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When creating a team charter, you will wan to include the following standard components (and might also include other sections):
- Purpose
- Accountabilities
- Operating Guidelines (Ground Rules)
- Goals and Actions
The Purpose, Accountabilities, and Goals sections establish what the team needs to achieve; the Operating Guidelines section lays out how the team is going to achieve them.
Team Charter: Purpose
The Purpose Statement in a team charter defines the focus of the team’s efforts by explaining why the team exists. This section is less about the job description of things the team does and more about why the team might do these things … to what end? What organizational goals does the team intend to impact? Think in terms of being in business for yourself as though you are a team of consultants or contractors with skills and talent the organization needs for a specific purpose. You might try using the “5 Why’s” or asking “SO WHAT” to help you drill down from actions or activities to what the teams purpose is.
Questions to prompt your thinking:
- Why does this team exist?
- What goals or objectives do we intend to impact in the broader business?
- What will change for the better because of our team?
- What problems or opportunities are we to address?
Team Charter: Accountabilities
The Accountabilities in a team charter are the team’s main deliverables. Well-identified team accountabilities, provide a list of the team’s main responsibilities and outputs. Think outcomes not activities!
Questions to prompt your thinking:
- What are the teams main job responsibilities?
- What outputs, products, tools, services do we provide to fulfill our purpose?
Team Charter: Operating Guidelines
The Operating Guidelines in a team charter should be stated as behaviors so that all team members understand what is expected of them. It’s important that everyone on the team agrees to and supports the guiding principles. They define the agreed-upon behaviors and expectations of the team and the individuals who make up the team.
Questions to prompt your thinking:
How will we approach the work?
- Collaboratively, always working together
- Divide the work to experts to work on separately
- Will we involve others from outside the team .. who, how, when
- How will we share information
How will we make decisions?
- By consensus …how will we define consensus
- Present our positions to the team lead who will make final call
- Other
How will we run meetings?
- How often will we meet, where
- Who controls and distributes the agenda
- How will we spend our meeting time
How will we treat one another?
Team Charter: Goals and Actions
The team’s Goals and Actions in a team charter need to have direct line of sight to the Team Purpose and Accountabilities. Here you need to get more specific, with actions that include measurable targets that will lead to your team meeting its accountabilities and delivering on its purpose. Think ‘SMART’ (Specific, Measurable, Agreed-upon, Realistic, Time-Bound).
Questions to prompt your thinking:
- What are the first steps that we need to take in order to meet our accountabilities and delivering on our purpose?
- Who will do What by When?
- How will we measure our progress?
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