Purpose
The method helps clarify group input, selection, and decision concretely. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as a team charter, working norms, and role notes.
Facilitation
Team Charter
Turns group input, selection, and decision into a tangible result by clarifying team purpose, capturing goals and stakeholders, and reviewing the charter over time.
Why does the team exist, how does it measure success, and how does it collaborate so everyone knows what to expect from each other?
MediumWorkshop2-4 h
How it works
The team follows the steps: clarify team purpose, capture goals and stakeholders, discuss roles and responsibilities, define working rules, and review and maintain the charter. Each step is captured visibly. At the end, a team charter, working norms, and role notes are available so decisions, tests, or actions can follow directly.
Visual orientation
Method sketch for a quick mental model.
Flow
- 1Clarify team purpose
- 2Capture goals and stakeholders
- 3Discuss roles and responsibilities
- 4Define working rules
- 5Review and maintain the charter
The runsheet guides execution with 5 phases, timeboxes, 5 pitfalls, and clear stop criteria.
Open runsheetIdeal for
- New Teams
- Project Kickoff
- Team Reset
Not good for
- One-off workshops without an ongoing team
- Pure task planning
Deep dive
In detail
Team Charter follows a clear working logic: clarify team purpose, capture goals and stakeholders, discuss roles and responsibilities, define working rules, and review and maintain the charter. This turns the method into a visible thinking process rather than only a conversation. Participants move step by step from raw material, observations, or options toward a shared structure. The result is a team charter, working norms, and role notes that make decisions, learning, or further planning actionable.
Facilitation
Prepare a clear guiding question, the right information, and a visible workspace. Plan about 2-4 h with 3-12 people and use the format in a facilitated workshop. The method needs clear structure and preparation; short timeboxes, visible intermediate results, and a parking lot for open questions help.
Output artifacts
Team CharterWorking NormsRole Notes
Artifact templates
Team CharterTemplate for team purpose, roles, ways of working, interfaces, and review date.markdown
Team CharterTemplate for team purpose, roles, ways of working, interfaces, and review date.
markdownteam-charter-markdown.md
Template for team purpose, roles, ways of working, interfaces, and review date.
Team Charter
Purpose
Why does this team exist?
Goals
- ...
Roles
| Role | Person | Responsibility |
|---|
Ways of working
- Meetings:
- Communication channels:
- Decision paths:
Interfaces
Which teams do we work with, and how?
Review
When do we review the charter?
When to choose differently
Short decision aid for existing alternatives.
Working Agreements
Statt Team Charter, wenn ihr Alltagsregeln konkret und verbindlich im Team festlegen wollt und sie als gelebte Arbeitsbasis braucht.
Similar methods
All methodsFacilitation
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Delegation Poker
Turns group input, selection, and decision into a tangible result by collecting decision areas, explaining delegation levels, and capturing the agreement.
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Responsibility Poker
Turns group input, selection, and decision into a tangible result by choosing tasks or decisions, explaining the responsibility scale, and capturing the agreement.
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Alignment Mapping
Turns group input, selection, and decision into a tangible result by defining the alignment question, collecting stakeholder perspectives, and planning clarification steps.
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Stakeholder Salience Model
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3-Circle Venn Diagram
Turns group contributions, selection, and decision-making into a tangible result by defining three perspectives, collecting items, and deriving implications.