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eSkills: Domain I, Task 6

References:

• PMBOK® Fifth Edition (Dec. 2012)

• PMI Role Delineation Study (RDS) for PMP®

credential holders latest edition (2011)

• PMP® Examination Content Outline latest edition

(revised Aug. 2011)


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At the end of this activity, students will

be able to:

•Describe RDS tasks

•Analyze day-to-day management

considerations

•Map tasks with theoretical

knowledge included in PMBOK

•Discuss “real world” situations

•Use a step-by-step approach to

solve PMP exam situational questions

This course audience is comprised of students who are actively preparing for their PMP exam certification

as well as practitioners seeking to update their knowledge and skills to the newest version of RDS and

PMBOK for renewal of their certification with continuing education credits.

Learning Objectives for this unit of instruction are designed to provide students with the learning outcomes

described below.



This activity will focus on

Domain one, Task six:

“Obtain approval for the

project charter from the

sponsor and customer (if

required), in order to

formalize the authority

assigned to the project

manager and gain

commitment and acceptance

for the project.”

(PMP® Exam Content

Outline page five)

The PMI RDS identifies essential knowledge and skills for Project Manager Professionals as they are

evaluated by the community of practitioners worldwide. It also serves as a blueprint for PMP Certification

Examination Content development. This essential document ensures that the domains of PMI training

covered in the exam reflect the range of day-to-day “real world” practices among PMP credential holders.



PMI RDS - Domain One: 1. Perform project assessment

2. Define high-level project scope

3. Perform key stakeholder analysis

4. Identify and document high-level risk,

assumptions, and constraints

5. Develop the project charter

6. Obtain approval for project charter

According to the RDS outlined by PMI, there are six tasks associated with the First Domain (Initiating Phase).

Check the summary card below: I’ve summarized them to show how their progress fits into the project plan.

This task focuses on obtaining approval for the project charter. When this task is accomplished i.e. when the

project charter is approved, the project is officially authorized and it has gained commitment and acceptance

from management.

summary card



The project charter is generally authored and

approved by the project sponsor. Depending on

the project environment, the project charter could

need signatures from customers and other

designated stakeholders.

Who approves the project charter?

Having all the key information in the

project charter will enable it to be

approved. This includes the project

purpose, the objectives and

success criteria, high-level

requirements, project boundaries,

summary schedule and budget,

assumptions, constraints and high-

level risks, stakeholder list, and

project approval requirements.

Reference: PMBOK page seventy-

two.

What would enable approval?

Let’s look at important concepts related to this specific task. We want to clarify our understanding of these concepts in

the context of the project manager tasks. Always check the PMBOK when you are in doubt!

Check the definition cards below for my digest of important key terms. Formulating definitions in your own words will

reinforce knowledge acquisition.

definition

cards

Key Benefits

“The approved project charter formally initiates the

project”. Once the project charter is approved, senior

management and other stakeholders who have

approved it are committed to the project.

Reference: PMBOK page sixty-six and sixty-seven.



Obtain project charter approval: 1. Elements of the project charter

2. Verifying information captured

3. Sponsor and stakeholder review

4. Approval signatures

Elements of the project charter

The elements of the project charter include the

business needs, assumptions, constraints, the

understanding of customer’s needs, high level

requirements, a summary schedule and budget,

high-level risks, a stakeholder list, and project

approval requirements.

Verifying information captured

The information you have captured in the

project charter needs to be thoroughly checked

and verified to ensure correctness and

completeness.

Sponsor and stakeholder review

Once all the information for the project

charter has been captured and verified, it

needs to be reviewed by the sponsor, if the

sponsor was not the author, and

stakeholders. Any changes that are

requested need to be incorporated.

