Create Clarity with Team Agreements

Do all your team members have the clarity needed to become high performing? Here are some questions to help determine if greater clarity and explicit agreements are needed within your team. Does everyone on your team have a clear understanding of the team’s purpose, goals, norms and practices? Are all team members clear on their roles and responsibilities? Are there clear agreements for how the team will handle conflict, communication, decision making, problem solving and accountability? Is this information clearly communicated to each new team member that joins the team? In my experience working with teams, a lack of clarity in these areas is the cause of most of their issues. When these things aren’t clear, people make assumptions and have unmet expectations that result in frustration, conflict and stress.

It doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated to create this clarity, but it should be spelled out and documented in the form of a team charter. It should also be agreed to by all team members, shared with any new members that join the team, and updated when needed. Just like Brene Brown says, “To be clear is to be kind.” It communicates what the boundaries are and what’s acceptable and unacceptable behavior within the team.

Here are the definitions for these team charter elements according to the Ken Blanchard Companies’ Team Leadership training course.

• Team Purpose – What does the team do? For whom? Why?
• Team Goals – What are the measurable outcomes the team is responsible for to achieve the team’s purpose? 
• Roles – What are the key responsibility areas of each team member for achieving the team goals? 
• Team Norms – What are the team guidelines/ground rules for appropriate behavior? 
• Team Practices – What are the team practices that members agree to follow for communication, decision making, problem solving, and accountability?
• Communication – What will be communicated? How will information be shared? Who needs to know? How frequently? How will meetings be managed? 
• Decision Making – How will decisions be made: consensus, majority rule, etc.? Who decides when the team can’t agree? 
• Problem Solving – How will problems be resolved when they arise? How will conflict be handled? 
• Accountability – How will team members hold one another accountable? How will behavior be monitored and by whom? What will happen when commitments are met/not met? 

Having a clear team charter can prevent a lot of unnecessary confusion, conflict, and rework. It also makes it much easier to give feedback and hold people accountable. You can simply point to the agreement and say, “I thought we agreed that we would handle it this way. Help me understand what happened.” Establishing a team charter, creating clear agreements, and holding team members accountable to those agreements are prerequisites for leading a team through the stages of team development to become a high performing team.

If you are interested in learning more about the Team Leadership training course, please contact me by clicking here.

“A clear purpose will unite you as you move forward, values will guide your behavior, and goals will focus your energy.” – Ken Blanchard

“All good performance starts with clear goals.” – Ken Blanchard

 “Without accountability, there is no trust, and without trust, there is no leadership.” – Dave Ramsey