Build-your-own PMO blueprint

Charter and approval

Turn approved intake into a project charter with sponsor approval, scope boundaries, estimated value, and delivery ownership.

Finished outcome: A charter approval portal that captures scope, objectives, success measures, stakeholders, assumptions, and formal sponsor approval.

Business problem

Many teams jump from idea to execution without a clear charter. A simple charter workflow creates alignment before delivery effort begins.

Core data model

Project Charters
Stakeholders
Success Measures
Assumptions
Charter Approval History
Charter Documents

Portals and workflows to build

Charter Approval Portal

Collect and route project charters for sponsor review before work moves into planning.

Power Platform build

charter form with scope, objectives, value, and risk fields
stakeholder repeater or child table
approval comments panel
charter PDF or print view

Automations

sponsor approval request
revision request workflow
charter approved notification
Teams post to project channel

Reporting

charters awaiting approval
approval cycle time
charters by sponsor
approved value pipeline

Power BI report pages

Charter approval cycle time
approved project value
sponsor queue
charters by business unit

Implementation roadmap

Create charter schema and required fields.
Build the charter draft/edit experience.
Add sponsor approval and revision paths.
Generate a printable charter summary.
Track cycle time and approval backlog.

Governance notes

Do not overbuild charter fields on day one.
Make revision comments visible to the requester.
Require explicit scope exclusions for risky projects.

Next layer down: implementation details

Table build specs

EitherProject Charters

Formal definition of approved work before planning begins.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
Project Name	Single line text	Yes	Use consistent naming because it becomes the reporting label.
Linked Intake Request	Lookup	No	Connects the charter to original demand.
Sponsor	Person or lookup	Yes	Approver and accountable business owner.
Project Manager	Person	Yes	Delivery owner for planning and execution.
Objectives	Multiple lines text	Yes	Business outcomes, not just deliverables.
In Scope	Multiple lines text	Yes	What the project will deliver.
Out of Scope	Multiple lines text	Yes	Prevents expectation drift.
Estimated Budget	Currency	No	Use range if exact estimate is not available.
Charter Status	Choice	Yes	Draft, PMO Review, Sponsor Review, Revision Requested, Approved, Cancelled.
Approval Date	Date	No	Stamped by workflow.

Relationships

One Project Charter creates one Project.
Many Stakeholders can relate to one Charter.
Many Approval History rows can relate to one Charter.

Recommended indexes

Charter Status
Sponsor
Project Manager
Approval Date

EitherSuccess Measures

Defines how the PMO will know whether the project created value.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
Metric	Single line text	Yes	Cycle time, cost reduction, adoption, compliance, satisfaction.
Baseline	Number or text	No	Current-state value before project.
Target	Number or text	Yes	Desired future-state value.
Measurement Method	Multiple lines text	Yes	Where the number comes from and how often it is reviewed.

Relationships

Many Success Measures relate to one Project Charter.

Recommended indexes

Charter
Review Date

Recommended fields

Project Charter: Charter ID, Linked Intake Request, Project Name, Sponsor, Project Manager, Business Owner, Problem Statement, Objectives, In Scope, Out of Scope, Success Measures, Estimated Budget, Estimated Timeline, Key Risks, Assumptions, Dependencies, Charter Status, Approval Date.
Stakeholder: Charter, Name, Role, Department, Influence, Engagement Need, Communication Preference.
Success Measure: Charter, Metric, Baseline, Target, Measurement Method, Review Date.
Approval History: Charter, Approver, Decision, Comments, Decision Date, Approval Round.

Screens to build

Charter drafting screen for business case, scope, value, timeline, risks, and stakeholders.
Sponsor review screen with read-only summary, approval buttons, and revision comments.
PMO quality review screen for missing fields, unclear objectives, and unowned dependencies.
Printable charter summary page for steering committee packets.

Power Apps screen blueprints

Project manager or requesterCharter Draft Screen

Build the charter from an approved intake request with scope, objectives, risks, and value.

Layout

Charter progress tabs
Business case section
Scope and out-of-scope section
Stakeholders subgrid
Success measures subgrid

Controls

frmProjectCharter
txtObjectives
txtInScope
txtOutOfScope
galStakeholders
galSuccessMeasures
btnSubmitForPmoReview

Formula notes

Submit disabled until objectives, scope, sponsor, and success measures exist
Patch stakeholder child rows before status changes
Notify author when PMO review starts

Data sources

Project Charters
Stakeholders
Success Measures
Approval History

PMO reviewerPMO Charter Review Screen

Validate charter quality before sponsor approval.

Layout

Read-only charter summary
Completeness checklist
Reviewer comments
Request revision or send to sponsor actions

Controls

frmCharterReadOnly
galCompletenessChecklist
txtReviewComments
btnRequestRevision
btnSendSponsorApproval

Formula notes

Checklist must be complete before sponsor approval
Revision action sets status and sends comments
Sponsor approval action starts approval flow

Data sources

Project Charters
Approval History
Communication Log

Business sponsorSponsor Approval Screen

Approve, reject, or request revisions with minimal friction.

