Project Management

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Project Charter and Small Projects

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Jeff Gruettert Director of Operations| 3BG Supply Co. Fort Wayne, In, United States
I am having a bit of an issue here; on one hand, I would like to create a project charter for all my small projects but am having an issue justifying the time put in to developing a PC if the project is small in scope (take a small process automation improvement for example). I receive written/verbal approval for all my projects.

Anyone have words of advice? I understand the importance, but working for a small company has its challenges with balancing resources and capacity.
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Darin Ruud Business Consultant| Martinson Business Solutions, LLC Lakeville, MN, United States
Aug 17, 2017 5:35 PM
Replying to LORI WILSON
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Hi Jeff - this is normal for the large corporation I work in as well as for smaller organizations. When this is the scenario, we use what is called a Project Charter - Lite. We also have a Business Case - Lite that we use. Much smaller documents, a better fit and the best use of our time as PM's. All the advice from my peers so far on this is great! Sounds like Mikel has a template to share!
This is exactly what our Org is looking for "Light". DO you have "light" templates you have developed and can share?
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Darin Ruud Business Consultant| Martinson Business Solutions, LLC Lakeville, MN, United States
Aug 17, 2017 3:56 PM
Replying to Mikel Steadman
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It's good practice to capture a PC. You can spin a one-pager up in 5 minutes if you already know what is needed to do, why it's needed to be done, and who you'll be resourcing to do it. Feel free to PM me for a very simple template. I am willing to share.
I have reached out to you on LinkedIn-- I would be happy to get what you have if you are willing to share it.
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Michael Merginio Project Coordinator, Sr.| Insight Wheaton, Il, United States
A PC gives even a small project the visibility that every project should have. Just because the project is small, doesn't mean it isn't important. You may not need a long drawn out charter, but even something simple is a good idea.
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Opeyemi Iyekolo Lagos, Nigeria
Aug 17, 2017 2:13 PM
Replying to Tom Björkholm
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I suggest that you create Project Charters for all your project, but keep the amount of text/information in the charter low when the project is small and uncontroversial.

Having a formal document stating your authority to run the project, your authority to use resources and the project vision is very valuable. If the company sees it as unnecessary work strip it down to half a page and it will not be much work at all to create it.
Excellent response Tom. It's all about tailoring project management to suit the degree of complexity and rigour required for specific projects
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Juan Gabriel Gantiva Vergara IT PMO Manager| Private Madrid, Spain
The project charter includes the high level summary of the project in terms of scope, cost, time, risks, resources.
So this applies for small, medium and large projects
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Ezara Penning Systems Administrator I| Lincoln Land Community College Springfield, Il, United States
I agree with the comments from other posters regarding the necessity of the project charter for small projects. A simple one page charter should not take long to create.
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rosa maestre Colombia
Hola,
quien me puede sugerir o facilitar una plantilla de carta de proyecto.
le agradezco su amable colaboración.
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