Now we want to examine more closely key management processes, techniques, and documents. What will you need to

consider to obtain project charter approval? According to the PMBOK (Fifth Edition, page fifty-four), when the project

charter is approved, the project becomes officially authorized. What do you need to include in the project charter to ensure

it has the best chance of being approved? Has the information captured been verified? What can the project manager do to

ensure the project charter will be approved? Check the summary card below for a quick summary of the first three:

elements of the project charter, verifying information captured, and sponsor and stakeholder review.

summary card



Obtain project charter approval: 1. Elements of the project charter

2. Verifying information captured

3. Sponsor and stakeholder review

4. Approval signatures

Approval signatures

The last step in the “obtain project charter

approval” process is getting signatures on the

reviewed and agreed to project charter. The

project charter requires a signature from the

project sponsor. The signature is necessary to

provide the project manager authority to plan

and execute the project.

summary card

What can the project manager do (continued)?

Check the summary card below for a quick summary of the remaining one: approval signatures.



2. Review and Verify

3. Present Information 4. Get Signatures

What are critical factors to achieve task success? Since projects are authorized and initiated based on the project

charter, one of the critical factors in achieving task success is capturing all the necessary information for senior

management to be able to make a go / no-go decision on the project. Also it is important for the sponsor and key

stakeholders to want to commit themselves to the project.

Check the review cards below for my list of important questions and considerations to understand these factors.

review

cards

Have you thoroughly reviewed and verified all the information? Have you ensured there are no gaps?

You need to set up a meeting with the sponsor and stakeholders to present the information. Are you prepared for the questions that could be asked? The go / no-go decision is based on the information you present.

Once the project charter is approved and signed by the sponsor, the task is complete and the sponsor and the stakeholders are committed to the project.

1. Capture Project Information

Have you captured all the relevant information that is necessary? Are the project objectives, its boundaries, the high-level requirements, risks, schedule, budget, assumptions, constraints, etc. included?



You have been assigned as project manager for a

project which recently started and you are currently

helping the project sponsor write the project charter.

Your next task is to obtain approval for the project

charter so that you can officially commence the project.

You add the information you have captured to the

project charter. You set up a meeting with the sponsor

and key stakeholder to present the project charter.

Considering all the information gathered, you are

confident that the project charter will be approved. Have

you reviewed and verified all the information? Does it

give the sponsor all the information about the project

objectives, the success criteria, the boundaries and the

high level schedule? Does it include the high-level costs

of the project? Can the sponsor make a go / no-go

decision based on the information in the project

charter?

How do you manage this sixth task of the Domain “Initiating” the PMI way?

See below an example of a real-life situation to illustrate the task at hand: obtaining approval for the project charter.

How do you apply the best standards and recommended management processes described in PMBOK when you are

actually in charge and have to make many decisions in the course of action?



When you review this example, take a minute to reflect on the situation. What key steps did you see the project manager

take? How does this align with PMI standards? In your opinion, are there any missing elements?

I’ve created a summary card below of the key components to consider for obtaining approval for the project charter.

Obtain Project Charter Approval Key components: •Capture information for all key elements in the project charter •Review and verify the details thoroughly •Set up a meeting with the sponsor and stakeholder to review the project charter •Update any information due to review comments •Obtain signatures on the project charter summary card



PMP Exam Practice Question

Questions are situational and based on

“real world” situations. They will test your

knowledge and skills! Since the PMP

exam prompts two hundred questions in

four hours, on average, you should be able

to solve one question in less than one

minute, twelve seconds…

Are you ready for the challenge?

Now, let’s simulate a certification exam question based on PMBOK fifth edition!

This will enable you to review how the skills used to successfully manage this task are tested in the exam and what the

expectations are for solving problems that are placed on the PMP exam, now that the exam is aligned with the latest

PMI RDS.



PMCAMPUS.com Karma eSIMTM PMP Exam Simulator

Next slide will present a step-by-step resolution. Prepare your own reasoning and move to the next

slide when you are ready...



