📝 Engineer Technology Term Tracker

Use this template to submit a new engineering technology term or concept! Make it funny, educational, or both. Each term will help build our “Tech Dictionary” and bring a little humor to engineering.

📌 Term & Title

Title:
Project Charter - The Project's Birth Certificate

Term:
"Project Charter"

🧩 Definition

Description:
A Project Charter is a formal document that acts as the "birth certificate" of a project, giving it official authorization to exist. It outlines the project’s objectives, scope, stakeholders, and key roles and responsibilities.

Think of it as the project manager's compass and a stakeholder's promise to back the initiative. A typical Project Charter includes:

Purpose: Why the project exists (e.g., "Let’s build a pizza delivery drone!").
Objectives: What the project aims to achieve (e.g., "Deliver pizzas faster than traditional delivery").
Scope: The boundaries of what’s included and excluded in the project.
Key Stakeholders: The VIPs of the project world.
Constraints: Limitations like time, budget, or team size.
Authorization: Signed, sealed, and delivered by the sponsor to give the project life.

While it sounds serious, a Project Charter is essential for making sure everyone is on the same page, avoiding a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation.

📚 Category

Choose one or more categories that best describe this term:

[ ] Programming
[ ] Hardware
[ ] Networking
[x] DevOps
[x] Software Engineering
[x] Other

😂 Humor Rating

On a scale of 1-5, how funny is this term?

[ ] 1 (Serious Term)
[x] 2
[ ] 3
[ ] 4
[ ] 5 (Hilarious)

📅 Added Date

Date Submitted:
2024-11-24

👥 Contributors

Submitted By:
(Your GitHub username)

🔖 Notes

A Project Charter is like the scroll from a fantasy RPG—once signed, the quest officially begins, and everyone knows their roles. Don’t lose it; it’s the key to a successful project!

Remember: Keep calm, debug on, and let’s make engineering a bit more fun, one term at a time!

Project Charter Template

1. Executive Summary

Project Overview

Provide a brief summary of the project, including key objectives and background information.

2. Project Goal(s)

SMART Objective 1

State the first Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objective.

SMART Objective 2

State the second Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objective.

3. Deliverables

Major Requirements

List the key deliverables and any major requirements necessary to achieve the objectives.

4. Business Case

Why Are We Doing This?

Provide the rationale for the project, including alignment with organizational goals or other driving factors.

5. Benefits and Costs

What We’ll Gain/Pay

Summarize the expected benefits and associated costs of the project.

6. Scope and Exclusion

What’s In-Scope

Clearly define what is included in the scope of the project.

What’s Out-of-Scope

Clearly define what is excluded from the project scope.

7. Project Team

Stakeholders

Identify key stakeholders and their roles within the project.

8. Measuring Success

What Is Acceptable

Define the criteria and metrics for measuring the success of the project.

ddnb / term-tracker

Project Charter - The Project's Birth Certificate #15