Teams tend to go through all sorts of changes as team dynamics and focuses shift, from welcoming onboard new members to having to adapt t
o remote ways of working or changing priorities with very tight deadlines so how do we keep our teams stable and aligned amongst so much change? Team charters are a great tool to help teams align and helps to build greater collaboration and accountability within teams and can help teams to align across key areas such as: Goals, Ground Rules, Culture and Values, Things to Avoid and What makes teams great?
Lets take a look at each area in a bit more detail...
Goals - What do we strive for as a team? What goals are we striving for as a a team? What do we want the outcome of this team charter to be?
Ground Rules - What are some common ground rules shall we set? What are some basic guidelines that we as a team should try and follow? This is a really important one that can solve a lot of misunderstandings and helps to create healthy boundaries and a better working environment for everyone. Culture & Values - What sort of culture do we want to create as a team? Do we want a relaxed fun culture or are we more focused on trying to get the job done? Each team is completely different and so it's always good to explore this with the team to set the tone early on.
Things to Avoid - What things should we avoid that hinder us as a team or that will prevent us from succeeding?
What makes our team great - What should we start or continue doing that will make our team great? This one is my favourites as it's a great way to explore what motivates your team and to help define what makes the team great to set them up for success in the long run.
Okay so now we've talked through the key areas to cover, how do we turn the context into concrete and where do we start?
1. Tooling
A simple Miro board or white boarding tool is a great place to start. First you want to identify the key areas that you want the team to align on. You can do this part on your own or you can ask the team for ideas too.
2. Brainstorming
Once you've got several key areas mapped out for discussion you want to allow the team to start getting their ideas down on some post it notes so that they can contribute to how they'd like to work.
3. Voting
Once everyone has had the chance to contribute, you'll want the team to vote on the ideas they would like to carry forward and have a discussion around why they were raised and how it may help serve the team. This will help you to filter through all the ideas and take forward the ones with the most impact that will help the team moving forward.
4. Drafting
After the session, the next step is to go ahead and start drafting your team charter. I like to ask the team for a few volunteers to help draft it themselves and get team signatures signed as this helps create a stronger sense of ownership and accountability amongst the team.
Hopefully once you've completed all of these steps you should end up with something a little like this...
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