A team charter template is a type of document created in a group setting which clarifies the direction of the team while setting boundaries. The development of a team charter example occurs during the initial stages of team development. It’s important to develop this document as a group in order to promote understanding and encourage buy-in.
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Team Charter Templates
Parts of a team charter template
When you invest the required effort and time to develop your team charter template, this will reduce confusion in terms of your team’s objectives. A team charter sample also contains the required information to reduce the need for rework allowing you to get everything right from the start.
While creating a team charter requires forming, storming, norming, and performing, there are certain parts you must include in your template too. These are the basic components of such a document to make it comprehensive and effective. The parts are:
- Team Purpose
This includes information about why you have created a team of people, the issue the team faces, and the acceptable outcome of the team’s efforts. - Time Commitment and Duration
It’s important for you to document how much time the team will work together for all the stages of team development in your team charter example. Depending on the solutions you propose, how long you implement your recommendations might require more time. Therefore, you must plan this carefully to ensure that you have all the time you need for the task at hand. - Scope
The scope helps you establish the start and end of your spectrum. You may include a list of included or excluded departments here. This part also helps you identify tasks easily to minimize scope creep. - Members of the Team
It’s important to create a list which includes the name of the team leader and the individual names of the team members. This allows you to recognize the team members and it enhances their commitment to the task too. In some cases, you may also choose to include a list of alternate members in your team charter sample. - The End Result You Want
Including this part allows you to start with the desired result already in your mind. In other words, this is where you establish the goals your team must achieve. Make sure that you clearly define these goals to stress their importance. - Supporting Resources
This part usually includes people who you didn’t assign as team members but who may still add value toward the purpose of the task. Apart from this, include resources like a travel budget, meeting rooms, different types of software, and so on. - Reporting Plan
This helps define how your team will communicate their progress. Make sure to set the frequency of the reporting plan and what it must contain. - Deliverables
Here, you define your team’s output. Include the Key Performance Indicators or KPIs which measure the success you want. When you consider the KPIs at the initial stages of team development, you can eliminate the immeasurable deliverables early. - Links
Finally, this part is where you consider other organizational initiatives or departments which might overlap with the purpose of the group. Here, you may also include any known key resources in certain fields.
Team Charter Examples
Benefits of using a team charter template
A team charter template must contain a clear mission and vision supported by each member of the team. This should also be your basis against any activity your team plans to pursue or consider. After announcing your team, all the members should come together for forming, storming, norming, and performing.
This allows the team to deal with specific deliverables to come up with the charter. This way, all of the members can contribute to the process. This helps ensure their buy-in and support while increasing accountability too. This document is very beneficial for a number of reasons:
- To obtain the buy-in of all the members of the team, even the ones who have resisted in the beginning.
- To hold each of the team members accountable for based on same set of principles.
- To establish the roles and responsibilities of each team member in a measurable and clear way.
- To define operations including the ways to address issues, adapt to changes, and to define specific actions as well.
- To demonstrate the mission and purpose of the team to everyone else in the organization.
- To provide clarity and reduce confusion in cases where issues arise.
Team Charter Samples
Preparing to create your team charter template
In order to create an effective team charter template, you should consider different factors like your values, priorities, focus, and more. Always remember that a team consists of people who have their own motivating forces.
Therefore, your team chartering process must reflect a wide range of dimensions for the members of your team. Here are some things to consider when team chartering:
- The people involved
You should involve each member of the team to ensure that they won’t struggle or fail. It’s important for you to work through ambiguity or resistance when creating your team charter example from the start in order to forge strong bonds and lay down the foundation or your team’s success. - The team leader
When thinking of the team leader, keep in mind that this person will be the one in charge of resolving conflicts. Think of the most responsible and qualified person on your team and make this person the leader.
It’s also a good idea to assign a person second in command, and so on. This ensures that your team will still function well, even if the leader isn’t around. - The process of creating a team charter sample
Make sure that you can finish this whole process before the project or task starts. It may take up to three days or more to create your team charter depending on how complex the purpose of the team is and how many people you need to choose from. - How long will your team charter last
When the team comes together, they must come to a decision about the duration of the charter’s coverage. They have to come to an agreement so they know exactly what to expect throughout the duration.
Forming Storming Norming And Performing
Creating an actionable team charter template
A well-made team charter template provides the team with clear expectations. You can use it to solve problems which usually come up with projects. Through the process, you can even avoid such issues from arising. The creation of this document is one of the key factors which contributes to the success of team collaboration.
Here are some tips for you to create an actionable template for your team charter:
- Start with the background
This first step helps you set the tone for your team charter. Have a discussion with the stakeholders about the purpose of the team, the issue they must solve, how the problem impacts the goals and objectives of the organization, and what would happen if you don’t deal with the problem. - Come up with the mission of your team and its objectives
This information communicates what the team should achieve. Make sure it’s memorable, clear, and specific enough to serve as a guide for the team. Start with the mission, then move on to the interim objectives and goals which your team must attain to ensure the success of the project. - Create your budget
After getting a clearer picture of the success of your project, it’s time to create the budget for it. The next step is to start aligning your resources and funds with the objectives you’ve come up with.
The ability of your team to achieve your goals directly depends on your ability to acquire the equipment, materials, and people you need for your project. It’s important to know how much money you have for your project and make this part of your plans. - Assign the roles and responsibilities of each team member
You must define all of the roles and responsibilities both for your project and for the specific goals you want to achieve. A good matrix outlines the individuals responsible for the management of project activities, the important stakeholders in each of the areas, the executive sponsors, and the team members in charge of deliverables. - Consider the team operations
This is where you provide clarification of how the work gets accomplished. It’s important to have consistent procedures and processes which everyone agrees with to ensure that your whole team remains productive and on schedule. Identify any recurring and frequent activities which would benefit from documented and clearly-defined processes. - Assess the members of the team
Now it’s time to be more explicit in terms of what your project’s success would look like for each of the team members and how you will evaluate their performances. You may also want to add self or peer-to-peer evaluation components to your assessments. This gives you valuable information both for the present and for the future - Get approvals and signatures
Finally, the end of your document should also have space for team members to affix their signatures. This ensures that each of these members understands what’s written on the document.