Take the Time to Define Your Team’s Purpose
Have you ever been assigned to a team only to find it was a waste of your time? Or been named “team leader” but had no idea where to start? Or found yourself on a team that’s floundering or falling apart, unable to work together?
If so, it’s time to get back to basics.
For teams to be successful, they need to have a basic understanding of why they exist, where they fit, and how they’ll accomplish their objectives. Here’s what a team charter is and how to create a team charter.
What Is a Team Charter?
A team charter is a document that defines how your team is going to work together, what roles each team member will play, and more. It’s one of the first activities for teams to do together when they’re formed or starting a new project, and is all about setting shared expectations for the team. By aligning early, teams can avoid issues stemming from miscommunications and misunderstandings, and quickly align on shared processes to move forward.
What Are the Components in a Team Charter?
A team charter consists of the following elements: purpose, context, goals, roles, processes, decision-making, and norms. The team can establish these components by collaborating on the questions listed below.
Team Purpose
The team purpose is the group’s mission, calling, or guiding purpose, distilled into a single sentence. Agree on 3–4 values that define your group. To help determine the team purpose, ask yourselves:
- What kind of team is this exactly? (A work team, project team, management team, coordination team?)
- Why does the team exist? What’s the team responsible for accomplishing?
- What “work” does the team do?
- What topics belong “in” this team, and what’s “out”?
- What shared values define our group?
Team Context
The team context is how the team fits into the bigger picture. Ask the following questions to determine the team context:
- Who’s the team accountable to?
- With what other groups / teams do we connect? What do they want / need from us?
- What are our differentiators? What defines and sets apart our group?
- What links exist between our group and others? How solid are those ties? How will our team interact with other groups?
Team Goals
Clarify the group’s output, tasks, or concrete contributions. Consider:
- What specific results do we expect from our team’s efforts?
- What outcomes do we want? (This may be in terms of cost, quality, speed, service, quantity, coordination, innovation, etc.)
- How can we measure those outcomes?
Team Roles
Decide on team boundaries with the following questions:
- Who’s on the team? What perspective and skills does each member bring?
- Are there special roles (e.g., leader, facilitator, etc.) on the team?
- Are there key sub-groups within the team? What do the subgroups do or require?
Team Work Processes
Nail down workflows and expectations. Determine how the team will share information, deliberate, and decide things with the following prompts:
- What processes will we use to do the team’s work? (List them out, step by step.)
- What expectations do we have around how we work and what we do?
- How often will we meet?
- Who determines and manages our agenda?
- How will we connect with our stakeholders and other sponsors of our work?
Team Decision-Making
Determine how your team makes decisions by asking these questions:
- What decisions are made within this team?
- What’s out of bounds?
- What level of decision-making responsibility do we have?
- What decision process will we use?
- How will we communicate with one another and connect to others within the organization? (Learn some communication tools your team can try out to help people become teamwork activators, rather than blockers.)
Team Norms
Outline team norms and expectations by considering:
- What do we expect of one another?
- How do we agree to handle conflict?
- What are our team norms and / or operating principles? (For help, see 10 steps for establishing team norms.)
How to Create a Team Charter
Tip 1: Hold a Meeting to Establish Your Team Charter
Ideally, you could hold an off-site retreat for your team and set aside some time for team-building and some time to establish your team charter. (This is a technique recommended in our white paper on boundary spanning leadership practices.) To try the team charter off-site, everyone on the team should head to a place out of the office and spend half the time away doing a non-work activity together (hiking, eating, etc.), and the rest of your time constructing a team charter. At the end of the day, capture the team’s identity in a fun and memorable way. Create a short video that tells your team’s story or a touchstone that represents what the group is all about.
If scheduling a team retreat is unrealistic, it’s still important to set aside a large block of time for the team to work together on creating your team charter.
Tip 2: Ensure Collaboration
During your planning session, you or another team leader should walk members through key questions, visually capturing responses on a flip chart (if you’re meeting in person) or via a shared online collaboration tool (if you’re meeting virtually).
Another way to facilitate collaboration is to rotate note-taking roles as team members discuss the team charter components.
Tip 3: Maintain and Review the Charter
A team charter should be regularly reviewed to ensure it’s still accurate and effective. Teams change and organizations evolve, so revisiting the charter annually can keep processes, goals, and roles up-to-date.
Frequently Asked Questions About a Team Charter
What should go into a team charter?
During the initial “chartering” session, there are several important elements that should be discussed — including why the team exists; its purpose, context, roles, procedures, workflows, and norms; and how the team members will accomplish their objectives. Once all of these pieces are defined and captured, they should be translated into a shared, written document, or official team charter.
How long should a team charter be?
Team charters are typically 1–4 pages. They need to be detailed and cover the components listed above, but also not too long so that the team can read and refer to them easily.
What are the benefits of creating a team charter?
Creating a team charter has many benefits, including clear roles and responsibilities, shared purpose and goals, improved communication, and greater accountability.
How do I make a team charter?
Team charters are usually created in a group setting, with the team members involved in the creation process. During the session, team leaders facilitate discussions and pose key questions that help define several critical elements about the team. This initial “chartering” discussion or brainstorm should be recorded; then, a designated team member or subgroup can work to adapt and combine your team’s agreements on the above questions into a single, formal document. Once completed, the team charter should be shared with team members and displayed in appropriate areas for future reference — such as in a shared physical workspace, as well as posted electronically for easy access.
What is the goal of a team charter?
The goal of a team charter, or work charter, is to define and document your team’s overall objectives, resources, and constraints. It can be a helpful tool when establishing a new team, but it can also be leveraged to re-launch or reinvigorate an existing team that’s been operating for awhile.
Once the team charter has been created, you can periodically refer back to the document to help ensure your team is meeting your agreed-upon objectives. As a group, revisit it from time to time and consider the following questions:
- Does our work reflect our stated purpose? Have we gotten distracted, or are we staying true to our purpose?
- Are we meeting the needs of our team? Are we meeting stakeholders’ expectations? Are we coordinating well with others who rely on our work?
- Are our roles clearly defined and executed? Are we making good use of a variety of perspectives?
- Are our work processes effective? Are we sticking to what we agreed to in our charter? Why not? What new processes might help us be more effective?
- Are decisions being made efficiently and effectively? Are we including the right amount of input? What surprises or frustrations have we encountered? How might we do it differently?
- How well is our communication plan working? Are we sticking to it? What methods are working particularly well? What are we not doing so well?
- Are we living within the norms we created? Are they helping us achieve our objectives? What norms do we want to add? Delete? How can we be better in the future?
- As we reach our intended goals, do the measured results of our work demonstrate that? Is anything getting in the way of us being successful?
Always update your team charter if team members come to an agreement about necessary modifications or new additions. That way, the team charter will continue to serve as a resource for you, your team, and your organization in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Equip your team leaders with what they need to know, including how to create a team charter, so they’re able to lead co-located, hybrid, and remote teams more effectively. Partner with us for team development to foster greater team collaboration, rapport, and innovation.
