Don't Forget This Important First Step.

Are you forgetting an important first step?

So often I see issues and points of failure arise because project managers haven't taken one important first step...

Setting up a project charter!

No matter how small the project or even if you feel super confident about it or even if you have gotten verbal approval, you still need something in writing.

There's something about putting things in writing and requesting a formal signature that makes people think twice.

You want to be on the same page before starting a project, you need the project sponsor's sign off and stakeholder buy-in - and the project charter is a good first step to making it happen.

So whether you call it a project charter or a business case document or statement of work or something else - just do it!