A team charter template is an effective way to enhance teamwork and collaboration in a business, project, or company. When appropriately created, this document encourages and motivates the team to work as a single entity.
Documentation of the project team roles and responsibilities and regular review have become the need of the hour. This is because businesses and industries have changed at a fast speed. Organisations have started the implementation of team charters and team charter templates to comply with the requirements of the digital era.
When people with different skill sets and abilities are pulled together across all backgrounds and demographics, their main aim is to see a project to completion. This pull of people needs a common agenda that unites them toward their purpose.
They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This means that for a team to achieve its full potential, all members of the team need to synchronize their interests and work well together despite their differences. This can only be achieved by clearly defining the processes to be taken, how the team will operate, and the objectives of the project. Falling out of line and focusing on the unimportant parts of the project is within human nature. This is why having a team charter is essential.
- What Is Included in the Team Charter?
- How To Build a Team Charter Template
- Team Charter Template Google Sheets
- Team Charter Canvas Template
- Team Charter Canvas Template Word
- Team Charter Canvas Template PDF
- Team Charter Canvas Template Online Tools
- Why Is a Team Charter Important?
- Team Charter vs Project Charter Template
- FAQs
So, what is a Team charter? A team charter is a document that acts as a visual representation of the objectives of a particular team. The charter contains the guidelines created within a group environment that helps to describe the team’s mission, how it will function, and their expected outcomes, all while defining boundaries within the team. Managers and project owners use a team charter document to define the project team’s obstacles, assets, and goals. Sometimes, a team charter may outline the direction and boundaries of the project team. It is similar to project or product roadmaps, except the team charter is only for one team.
It includes a set of directions that the team and its project sponsors generate at the start of the process to ensure everyone involved is on the same page and to provide guidance when challenges arise. A charter aims to eliminate misunderstandings about the team’s role in the project and helps them gain a broader perspective. A team charter is essential for group members and upper, and middle-level management.
Team charters should be created immediately after a team has been formed. This ensures that all the team members stay concentrated on the essential aspects from the go. However, creating a team charter can be beneficial if a team is going through a misunderstanding and the people need to refocus on the project’s objectives. Developing a charter within a group setting encourages understanding and increases the rate of buy-ins.
What Is Included in the Team Charter?
Every document has a unique structure that sets it apart from identifying as a piece of paper with scribbles. A team charter is not any different. While there are some variations between the structures, some key elements always manage to stand out. For example, a team that has been brought together to help push the organization’s brand will have the following as part of its Team-charter Template.
- Define the project outcomes.
- Set team roles based on the outcomes
- Define the responsibilities of each team member
- Set up a relationship channel and ensure a proper chain of command
- Team mission and objectives
- Project background
- Mention of training, budget, and resources
- Team operational structure
- Team roles and responsibilities
- Tea performance metrics
- Project scope outline and team participation
- Team communication guide
- List of project milestones and tasks
- Team members’ signatures
The Mission
Mission statements are a way for a company to demonstrate its purpose. The same applies to team-charters. They help outline the team’s purpose and role while explaining how you intend to achieve that purpose.
An example of a mission statement could be: To increase the visibility of the organization’s brand through online and offline campaigns, SEO strategies, and content marketing so that within six months, the target audience would have been made aware of the organization’s existence.
The Objective
The difference between a mission and an objective is a thin line that is almost transparent. However, while mission statements tell the public about the role of your team and the strategies used to achieve that purpose, objectives are more direct and straight to the point. For example: to achieve brand visibility, increase customer interactions, generate recruiting leads, increase the rate of conversions of recruiting leads to customers, etc.
The Context that Led to Its Formation
This defines the value of the team and goes on to show the main reason or reasons that led to its formation. It explains why the group was created, the problem it is attempting to solve, how this issue fits into the institution’s overall organizational goals, and the possible repercussions of the situation going unsolved. It also helps to establish where the company stands, whether or not the purpose of the team is achieved, the expected outcome or delivery, and its significance.
For example, ‘This team has been formed to help boost brand visibility. A recent analysis of the company’s sales has proven that many of its prospective consumers are unaware of its existence in the market, nor have they interacted with the company’s products. This has caused sales to either go down or stagnate. If this problem is not fixed, the company will be unable to generate new revenue constantly, hence the need for a team of experts willing to make that change by being a competitor in the field.’
Roles and Responsibilities of Team Members
Delegating responsibilities helps the team members to understand their roles better. It also helps to create accountability among team members. Team leaders can push their respective deliverables among their members, ensuring the project runs smoothly and is completed on time.
