Team Charter Exercise

• Overview
• Components
  • 1) Who We Are
  • 2) Common Goals
  • 3) Core Values
  • 4) Potential Obstacles
  • 5) Ground Rules
  • 6) Communication Plan
• Follow-up
• Sample Charters

PART 5) Ground Rules
This is the real meat of the Team Charter - a clear list of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. These ground rules represent your common expectations of how people will interact on the team and must be clear, simple, and relevant. While it can be easy to develop an extensive list of expectations, you should identify no more than 3-5 as priority ground rules. Again, keep it simple and be sure that your ground rules address issues that came up in previous discussions.

BASIC GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- One thing that I expect from everyone on my team.
- Regardless of the situation, we need to always...
- It is unacceptable for someone on this team to...

ASK YOURSELF:
- Are these ground rules clear?
- Do these address the obstacles we discussed?
- Do these address the things that annoy us about others on teams?
- Has everyone on the team endorsed these?
- Are your top priority items clear, straightforward, and relevant?
- Bottom line - if you do these, will you get the environment you want?