The project one-pager

A few years ago, I wrote a longer write-up about Practical tips every engineer needs to know about managing a project. It discussed the role of a project manager, project stages, the project plan, communication, project meetings and common failure modes. Here I like to focus on the most important activity in the beginning of the project: building a common understanding of what the project is all about. This is best done by writing a simple one-to-three page document, the project charter, in plain English. It shall not be a powerpoint presentation, as bulleted lists leave too much room for interpretation. It should be…