Part 3: Developing Your Team: Draft Team Charter

In Weeks 4 and 5 of Module 2, you conducted a simulated one-on-one coaching conversation with an employee to promote individual development. This week, for Part 3 of this Assignment, you will turn your focus from developing individuals and will now focus on developing teams. You will research the team charter, often used as a way to quickly build team cohesion and commitment, and will then develop a team charter for a team you know well—either one you are currently part of or one you have been part of in the past.

As you prepare your Draft Team Charter, be sure not only to cover all items outlined, but incorporate appropriate examples, where applicable, as well as citations for relevant academic sources, such as those found in the Learning Resources or those in the Walden Library.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Do some research to locate two team charter examples and consider their effectiveness in helping a team organize quickly for success and avoid derailment.
• Identify a team you know well (either one you are currently a part of, or one you have been a part of in the past) to serve as the team you are leading (for the purpose of this exercise) and for which you will be developing the first draft of a team charter that will be shared with the team and finalized at a later date with team input and buy-in. Additionally, as part of the documentation you will share with your manager, you will identify strategies to help your team develop and will evaluate the effectiveness of the charter to meet that goal.
• As you develop your Draft Team Charter, be sure to disguise the names of the organization and of any team members to protect privacy.

BY DAY 7

Submit your 4- to 5-page (excluding references) Draft Team Charter. To complete this task, address the following:

• Analyze the two team charters you located for their effectiveness in helping a team organize quickly for success and avoid derailment. Based on your analysis, provide details on how the charters would contribute to a team’s success. Be sure to include a copy of the team charter examples you located. Note: These examples will not count toward your total page count. 
• Design your own first draft of a team charter for your chosen team, being sure to address the following: 
  • Describe the mission or purpose of the team.
  • Identify three to five specific and measurable goals or outcomes that collectively define success for the team in terms of fulfilling its mission.
  • Provide the names (disguised) of team members, describe their official team roles (if any), and indicate the key strengths of each team member in terms of their functional skills and knowledge, as well as their work style and approach.
  • List specific and behavioral ground rules that team members are expected to abide by in their work together and explain how violation of any of these ground rules will be handled within the team.
  • Outline the team’s approach to resolving conflicts that may arise as the team works together.
• As a final part of the Draft Team Charter, include an Appendix (to be provided only to your manager) that includes the following:
  • Based on your assessment of the members of the team and their strengths, skills, and work styles/approach, explain two or three strategies you plan to use to further develop the team and its members.
  • In addition, because your manager is also concerned with ensuring a strong and viable leadership pipeline—or overall “bench strength” in the succession plan—propose three specific actions you will take in the next 2–3 months as first steps in choosing and mentoring your successor as leader of this team.
    • Consider how you will choose the individual (what qualities will you look for?), how you will first propose the mentoring relationship, and what that first mentoring meeting might look like.
  • Defend your rationale for selecting the specific goals, ground rules, and approaches to conflict resolution you drafted for the team, including how these guidelines will help the team develop and meet those goals. As part of your response, note any potential risks or challenges you may face as you implement the team charter, as well as what approach you will take to manage those challenges.

Refer to the Week 6 Assignment Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.