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2.3.1.1

Concept · under Governance and compliance

Project charter and team charter on the PMP® exam

A project charter is the sponsor's document that brings a project into existence and names its project manager, along with the authority that role carries. A team charter does a different job: it is the team's own record of values, ground rules and how decisions get made. The two are easy to confuse, so in any charter scenario, first work out which one it is about.

Exam
PMP
Domain
Business Env.
Domain weight
26%
Packages
8
Updated
Oct 13, 2026

01Project charter vs team charter

Two charters, two jobs

PointProject charterTeam charter
PurposeAuthorizes the project and the project manager's roleSets out how the team will work together
Written byIssued by the sponsor or initiator; the project manager often drafts itThe team, with the project manager facilitating
Typical contentsPurpose, measurable objectives, high-level requirements and risks, summary milestones and budget, key stakeholders, success criteria, the project manager's authorityValues, ground rules, meeting and communication norms, decision process, how disagreements are handled
Level of detailHigh level; detail is added during integrated planning and scopeSpecific enough to point to in the middle of a disagreement
Changes whenRarely; a shift in purpose or authority goes back to the sponsorWhenever the team or its way of working changes; often reviewed at retrospectives

02Who writes each one, and why it matters

Authority runs in opposite directions. The project charter comes down from the sponsor, which is why a project manager cannot sign one into existence for themselves. The team charter is built from the ground up, and its force comes from the fact that the team agreed to it. Questions about who may authorize what belong with governance and compliance.

The team charter connects to the Tuckman ladder at two points: it is drafted as a team forms, and it gets tested once disagreements start, when it keeps an argument about behavior from turning personal. That side of the job is part of leading the team and managing conflict.

03A team charter that holds up

  • Values turned into behavior someone could observe: “reply to direct messages within one working day” where a vaguer draft says “be responsive”.
  • A decision rule: who decides what, and what happens when consensus stalls.
  • Meeting norms: start times, attendance, how remote members take part.
  • Communication channels and the response time expected on each.
  • How disagreements are raised and worked through.
  • A date or an event that triggers a review, so the charter changes with the team.

04Which charter is it?

Distractors here like to swap one charter for the other.

Work packages 8

  1. WP 01A project manager is developing the project charter for a new initiative. Which of the following is NOT typically included in the project charter?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AThe charter states why the project exists and what it aims to achieve.
    2. BHigh-level requirements belong in the charter; detailed requirements come later.
    3. CCorrect: The charter is a high-level document that authorizes the project; a detailed WBS is built later from the scope statement.
    4. DKey stakeholders are named in the charter so that authority and interests are clear from the start.
  2. WP 02A project team is experiencing low morale and frequently ignoring the project's communication guidelines. The project manager originally drafted and distributed these guidelines independently to save time during the initial planning phase. What is the most appropriate action for the project manager to take to improve adherence?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. ADisciplinary escalation treats a buy-in problem as misconduct.
    2. BStricter penalties double down on the top-down approach that caused the problem.
    3. CMore detail does not fix rules the team never helped shape.
    4. DCorrect: Teams commit to ground rules they create themselves, so a facilitated workshop to co-create a team charter addresses the cause.
  3. WP 03A newly formed hybrid team wants to establish "Respect" as a primary core value in their team charter. To prevent ambiguity and subjective interpretations during future team conflicts, how should the project manager guide the team to document this aspirational value?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AAn agreement to keep positive attitudes is as subjective as the word it is meant to define.
    2. BCorrect: Turning a value into observable behavior, such as uninterrupted speaking time, removes ambiguity and gives the team something it can check.
    3. CAsking for utmost respect restates the value without defining it.
    4. DEscalating straight to HR is punitive and still does not define what respect looks like.
  4. WP 04A project team is officially transitioning from a highly structured, predictive design phase into a rapid, iterative agile execution phase. How should the project manager handle the existing team charter during this transition?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AA sponsor-drafted charter takes away the team's ownership of its own working agreements.
    2. BCorrect: A team charter is a living document; a major change in approach is the natural time to review the rules and record changes in its version history.
    3. CDiscarding the charter leaves the team without agreements during a disruptive transition.
    4. DKeeping rules built for predictive work ignores how an iterative cadence changes collaboration.
  5. WP 05A project manager needs to develop a high-performing team for a complex, innovative project. The team members have strong technical skills but limited experience working together. Which team development activity should be prioritized first?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AEqual skill levels matter less than shared ways of working for a new team.
    2. BDetailed roles help, but they do not set the norms for how people work together.
    3. CCorrect: A new team needs shared goals and working agreements first; a team charter lays the base for trust, decisions and accountability.
    4. DBonding builds relationships but does not set the agreements a complex project needs.
  6. WP 06A global hybrid team is distributed across three continents with no mutually convenient working hours. Team members in Asia are experiencing burnout from late-night meetings. How should the project manager update the team charter to address this issue sustainably?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AAsking everyone to be flexible leaves the burden on the same people.
    2. BAn asynchronous-only rule removes the live collaboration the team still needs.
    3. CShifting one region permanently turns the unfairness into policy.
    4. DCorrect: Rotating meeting times share the inconvenience fairly, and core collaboration windows protect the overlap that does exist.
  7. WP 07Early in planning, a finance stakeholder asks the project manager where the detailed cost baseline and schedule baseline will be documented once planning is approved, so the finance team can forecast monthly cash flow. Where should the project manager point the stakeholder?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AThe charter holds only a summary budget and milestone schedule; the detailed baselines are developed later in planning.
    2. BCorrect: The cost, schedule and scope baselines are components of the project management plan once they are approved.
    3. CThe business case justifies the investment; it predates the project and does not contain time-phased baselines.
    4. DThe risk register records risks and their responses; it is a project document, not the home of the baselines.
  8. WP 08Three weeks into a hybrid project, the team keeps clashing over who updates the task board, how code-review requests are assigned, and whether pairing is optional. A senior developer proposes asking the sponsor to add these points to the project charter so that they carry formal authority. What should the project manager do?

    Debrief answer to open the notes

    1. AThe project charter authorizes the project and the project manager; day-to-day working agreements do not belong in it, and sponsor authority does not create team buy-in.
    2. BCorrect: working agreements such as board ownership and review assignments belong in the team charter, which the team writes and is therefore more likely to follow.
    3. CA plan sent out with a request to comply is still a top-down rule; norms the team did not agree to are the ones it tends to ignore.
    4. DImposing rules may calm the argument for a while, but a team that did not shape its agreements has little reason to keep them.

Open a row to answer. Keys: 1–4 or A–D answer, N opens the next row.

05Charters in practice

Is a project charter a contract?

Inside one organization it is an authorization, not a legal agreement. When the work is for an outside customer, a contract usually comes first and the charter is written afterward, within its terms.

Can a project charter change after it is issued?

It can, rarely, and only through the sponsor, because it defines why the project exists and who leads it. Day-to-day changes to scope, schedule or cost go through change control against the baselines.

Does an agile team still need a team charter?

If anything it leans on one more, since an agile team makes more of its own decisions. The working agreements a Scrum team keeps are a team charter under another name.