Team Charter Development
Get your team aligned on why it exists, what it owns, and how it works together.
For teams of 3-15 · Virtual, in person, or hybrid
What is a Team Charter?
A Team Charter is your team's shared operating agreement. It captures who you are as a team, why you exist, how you make decisions, and what value you create beyond individual deliverables and goals.
We bring your team together and facilitate the build with everyone in the room.
Together you reset:
Team purpose
Collective goals and KPIs
Rules of engagement
Decision rights
Every person leaves with more clarity, agency, and trust.
This works for brand-new teams and for teams that have worked together for years. Returning to why the work matters and why the team exists helps people reconnect, drop their guard, and start talking openly with each other. The charter gives the team a shared understanding of how they work best together and a commitment to act on it.
What’s inside the team charter experience
In this series of facilitated workshops, we'll guide you through the essential conversations and exercises needed to build the first iteration of your team's charter. The core elements include:
Why we exist
Team commission, mandate, and purpose: what the organization asks of the team and why the team exists
Team strategic focus: where the team puts its energy
Strategic narrative: the story the team tells about its work
Key stakeholders: who the team serves and who depends on it
What we're building toward
Collective team objectives and goals: what the team commits to achieve together
Team key performance indicators: how the team measures collective output
Vision of success: what success looks, sounds, and feels like
How we work together
Team members: who is on the team and what each person brings
Core values: the principles that guide decisions
Working agreements: the commitments teammates make to each other
Green card behaviors: what the team agrees to do more of
Red card behaviors: what the team agrees to name and stop
What your team gains
After the program, your team will:
Build a connection to each other beyond the work
Understand what each person contributes and what each person needs
See roles and accountabilities clearly, with gaps identified
State a shared mission in one voice
Operate from shared values that help the team decide, adapt, and perform
Look ahead together at possibilities, opportunities, and risks
The Team Canvas is a living shared artifact based on the outcome of the sessions.
How it works
Discovery conversation. We learn what triggered the need, what your team is working toward, and where it stands today.
Customized plan. We set the time each topic needs and recommend a format: virtual, in person, or hybrid.
Facilitated sessions. Most teams complete the work in 2-3 days, with reflection time between sessions based on the group's availability and the complexity of the work.
Your charter in hand. You leave with the first version of your charter, ready to put into action immediately.
Your next step. The charter is your team's foundation. When you're ready to keep building, Upgrade Your Team OS takes the work into the flow of your real business challenges.
When’s the right time to develop a Team Charter?
Teams reach for a charter at a turning point:
You're a new leader taking over a team
You've welcomed several new members to your existing team
A reorganization changed who owns what
Your current charter no longer fits changes in your market, product, or organization
You might lead an executive team or a mid-level team inside a matrix. The starting point is the same: everyone gets clear on the same things at the same time.
Set your team up for success from the beginning
Tell us what's changing for your team. We'll talk through whether a Team Charter is the right starting point.