Appendix: Setting Team Expectations

Setting Expectations

As soon as you know the other members of your team, you can begin to set expectations and establish guidelines about how your team will work successfully together. Remember that teams must pay attention to both task issues, which are issues related to the work itself, and process issues, which are issues related to how team members interact, collaborate, and communicate with one another as they work toward team goals. To address both task and process issues successfully, teams must:

• Identify team goals and determine a plan of action to meet them
• Determine strategies to leverage team member strengths and compensate for essential skills that team members, collectively, are missing
• Build team cohesion and team commitment

Creating a Team Charter (also known as a Team Contract) will help your team think through important teaming issues and lay the groundwork for achieving the goal of delivering an excellent team presentation.

Team Charter

A thoughtful and detailed Team Charter will help your team navigate the process of collaborating productively and help you interact in a way that is satisfying to all team members. By discussing important team-related issues at the start of your project, your team can minimize or avoid misunderstandings about how to meet your goals.

Here are essential elements that your team can include in your Team Charter:

 Team Name

Create a team name that really captures you unique identity. Many times, this simple act increases commitment and pride among team members. This name should be professional and not trite or inappropriate. Your team name should form a good impression of your team.

Team Objectives

Identify both your team’s end goal and your interim goals. These goals can relate to both how well you want to perform on your team presentation assignment, your interpersonal interactions, and what skills you would like to develop as you move toward your goals.

Team Resources and Needs

Share with one another the particular strengths (knowledge, skills, abilities, special interests, talents, etc.) you believe you bring to this experience. Then identify potential challenges (extracurricular obligations, lack of knowledge, insufficient skills, etc.) you face as a team. Create a table that captures all of this information in a way that makes it easy to identify where your team has an abundance of resources, and where your team might have “gaps,” limitations, or weaknesses to address. What is your plan to overcome these barriers to success?

Working Agreements: Team Roles

Create a table that indicates at least one role that each member feels they have typically played in past project teams and at least one role that each team member would like to play (or anticipates playing) on this team. You may add “team leader” to the list of roles, if you desire. Understand that team roles can change over the course of the semester, and no team member is “locked in” to only way of contributing to the team’s success. (*confirm that info about team roles is available in other module)

Working Agreements: Meeting Management

This section of your Team Charter provides guidance on issues related to effectively using your time together. Determine your meeting schedule, times, length, and location. Clearly articulate your expectations for meeting attendance. Make sure your team has a system for keeping in regular communication with one another.

Working Agreements: Decision-Making

This section of your Team Charter provides guidance on important issues related to making decisions about the your project in order to meet deadlines and make satisfactory progress. For example, do decisions have to be unanimous? What will you do if you reach a stalemate or tie vote on an issue?

Pay particular attention to how you might avoid the common “groupthink” pitfall that derails many teams.

Working Agreements: Supportive Communication & Feedback

This section provides guidance on important issues related to interacting positively and productively with one another. For example, – check for other modules

Working Agreements: Conflict Management

Conflict is a normal and healthy part of the team process, but if it is ignored or mismanaged, it may have very damaging consequences for your team. How will your team ensure that diverse perspectives are welcome, and that the team is successfully balancing individual and team needs and goals.

Working Agreements: Accountability

Identify the consequences (be specific) for not performing up to the expectations agreed upon in this Team Charter. How will you hold one another accountable for completing high-quality assignments, meeting deadlines, attending and coming prepared for meetings, etc.?

It is essential that your Team Charter is professional, polished, and error-free.  It should reflect the commitment of your team to working productively together and to producing the highest-quality team presentation.

Team Process Checks

To work productively toward your goals, it is important to review your team performance on a regular basis. If you are working on a semester-long project, you may want to conduct a Team Process Check at least three times during the project. A Team Process Check allows your team to reflect on what is going well and to identify areas that need improvement or more attention. You can refer back to and also amend, where appropriate, your Team Charter to help guide your discussions.

Please note that your instructor may have already established a peer evaluation process for your team as part of the course requirements. This Team Process Check can be used to supplement that activity, providing an additional source in information and feedback to guide your team.

In the team feedback process, each team member will conduct a Team Effectiveness Assessment. After all the team members have completed their individual assessment, then the team will meet to summarize the input using the Team Effectiveness Summary. Once the team has had a chance to discuss the feedback, each team member will then complete an Individual Assessment of my Team Performance to set a plan of action on how the team member will contribute to the team process going forward.

References:

Hillier, J., & Dunn-Jensen, L. M. (2012). Groups Meet . . . Teams Improve: Building Teams That Learn. Journal of Management Education, 37(5), 704-733. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912459947 (Original work published 2013)