The project charter is the foundational document that authorizes the project and captures high-level requirements, constraints, and stakeholder expectations. Formally documenting and gaining approval for the specific compliance (SOX) and reporting requirements ensures they are baked into the project’s governance framework from the start, setting clear expectations and providing a basis for all subsequent planning.

The first step in a control process is to assess and document the impact. Updating the project schedule and risk register provides an objective basis for understanding the new critical path and the severity of the delay. This analysis is essential before deciding on a specific corrective action (like hiring a contractor) or communicating a definitive change to stakeholders, ensuring the response is data-driven and not reactive.

A core Agile principle is maintaining a consistent sprint duration and a stable sprint backlog to allow the team to focus and deliver predictable value. The project manager’s role in an Agile-hybrid environment is often to coach and facilitate adherence to the agreed process. Reinforcing the rule protects the team’s focus, upholds the integrity of the planning process, and provides a structured mechanism (the next sprint planning) for prioritizing new work.

Project success is typically measured against the approved baselines for scope, schedule, and cost. Meeting the budget baseline is a significant achievement, but not meeting the schedule baseline is an objective miss. A professional final report provides a balanced, factual assessment, acknowledging both achievements and shortcomings, along with relevant context (like the supply chain issue), to give stakeholders a complete picture.

The purpose of the project charter is to formally authorize the project and provide the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources. The key to developing this document is securing a shared understanding and agreement among key stakeholders on the project’s purpose, high-level boundaries, and who is in charge. Detailed planning on logistics, finances, or HR comes later, after the project is officially chartered.

Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = EV / PV = 200,000 / 250,000 = 0.8 (<1, behind schedule). Cost Performance Index (CPI) = EV / AC = 200,000 / 220,000 ≈ 0.91 (<1, over budget). Therefore, with less value earned than planned (behind schedule) and a higher actual cost than the value earned (over budget), the project is both behind schedule and over budget.

The project manager’s role in conflict resolution is first to act as a facilitator. Bringing the parties together to focus on project goals (not personal positions) and objectively analyze options encourages problem-solving and often leads to a better, mutually-agreed solution. This approach maintains team ownership. Escalation or an autocratic decision should be last resorts, and separating the experts avoids solving the core technical problem.

A key administrative closure activity is to index and archive all project records. This creates an organizational asset for future projects (lessons learned, legal/audit compliance, and historical data for estimating). Disbanding the team is part of closure but should follow knowledge transfer and celebrations. Deleting files is irresponsible, and while a benefits review is important, it is typically part of a separate post-project evaluation, not the immediate administrative closure.

The discovered variance is a process non-conformance. The professional response is to follow a control procedure: document it, evaluate its impact (did the alternative method compromise quality? does it create a risk?), and determine the appropriate action. This could range from accepting the deliverables if the risk is negligible to requiring re-work. Ignoring it or automatically punishing the lead fails to address the root cause or potential quality risk.

The project charter is the foundational document that authorizes the project and captures high-level requirements, constraints, and stakeholder expectations. Formally documenting and gaining approval for the specific compliance (SOX) and reporting requirements ensures they are baked into the project’s governance framework from the start, setting clear expectations and providing a basis for all subsequent planning.0