Budget vs. Available Resources
Clearly outlining which part of the project gets the number of available resources helps ensure you do not go beyond the allocated budget. It also shows team members the areas that require the most effort over those that don’t. Don’t be in a rush to finalize it until everyone is on board with the information found in your team charter.
Creately is a visual workspace to create flowcharts, infographics, diagrams, and team charters. It has a library of templates for business documents including project team charters. Thus, you can use the template that meets your project or business requirements and edit it.
How To Build a Team Charter Template
Creating a team charter can be overwhelming or fun, depending on how you go about it. Either way, this collaborative process will always start with a draft showcasing what the team charter example looks and feels like before producing the final copy. Here is a step-by-step guide for building a team charter.
Define the context
You cannot have a team without defining its purpose. At this stage, team members should contribute ideas on who the leaders should be, their responsibilities, and expectations.
Outline the Team’s Objectives, Vision, and Mission
This gives your team members a sense of purpose and direction. Clearly defining these aspects helps them to understand their end game and visualize their success in an ideal world.
Come Up With a Time Frame
Setting deadlines helps your team stay within the allocated time for the project. It also helps your team to measure its level of success and how practical its strategies are.
Set Up a Communication Path
The responsibilities of a team leader include relaying concerns and recommendations from their team members to the higher-ups. When team members are aware of the hierarchy to follow when faced with a certain situation, it makes it easier for them to understand who to go to when they need assistance.
Signing Off
This is generally the last step to building a team charter. Once everyone involved has reviewed the final copy and agrees, they must sign against their names in the document. This helps to enforce accountability in case the conditions of the charter are unmet.
Team Charter Template Google Sheets
Create a copy of Team Charter Template here
Team Charter Canvas Template
Team charter canvas templates are used to agree on the way the project team will work together. It must be created with and signed by the team members. Charters help virtual and remote teams if they haven’t worked together before. Create the team charter with the team and ask each team member what they see as good for team working and how would they like to work. A pre-written charter doesn’t work as the team members don’t feel the ownership.
Team charter canvas helps businesses form teamwork and accomplish a project. It allows you to set boundaries and specify roles beforehand. For this reason, this template helps business owners and management.
Here are some advantages of a team charter:
- The team charter acts as a how-to guide and can help onboard and transform the staff
- It helps set team accountability and ensures picking tasks automatically by the team
- The team charter contains the roles and responsibilities of team members and ensures resources are not wasted in the project
- Project owners and business stakeholders will know the purpose of the team and take strategic decisions about decreasing or increasing the team’s strength
- It helps managers resolve team conflicts when more than one team work on a project
Team Charter Canvas Template Word
Team Charter Canvas Template PDF
Team Charter Canvas Template Online Tools
Why Is a Team Charter Important?
There are numerous benefits to developing a team charter. They include the following.
Increases employee engagement
Since the team members actively participated in the conception of the charter, it naturally becomes easier for them to abide by it.
Builds trust
The transparency that accompanies making a team charter makes it easier for team members to understand your role in the group and trust you with information about it.
Defines individual roles and responsibilities
Workplace friction arises when team members have to play guessing games concerning leadership. Electing or nominating a leader from the start minimizes friction and confusion.
Promotes accountability
Since every team member signed off on the charter, it makes them individually responsible for its success.
It gives them a sense of purpose
A Team-charter helps its members to clearly understand the reasons that brought them together and fuels their need to work together to achieve those goals.
Team Charter vs Project Charter Template
The team charter establishes team agreements, values, decision-making criteria, communications guidelines, meeting guidelines, and conflict resolution processes while the project charter provides project requirements and descriptions.
FAQs
What is a Team charter Template?
A team charter template is a document used to outline the objectives and purpose of a team. It helps clear up the confusion relating to individual roles and responsibilities within the team.
Why is a team charter important in collaborative environments?
A team charter acts as a team roadmap and guides them to achieve a goal. Teams use the team charter to define roles and delegate responsibilities. It helps teams accomplish goals and sustain progress through significant transitions.
How do you keep a team charter alive?
The manager must keep the team charter relevant and modify it when needed. Bring the team charter to every third meeting and ask team members to check the terms of the agreement. Another way is to use it during catch-ups.
What is a Good Project Charter?
A good project charter contains clear and adequate information on a particular project’s scope, responsibilities, and objectives.
What is team charter in Scrum?
The team charter is a Scrum tool that defines the basic elements of how the team organizes. This is important for teams new to agile and not familiar with concepts like the definition of done and sprint cadence.