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Improving group dynamics: creating a team charter.
Byrd, John T. ; Luthy, Michael R.
APPENDIX
(Holwerk et al, 2007)
Mission To achieve excellence throughout the completion of
Statement: the MBA program and to learn from each other in an
open environment.
Team The primary focus of this group is to acquire the
Goals: analytical, financial, and interpersonal skills
that will further develop our current skills. We
all pledge to share our skills and knowledge from
past and present work and life experiences. Our
collective efforts will result in an end product
that will include a well-versed foundation of
skills that will benefit the overall team
performance, thus enabling us to carry those team-
building skills back to our own career endeavors.
Values: The actions, discussions, and decisions of the
Team and each Team Member will be guided by the
following Values:
* Respect--Each member brings distinct experience,
knowledge, and expertise to the team. As such,
each member commits to seek to understand other
perspectives, to treat others with courtesy, to be
fully engaged, to participate actively, to gain
value in the richness of the team interaction, and
to be an integral part of the learning process.
* Honesty--Each member of the Team will conduct
themselves with the utmost integrity. All
conversations, written work, and presentations
will reflect the collective ideas of the Team and
will be a unique product of the Team. The Team
Members will interact with each other in a
forthright and direct manner.
* Unity--Each member of the Team will work together
to fully utilize the strengths of each person.
Each member will support the decisions reached by
the Team even though individual differences of
opinion may exist. The members of the Team will
function as one cohesive group and will support
one another.
* Commitment--Each member of the Team will be
individually accountable to the other members of
the Team. The Team Members will meet their
obligations and deadlines, be present both
physically and mentally, and be prepared to
contribute to the success of the Team.
* Effort--Each member of the Team will work hard and
put forth their best in every assignment
undertaken by the Team. The members will be
focused and work collaboratively and productively
to produce work that reflects the collective
knowledge of the Team.
Roles Team Members will have both primary duties, duties
and Task that are required to be performed at all times,
perceived and collateral duties, duties that are assigned on
by Group: a rotational basis. Each duty has corresponding
responsibilities that cannot be delegated.
* Team Member: This is the primary duty of every
member of the Team. Even though a member may be
performing collateral duties, that individual is a
member first and must adhere to the roles and
responsibilities of a Team Member:
* Adhere to conduct commensurate with other sections
in this document.
* Maintain focus on team Values.
* Voice concerns promptly at team meetings.
* Complete tasks on or before deadlines.
* Maintain communication with Team Members during
any absences.
* Team Members may override a Team Leader's decision
by majority vote.
* The Team respects individual privacy and maintains
that problems of a personal nature do not need to
be discussed in a public forum. Team Members
should, however, notify the Team as early as
possible that a personal problem exists and that
it may impact his/her ability to meet team
deadlines and commitments. The Team will make
reasonable efforts to redistribute the workload
accordingly.
* Team Leader: Above all the Team Leader is focused
on the welfare of the project as well as the Team.
Should either begin to falter, it is the Team
Leader's responsibility to initiate dialogue with
the Team to correct any problems. A rotational
role, the Team Leader is charged with the
following responsibilities:
* Assign tasks in accordance with Section 4.0, the
Division of Labor.
* Ensure that tasks are completed on or before
deadlines.
* Maintain an awareness of all task progress and
constraints.
* Formulate solutions to problems before they occur
and propose them at team meetings.
* Provide follow-up on tasks as needed.
* Propose a revision to task assignments when
necessary.
* Move to use the Weighted Decision Making Tool if
the Team is deadlocked in discussion and the topic
must have resolution. Meeting Secretary: The
Meeting Secretary is responsible for composing the
official record of the meeting. A rotational role,
the Meeting Secretary is charged with the
following responsibilities:
* Create the official meeting agenda, decided upon
by the Team; distribute the agenda to all Team
Members no later than the morning of the meeting;
bring copies of the official meeting agenda to the
meeting.
* Review the outcomes, decisions, and open items
from the previous meetings.
* Make important notations to agenda items, such as
noting Team Members who wish to assume
responsibility for specific items.
* Distribute meeting minutes to all Team Members no
later than 24 hours after meeting adjournment (or
other time agreed upon at the meeting) as well as
post the minutes on Google[TM] Documents. Meeting
Chairperson:
The Meeting Chairperson is charged with the timely
completion of team meetings and adherence to the
meeting agenda. A rotational role, the
Chairperson's specific responsibilities include:
* Facilitate meetings.
* Call meetings to order.
* Allow Team Members to explore topics through
dialogue but provide redirection when the
discussion begins to stray too far from the
agenda.
