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Template

📄 Template: The Project Initiation Document (Project Charter)

Introduction

Start a project without a Project Initiation Document and everyone leaves the kick-off with a slightly different project in their head. It’s not an Agile artifact, but writing one is still worth the hour it takes.

Why Use a PID?

The PID serves as your project’s blueprint. It outlines the project’s objectives, scope, and stakeholders and sets clear expectations for its goals. Here’s what it buys you:

  • Clarity and Direction: Everyone can look up what was agreed instead of each remembering it differently.
  • Risk Management: Early identification of potential risks leads to proactive management, reducing surprises during the project.
  • Stakeholder Alignment: Ensures all stakeholders are on the same page, reducing conflicts and misunderstandings.
  • Foundation for Planning: Acts as a springboard for more detailed project planning, such as defining timelines and allocating resources.

How to Craft a PID

Here’s what goes in it. Several of these have their own documents: a budget sheet, a schedule. Link to those from the PID rather than copying them in, so they stay updated after the initial version.

  1. Project Scope: Clearly define what the project will and will not cover.
  2. Objectives and Goals: What has to be true at the end for this to count as a success.
  3. Roles and Responsibilities: Specify who does what, ensuring everyone knows their tasks.
  4. Budget and Resources: Detail the budget and resources available for the project.
  5. Risk Management Plan: Identify potential risks and propose mitigation strategies.
  6. Stakeholder List: Include all parties involved and their interests in the project.
  7. Milestones and Timeline: Establish critical dates and project milestones.

Where to Apply the PID

Write one for every project. The bigger the project, the longer it gets.

When to Develop a PID

The PID should be one of the first tasks undertaken in the project lifecycle. It should be completed:

  • At the start of the project: To guide the planning and setup of the project, as well as alignment with stakeholders on what the project is and how to execute it.
  • After the project is proposed but before approval: To assist stakeholders in making an informed decision about moving forward.

PID Template

Keep it flexible. A PID should adapt to the project in front of it, so on something smaller there’s no shame in dropping whole sections — the agreement is the point, not the paperwork.

The PID is what you point at when someone says “I thought we agreed…” in month three. Write down only what you’d want to be held to, and get it signed off before the work starts.