Layout

Charter one-page summary
Risk and investment highlights
Approval decision panel
Comments and attachments

Controls

cntCharterSummary
galSuccessMeasureSummary
cmbSponsorDecision
txtSponsorComments
btnSubmitDecision

Formula notes

Approval creates Project record and initial lifecycle stage
Revision reopens charter for author
Reject requires rationale

Data sources

Project Charters
Projects
Approval History
Lifecycle Stages

Dataverse solution component map

Create this as BV PMO Charter using publisher prefix bvpmocrt.

Tables

bv_projectcharter
bv_stakeholder
bv_successmeasure
bv_approvalhistory
bv_project

Choices

bv_charterstatus
bv_stakeholderrole
bv_approvaldecision
bv_measuretype

Apps

Charter Draft App
Sponsor Approval Portal
PMO Charter Review

Cloud flows

Charter - Submit PMO Review
Charter - Sponsor Approval
Charter - Request Revision
Charter - Create Project

Security roles

Charter Author
Charter PMO Reviewer
Charter Sponsor Approver
Portfolio Viewer

Environment variables

Charter Approval Timeout Days
Sponsor Approval Email Template
Project Site Base URL
PMO Charter Support Email

Dashboards

Charter Approval Backlog
Sponsor Queue
Approved Value Pipeline
Revision Rate

Power Fx snippets

btnSubmitForPmoReview.OnSelectSubmit charter for PMO review

Formula / code

If(
    CountRows(galSuccessMeasures.AllItems) = 0 || IsBlank(Trim(txtObjectives.Text)) || IsBlank(Trim(txtInScope.Text)),
    Notify("Add objectives, scope, and at least one success measure before PMO review.", NotificationType.Warning),
    IfError(
        Patch(
            'Project Charters',
            varCurrentCharter,
            {
                Objectives: txtObjectives.Text,
                'In Scope': txtInScope.Text,
                'Out of Scope': txtOutOfScope.Text,
                'Charter Status': { Value: "PMO Review" }
            }
        ),
        Notify("Charter could not be submitted.", NotificationType.Error),
        Notify("Charter sent to PMO review.", NotificationType.Success)
    )
);

Implementation notes

Require success measures before approval so value tracking is not an afterthought.
Lock major charter fields after sponsor approval.

Sponsor approval success actionCreate project after sponsor approval

Formula / code

Set(
    varProject,
    Patch(
        Projects,
        Defaults(Projects),
        {
            'Project Name': varCurrentCharter.'Project Name',
            Sponsor: varCurrentCharter.Sponsor,
            'Project Manager': varCurrentCharter.'Project Manager',
            'Current Stage': { Value: "Initiation" },
            'Overall Health': { Value: "Not Rated" }
        }
    )
);

Implementation notes

Create the Project record once, from the approved charter.
Use the created project ID to generate initial stage gate checklist rows.

Power Automate flow pseudo-steps

FlowCharter - Sponsor Approval

Trigger: When Charter Status changes to Sponsor Review.

Workflow map

Get charter and stakeholder details. ->

Start and wait for approval assigned to Sponsor. ->

If approved, update Charter Status to Approved. ->

Create Project record and first lifecycle stage. ->

If rejected or revision requested, update status and send comments to author.

Useful expressions

@equals(triggerOutputs()?['body/CharterStatus/Value'], 'Sponsor Review')
outputs('Start_and_wait_for_an_approval')?['body/outcome']

Status model

Draft
PMO Review
Sponsor Review
Revision Requested
Approved
Cancelled

Permissions

Charter authors edit drafts and revisions.
Sponsors approve only charters assigned to them.
PMO reviewers edit quality fields, status, and approval routing.
Executives view approved and pending charters across the portfolio.

Workflow map

Draft charter from approved intake ->

PMO completeness review ->

Revision loop if incomplete ->

Sponsor approval request ->

Sponsor approves or requests revision ->

Create project record ->

Open initial lifecycle stage

Workflow logic

When intake moves to charter, create the charter shell and copy sponsor, department, request type, and business need.
On PMO review, check scope, objectives, success measures, and sponsor.
On PMO approval, start sponsor approval and lock core fields.
On sponsor approval, create the project record and initial gate checklist.

Power BI measures and calculations

Charters Awaiting Sponsor = COUNTROWS(FILTER('Project Charters', 'Project Charters'[Charter Status] = "Sponsor Review"))
Average Approval Days = AVERAGEX('Project Charters', DATEDIFF('Project Charters'[Submitted Date], 'Project Charters'[Approval Date], DAY))
Approved Estimated Value = SUM('Project Charters'[Estimated Benefit])
Revision Rate = DIVIDE([Revision Requested Count], [Submitted Charter Count])

MVP build sequence

Create a charter table linked to intake requests.
Build draft/edit screens for scope, value, risks, and stakeholders.
Add PMO completeness review before sponsor approval.
Add sponsor approval with comments and revision handling.
Generate a simple charter summary view.

Starter template downloads

Intake requests CSVStarter columns for demand intake, scoring, ownership, and triage decisions.Project charters CSVStarter charter fields for scope, sponsors, success measures, approvals, and assumptions.Stage gates CSVStarter criteria and review fields for stage movement and gate decisions.RAID and change control CSVStarter fields for risks, issues, actions, decisions, and change requests.Status reporting CSVStarter fields for weekly project health, milestones, benefits, and decision requests.PMO build roadmapA plain-language build order for rolling out the PMO system one tool at a time.