Team Charters: A Tool for Designing Your Team

Concept: formal document that specifies team roles, norms, expectations, processes, and reward/distinction,
The document specifies, for example:

• Individual and team goals (with emphasis on creating alignment)
• Roles and responsibilities (task and social)
• Timelines and key milestones
• Expectations related to meetings, attendance, and communication
• Protocols for giving and receiving feedback
• Rewards for performance, sanctions for non-performance

Impact of charters on team performance

• The charter helps low effective performance strategy team to perform better than without charter.

Source: Mathieu and Rapp, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009

• "Our results support he assertion that the introduction of team charters do, in fact, manifest in improved intermediary process outcomes, including communication, effort, mutual support and cohesion."

Source: McDowell et al., Oragnization Development Journal, 2011