Laying the Foundations for Success

A great tool to lay the foundations upon which to build and sustain high performance is the Team Charter. A Team Charter specifies the purpose of a team, the boundaries of its scope and authority, creates team cohesion and articulates expectations of team membership.

Although usually produced by the formal team leader this does not always have to be the case. What is important is that once produced the charter is shared with the team. Individuals should be encouraged to discuss the charter, offer suggestions for changes and agree its final content. Frequently reviewing roles, communications strategies and resource allocation will ensure that the charter remains current.

It is important that the charter is ‘owned’ by the team in order for them to become responsible for working as a team within its framework. Team members must be accountable to the team charter. If team members are not working within the charter framework, discuss the matter with the individual sooner rather than later to avoid damaging team cohesion.

Recommended contents are:

• Vision - A compelling vision will develop and sustain a culture of high performance.
• Mission - A mission, the team knows what it has to achieve.
• Communications - Agree how information will be shared among the team, the organisation and stakeholders.
• Decision-Making - Agree how decisions will be reached.
• Roles - Define each team member’s responsibility.
• 
Resources - List the resources needed to accomplish goals (include people and time).

Explore more in Leading High Performance Teams