So, you’ve gathered a team of unusual suspects and diverse characters, BUT How will you agree on your goals, expectations, and values? And how will you deal with challenging situations? Design a team charter canvas together to avoid unnecessary counter productivity or unwanted surprises. And basically it is good to know who you are travelling with! WE CREATED The Team Charter Canvas based on ideas developed at CCA.
HOW TO USE THE TEAM CHARTER CANVAS
You don’t always get to decide with whom you work with. Even if you do, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful. Con icts of interest and differing values or goals often get in the way of a team’s progress. A team charter will help you create a blueprint for the engine behind a project: a well-balanced team. As a co-created document, the team charter will help clarify the team’s direction while establishing boundaries.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE
1. BEFORE YOU START
Arrange for a comfortable environment. Surely not a meeting room. Let everyone do a short introduction. The person speaking should be standing. Another way is to have everybody make one simple visual of who they are, what is important for them, and what they strive for. This is a great way to getting to know each other and for breaking the ice!
CHECKLIST
- ARRANGE A RELAXED, POSITIVE AND PRIVATE ENVIRONMENT
- HAVE MARKERS (FINE TIP) AND PAPER FOR EVERYBODY
- PRINT OR DRAW THE CANVAS ON A BIG SHEET OF PAPER
- HAVE PLENTY OF STICKY NOTES AND MARKERS READY
- ALLOW YOURSELF 30-45 MINUTES OF UNDISTURBED TIME
2. Hello, my name is
As mentioned it is very important to introduce everyone properly, that people know what everyone expects, and why they are in the room, and that there is a relaxed atmosphere. If there are things preventing this, make sure they are dealt with upfront.
3. back in the van y’all
Ask every team member where they want to sit in the bus. If someone want’s to sit in the drivers seat. That’s great! More room for you as a facilitator to facilitate!
4. individual
Individually, have people write out what their expectations are on sticky notes (max 3). Ask them to write down what they see as obstacles (max 3), and their single most important value. Finally, ask them what will give them energy. Besides, each team member should write down the most important value they want to add to the group.
TIP! THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG. IT IS ABOUT FINDING THE COMMON GROUND AND GOALS OF THE TEAM.
5. review
Next, take a step back and have a discussion about the values expectations, values, energy sources, and obstacles. Again it is not a discussion about right or wrong, but about making sure they all can identify themselves with what is put on the charter. Either the team as a whole will come up with common input. If not, the sum of the sticky notes is what the team represents.
TIP! FOCUS ON ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME. WHEN EVERY MEMBER HAS EXPLAINED THEIR INPUT, ONLY THEN MOVE TO THE NEXT TOPIC.
6. identify common drivers
As a result of clustering the sticky notes per topic, larger themes may arise. It’s great when that happens, but don’t force it. You’ll have plenty of time to find these themes later, and for now it is more important to have everyone’s input first.
TIP! BEING TOO PRACTICAL (‘EFFICIENT’) IS DANGEROUS, YOU MIGHT OVERRULE SOMEONES PERSONAL INPUT. YET CHALLENGE ALL MEMBERS TO BE EXPLICIT. NO BUZZWORDS. IF IT’S UNCLEAR IT WILL NOT SERVE THE TEAM.
7. team goals
Now that you filled everything in and everybody recognizes themselves as a acknowledged and valued team member, let’s fill in the team goals! The team should discuss and come up with a maximum of 3 goals. Make sure they are not all directly related to their functional goal.
8. next steps
Finally, after the session is finished, have all team members sign the team charter canvas. It is their contract amongst each other to make the team successful.
TIP! VISUALISE THE FINISHED CHARTER TOGETHER WILL MAKE THE COHERENCY EVEN BIGGER, TOGETHER WITH THE COMMITMENT TOWARDS THE EYE POPPING END RESULT.
CHECKLIST
- TAKE A SNAPSHOT PICTURE OF YOUR TEAM CHARTER
- MAKE SURE EVERY MEMBER HAS IT AS A REFERENCE
- IN TIMES OF TROUBLE: REFER TO THE CHARTER
Team Charter Canvas – Example
See here an example of a filled Team Charter Canvas. It helps to work with different colours of Post-its, to see the differences between the team members.
You want to use the Team Charter Canvas? Download it here! This is one of our many tools. Check and download here more tools of Design A Better Business.
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