(This post contains affiliate hyperlinks. Please read my full disclosure.
I took over a project from someone else three months ago. I realized that there was no project charter until I was three years into the management of it.
There were many documents that had some overlap with the charter but not an actual charter. This meant that there were key details missing from the project’s paperwork, including who would pay for it.
Oops.
This was a bit of an issue to resolve.
Project management can lead to a lot of paperwork. It’s not always what you need or want. This article will help you to identify what you actually need and how to use it.

Project Management Documents: A definition
What project documents are you looking for?
1. Business CaseWho writes the business case?

2. Project Charter
3. Project Management PlanNote – Only create a planning document if it is necessary

4. Project Schedule
5. Project RAID Log
6. Project Status Reports
7. Project Budget Tracker
8. Review of Lessons Learned
9. Project Closure Document
Select the documents that work for your project

What documentation are we really talking? Let’s define.
Project Management Documents: A definition
We can create project documents as follows:
Documentation created by a project manager to properly manage, control, and deliver the project.
What project documents are you looking for?
You’ll find tons of documentation in the project management methods and standards. But do you really need all of it? For most projects, you don’t need it all.
You will need to document a large Olympic park or a battleship. However, for most projects that are done in offices by small, medium, and large firms, it is best to focus on the basics.
Let’s get to the basics.
These are the nine documents every project requires:
Business case
Project charter
Plan for the project
Schedule
RAID log
Status report
Budget tracker
Review/retrospective of Lessons Learned
Project closure document
We’ll be looking at each one in greater detail below. I have organized the project management documents according to phase so that you can see the typical order they are created. I have also shown you how to obtain templates for each one so that you don’t have a new project.
Take a look at the descriptions and find out more about their purpose. Then think about how they could be useful for your project. Is your business case just a few lines of text in an email? That’s fine. Do not create documents just for the sake. It is the concept behind the document, not the file’s length, that is most important. They are sufficient as long as they exist and are written in a way that will be accessible to the archives.
Are you ready to jump in? Let’s go.
All these project template templates are included in one convenient bundle that includes notes and guidance. This set of project template templates was created by project managers for project managers. It will help you manage your projects effectively.
1. Business Case
Someone has a brilliant idea during the Concept or Idea phase. This idea is then transcribed into a formal business case or project proposal.
How do you write a proposal? This book will help you write a proposal. It explains why the project should be done and summarizes the problem that the project will solve.
Here is where I fail to define project documentation: the business case is usually written by someone other that the project manager.
Who then writes the business case for you?
My experience is that business cases are created by the business owner who wants to see the change. This person eventually becomes the project sponsor.
However, it’s