Source: -PMBOK, p. 6

• Unprecedented

market opportunity

• Initiate a project

• Capital intensive

• Authorize the

project

Highlight important

keywords

• Approved project

charter formally

initiates the project

List PMBOK related

terms of reference

• Initiate project or

phase

• Inputs to the

process: Project

Charter

• Techniques:

Verify and Review

• Outputs from the

process:

Approved project

charter

Identify PM Process

and ITTO involved

Solving Approach: find the context and map with PMBOK

Now, let’s take this step by step and start with analyzing the theoretical context for this situation. Let ’s try to map the

situation with related content from the PMBOK as best as we can. Mapping may be tricky and will not always provide

all that is needed to solve the issue. Like in “real-world” situations, it is not easy to apply theoretical knowledge. But

let’s build as much context as we can. Determine important keywords, they will guide you to identify the context. What

is the process group? Can you map this situation to PMBOK? Can you recognize the Process? Which Inputs, Outputs,

Tools and Techniques (ITTO)? What are the project documents involved?



Obtain project charter approval • Who can approve the project

charter?

• Who can authorize the budget?

Authorizing the budget: The project sponsor, by signing the

charter, authorizes the budget. The

project sponsor should be at the level

that is appropriate to secure funding and

commit resources to the project

PMBOK page sixty-eight.

The Project Charter is generally

approved by the project sponsor and

customer (depending on the project

environment).

Let’s look deeper into each important concept, technique or document involved in this situation. What elements do you

recognize? What do you know about them? Are these elements going to impact your reasoning for making a decision?

Watch for possible “overload” of non-relevant information and keep focused on what really matters.

Below, I present the key elements I want to focus my reasoning on. I also added my reference as to where this can be

found in PMBOK. Not all questions content is found in PMBOK content but the vast majority is.



•Take mental note of differences and compare the

pros and cons of each solution.

•Reflect on the impact on the management of the

project for each solution. Which solution implements

best PMI management standards?

•Are all solutions aligned with best practices as

described in PMBOK?

•Try to eliminate two solutions first and reflect on the

two last ones. Select the solution that best fits with

your current knowledge of PMI standards.

•Ready to see the solution? Go to next page…

Decision Making Techniques

Now that you have all the knowledge in mind that you could possibly identify to solve the question, you will be

challenged with decision making skills.

To select the BEST answer, you often will have to eliminate other solutions that do not fit. Beware: some solutions may

be correct or appear to work but are not be the best answer.

Review each statement carefully and ask yourself the following questions:



Correct Answer and Explanations

• A senior vice-president

Since the project is a significant monetary investment for the company,

only a senior vice-president who would be at the appropriate level to

procure funding for the project can authorize it.



Incorrect Answers and Explanations

• You, the project manager

– No, as the project manager, you don’t have the authority to

authorize this project.

• A senior manager

– No, senior managers are not at the level required to procure

funding for the project and therefore cannot authorize this project.

• A finance manager

– No, finance managers are not at the level required to procure

funding for the project and therefore cannot authorize this project.



Some more tips and advice:

•In the solution, watch for gaps in your knowledge or gaps

in your reasoning. Where do you need to improve most?

•Did you select a solution because it made sense based on

your own experience or because it is best aligned with PMI

standards?

•Most questions are situational but that does not mean they

are difficult. With good mapping you will be more and more

confident and able to make a correct decision. Many

questions are actually quite straightforward once you are

proficient enough in each of the performance domains.

•The more sample questions you practice the better you

will be prepared to face the exam challenges as you will

have more opportunities to bridge your knowledge and

skills gaps.

•And remember, the passing score is not one hundred

percent, so you do have room for error. The passing score

is currently kept confidential by PMI but we, at

PMCAMPUS.com, think it is a good guess to target a

seventy percent passing rate.

It is now time to reflect on this task and wrap up the learning activity.

I hope you have gained a better understanding of this task and are now able to picture the day-to-day actions a PMP practitioner

will have to manage to perform this task and to think about its implications and related processes.

As well, I hope you continue to sharpen your skills at solving PMP exam questions and train yourself to become more and more

able to apply the standards described in PMI’s PMBOK and make decisions to select the best answer (and eliminate the incorrect

answers!).

Bye! I wish you

good luck.

eskills d1 task6_pmcampus

Leadership & Management

project charter

project sponsor

project plan

project assessment

project enviro

project manager professionals

highlevel project scope

eskills eskills