Most project management experts recommend a project chartering process at the onset of every project. By formalizing the process of initiating a project, organizations will require IT managers, project stakeholders and project managers to more closely analyze project details, set a clear mission statement and pinpoint problems before they ever crop up.

The following project charter tips come by way of Nels Hoenig, co-author of “How to Cheat at IT Project Management” and a PMP-certified software quality assurance analyst for Sterling Commerce, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, as well as Mike Sisco, president of MDE Enterprises, an IT consultancy and IT management training firm based in Columbia, Tenn., and Steve McConnell, president of the Bellevue, Wash.-based software-development best practices firm Construx Software.