What is a Team Charter?

There are various mentor archetypes, each playing a unique role in the mentee's growth:
A team charter is a document that outlines the purpose, goals, and expectations of a team. It serves as a roadmap for the team’s journey, providing clarity and direction.

The Casting Call: Finding the Right Mentor or Mentee

• Purpose Statement: Clearly defines the mission or the main goal of the project.
• Objectives: Specific, measurable goals that the team aims to achieve.
• Roles and Responsibilities: Detailed descriptions of each team member’s role and their responsibilities.
• Communication Plan: How and when the team will communicate, including meeting schedules and tools used.
• Decision-Making Process: The process the team will follow to make decisions.
• Conflict Resolution Process: Guidelines for resolving disputes within the team.

Why are Team Charters Important?

• Clarity and Alignment: A team charter provides clarity on the team’s mission, objectives, and values. It aligns team members on what success looks like and how to achieve it.
• Defined Roles and Responsibilities: By clearly outlining roles and responsibilities, a team charter helps prevent overlaps and gaps, ensuring everyone knows what is expected of them.
• Enhanced Communication: With established norms for communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution, a team charter fosters a healthy and productive team environment.
• Increased Accountability: A team charter sets clear expectations, making it easier to hold team members accountable and track progress towards goals.

“We had the idea to create a team charter during a time when we had a lot of new people on the team and it felt a little like we were in flux” said Khahliso. “We were trying to figure out our ways of working and finding our feet, as well as establish our team culture.”

“It’s important to make it relevant to your specific teams and not duplicate efforts or add more noise to an already meeting-heavy load,” she added.

How to Create a Team Charter

Involve the entire team:

Include key stakeholders and team members. Ensure diverse representation for comprehensive input.

“We included the mix of Entelectuals in our subset team as well as our customer team members in our team charter meetings. It really helps to make everyone feel as though they are one team and to mitigate against any cliques, especially if you have a mix of different individuals from different companies on one project,” said Khahliso.

Choose a Method or Tool:

Miro has some helpful team charter templates you can use as a basis for the creation of the document.

“I suggested that underneath each section, everyone use a sticky note to write one thing down. People put down loads more points, and I loved the sections that spoke to work-related and personal goals. When people reached their milestones we could celebrate them together,” said Khahliso.

Andreas added, “Everyone had 5 minutes to write down their thoughts under each section.” “The most important part of the team charter exercise was really the conversations that it stimulated in the team.”

“I also only hosted two sessions (online) to get the team charter done. I didn’t want to lose people’s attention,” added Khahliso.

Define the Purpose:

• What is the team’s mission?
• Why does the team exist?

Set Clear Goals:

• Define SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).

Outline Roles and Responsibilities:

• Assign specific roles to team members.
• Clarify responsibilities to avoid overlap.

Establish Ground Rules:

• Define acceptable behaviours and norms.
• Set guidelines for meetings, communication, and collaboration.

“One way of working that came about as a result of our team charter, was the way we acknowledged team member messages on Slack”, said Khahliso. “We established that even if you don’t reply, everyone should react to the message, to acknowledge that they’ve seen it.”

Create a Communication Plan:

• Decide on communication channels and frequency.
• Establish protocols for updates and feedback.

“It’s important to add any action points very clearly,” added Andreas. “And then of course, to follow up on them.”

Define the Decision-Making Process:

• Determine how decisions will be made (e.g., consensus, majority vote).
• Clarify who has the final say in different scenarios.

Plan for Conflict Resolution:

• Set a process for addressing and resolving conflicts.
• Identify a neutral party or mediator if needed.

Document and Share:

• Write down the charter in a clear, concise document.
• Share it with the entire team and stakeholders.

“Our team charter remained as a Miro board. I liked that it was a living document that clearly displayed people’s personalities. I know some other teams have theirs as a consolidated document but I liked how organic ours was,” said Khahliso.

Review and Revise:

• Regularly review the charter to ensure it remains relevant.
• Update it as needed to reflect changes in the team or project.

“It’s important to create a new charter for each new team you’re on. It needs to be very specific to each team otherwise it becomes a general code of conduct which isn’t the idea,” she added.

Conclusion

For software engineers, understanding and utilising team charters can significantly enhance team performance and project success. By clearly defining the project's purpose, scope, and roles while also establishing a robust communication and decision-making plan, team charters align, motivate, and equip the team to tackle challenges effectively.

“A team charter can help to shift the atmosphere of the team. It’s a chance to take a step back and realise that you’re all on the same page, agree to values and acknowledge what’s important to you as a collective.”