Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Publicizing a Project and Its Manager

A project that gets the go-ahead needs publicity just like movies do. You want people to know the project is starting and why it’s vital. Most important, you want the entire team to get fired up over their new assignments.

The project manager needs some publicity, too. Your authority comes from your project and its sponsor, not your position in the organization, so people need to know how far your authority goes. The project charter is like a project’s press release—it announces the project itself, as well as your responsibilities and authority as its manager.

A project charter doesn’t impress anyone unless it comes from someone powerful enough to grant you authority, like the project’s sponsor or its customer. On the other hand, don’t have the biggest kahuna distribute the charter unless that person actually knows something about the project—you need authority, but credibility is important, too. You may have to tactfully suggest that the project’s customer or sponsor develop and distribute the charter.

Tip

You can often get the charter out more quickly by writing it yourself so the sponsor has only to sign and send it.

A project charter is pretty simple, as Figure 1-6 shows. (You can download a sample charter, Ch01_Project_Charter.doc, from www.missingmanuals.com/cds.)

Figure 1-6. Don’t skimp on the distribution list for a project charter. Send a copy to anyone who will participate in the project or who may be affected by it. Whether you should email the charter or distribute it on company letterhead depends on your corporate culture.

Here are typical elements of a charter:

• Project name. A catchy name that rolls off everyone’s tongue is wonderful, but a brief name that identifies the project will do.

• Purpose. The mission statement works well as the purpose, because it’s a high-level overview of the reason for the project. If you haven’t crafted a mission statement yet, simply summarize what the project is supposed to achieve.

• Project manager. Announce who will manage the project. If you’re writing the project charter for a sponsor to sign, don’t be afraid to blow your own horn. Stakeholders need to know who you are and why you’re the person who’s going to make sure this project is a success.

• Project manager’s duties. Summarize the manager’s responsibilities. This brief introduction to the project manager’s tasks can warn people about what the project manager may expect from them—and educate people about the mysterious activities that project managers perform.

• Project manager’s authority. Here’s where the sponsor or customer sprinkles authoritative fairy dust on you. Much like a power of attorney, this section tells everyone that the sponsor or customer authorizes you to perform certain activities, like hiring contractors or dipping into the project’s emergency fund.

• The official commitment to the project. Don’t forget to include a brief bullet point that confirms in writing that the sponsor or customer supports the project and the project manager.

Now that the introductions are out of the way, it’s time to start planning your project. The next chapter provides an overview of a project plan—all the pieces that go into one and why they’re important. After that, you’ll learn the finer points of using Project 2013 and other programs to build and manage a project schedule.