety of documents starting with the Business Case, through the Charter, then detailed in a WBS or captured as a series of work items in a backlog or user story map.
A Proof of Concept is an initiative which could be a project unto itself or a key deliverable within a project. It might also be an activity which happens prior to a project being chartered.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
In my own experience, the order is: business case, proof of concept, project charter, then project scope. Saving Changes...
Mehdi AlibakhshiPM Specialist and Instructor| PHSABritish Columbia, Canada
Philip It is worth mentioning that Business Case: This outlines the reasons for the project and provides a justification for investing resources in it. Proof of Concept: This is a small-scale project or prototype designed to test whether the project idea is feasible. Project Charter: This is a document that formally authorizes the project and defines its high-level objectives, scope, stakeholders, and risks. Project Scope: This defines the specific deliverables, features, and requirements of the project and establishes the boundaries of what is included and excluded from the project. Note that the sequence may vary depending on the organization and project context. In some cases, the proof of concept may be developed before the business case or may be part of the project charter. Similarly, the project scope may be developed before or after the project charter is created. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I would agree with the following sequence but it is not one-size that fits all:
Business Case Proof of Concept Project Charter Scope
Mehdi provided great feedback to your question and of course other colelagues as well. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Philip,
not everything in life is sequential. Put these in a sequence, for example: Apple, Orange, Banana.
Scope will be discussed in the business case, charter and proof of concept.
I have seen PoC before a BC to validate the options to be selected and after, even a charter could include the requirement of a PoC within the project. And how about a charter to create a BC or do a Poc?
This leads to the answer most used for PM: It depends.
Contextualisation is a cure for many things. Saving Changes...
I agree with Stéphane, typical order would be Business Case -
Proof of Concept - Project Charter - Scope Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
You will find your answer inside the PMI´s Practice Guide for Business Analysis. Just to put this in the framework of PMI. On the other side, the Proof of Concept could be before the Business Case most of the time but it will depend on lot of things mainly related to assign budged to it. Business Case is needed to approve all related to start the project. From Business Case Project Charter is created. Project Scope is part of the project plan but you will find some parts of it inside the Business Case and the Project Charter for example. The difference is the degree of detail you can include because the phase in the process where you have an amount of information for doing that. Saving Changes...
It depends on how the business allocates budget in a formal or informal gated-approval process.
Research and development departments are often funded as a large pool of money that they must allocate between many projects. Those projects may yield some cool new idea, provide POC, and show the business case. That idea becomes documented in the charter with the scope and generates a project to go develop the idea.
In sustaining business operations by contrast, they don't get a lot of budget to go explore cool new things. PMs compete for very limited budget to go make things better, and need the charter to fund developing the idea enough to prove the concept and build the business case.
Project scope is altogether separate and dependent on where you are in the project lifecycle. The R&D team invents a thing; the project team turns the thing into a product; the business development team finds a new application for the product... The scope changes over time and it's not updated in the charter. Saving Changes...
Sivasankaran VaithilingamProjects Manager| Larsen & Toubro ECC Construction GroupDubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hi, Ideally the project to get delivered successfully, if the entire team follows as below
1. Business case
2. Proof of concept
3. Project scope
4. Project charter
Project charter alone defines the timelines to validate the delivery against business case. Items of 2 & 3 are the guidelines or base to come out with charter Saving Changes...
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