* Ensure that no specific Team Member(s) monopolize
a topic during discussion.
* Engage Team Members who are not contributing to a
topic during discussion.
* Transition discussions in order to move the
meeting along in accordance with the agenda.
* If a topic cannot be resolved in a timely manner
and the Team determines that the topic needs
further exploration, the Chairperson will, in the
interest of time, move to add the topic to an open
agenda item to be revisited at the next meeting.
(The Team Leader may choose to use the Decision
Making Score Card to resolve the issue instead.)
Division Throughout the MBA program, there will be a
of Labor: significant workload placed on each Team Member.
Team Members are expected to not only complete
projects on time, but to also generate work that
meets team quality expectations. In recognition of
this, the Team shall follow standard guidelines
for the Division of Labor to ensure quality work
is finished on time, efficiently and provides the
maximum growth of each member.
Task Assignment
* Every effort will be made to allow Team Members to
choose the tasks they would like to perform.
* Tasks will be distributed so that each member
bears a similar workload. Once assigned a task,
Team Members are accountable for the timely
completion of the task.
* Team Members will be assigned responsibility for
quality of work based on their strengths. For
example: A Team Member who is skilled with data
analysis in Microsoft Excel will not necessarily
perform this type task; however, he or she will be
responsible for ensuring that the work meets team
quality expectations. This Team Member will
provide the necessary coaching to ensure that the
member performing the work will perform it in
accordance with team quality expectations.
* If the Team cannot decide upon the task
assignment, the Team Leader assigns tasks. If the
Team does not agree with the Team Leader's
division of labor, the Team may overrule the Team
Leader by a majority vote.
* Progress Updates--Team Members shall submit
periodic progress updates for their tasks to the
Team Leader. The reporting periods shall be
established at the beginning of each project by
the Team Leader.
Conflicts--If at any time a Team Member feels that
they are not capable of performing the work
assigned, for whatever reason, it is incumbent
upon that Team Member to inform the Team as soon
as possible so that alternative arrangements can
be made. Team Members not meeting their
commitments shall be subject to Section 7.0--
Discipline.
Policies The Team values productivity. In order to gain the
on most from the time spent in team meetings, it is
Meeting: critical that the Team outline and agree on a
meeting structure. All team meetings will be
conducted in a similar fashion.
Positions
* Team Members will be assigned meeting roles prior
to each meeting. Team Member, Team Leader, Meeting
Secretary, Meeting Chairperson.
* Agenda--As aforementioned, the Agenda is created
by the Meeting Secretary prior to each meeting.
Each agenda will follow a standard format.
Order of Events
* Meeting Secretary distributes the agenda.
* Meeting Chairperson calls the meeting to order.
* Meeting Secretary reviews outstanding items from
the last meeting.
* Meeting Chairperson leads the Team in discussion
of the agenda items.
* Meeting Secretary reviews new, open items from the
meeting.
* Team Leader assigns tasks.
* Meeting Secretary distributes meeting minutes
within 24 hours of the meeting.
Scheduling
* When necessary, team meetings will be held on
class nights, 90 minutes prior to class beginning.
If additional time is needed, the Team will
schedule time on Saturday or Sunday.
* The Team will make every effort to schedule
meetings when all Team Members can be present. If
it is not possible for all Team Members to be
physically present, a conference call will be
arranged. It is acceptable to the Team that a
member can call in to the meeting unless the Team
is rehearsing a presentation, in which case
physical presence is critical. The Team expects
every member to make his best effort at attending
when presentations are being rehearsed.
* If a Team Member cannot be present (physically or
via phone), it is that Team Member's
responsibility to: Deliver project updates to the
Meeting Secretary 24 hours prior to the meeting
and Follow-up with another Team Member to discuss
what occurred at the meeting.
Policies
* All meetings will start and end on time. All
Team Members have outside commitments, and it is
not acceptable for meetings to be substantially
extended past the agreed upon time.
* Team Members are expected to come to meetings on
time and be prepared.
* The Team recognizes that outside commitments may
cause a Team Member to be late to meetings from
time to time. If a Team Member knows he will be
late to a scheduled meeting, he is expected to
inform the Team in advance. If he does not know in
advance, and is running more than ten minutes
late, the member is expected to notify the Team
via phone, if possible.
Decision Making
Decision Making Methodology
* All Team Members will be given the opportunity to
fully express their opinions and ideas before a
decision is made. However, the Team Leader will
assign due dates for the decisions, thereby
setting the maximum time frame for discussion.
* The decisions the Team makes will be rooted in the
Team's Values. Business decisions the Team makes
will, in general, be made so as to align with our
business principles. These principles are:
profitability, environmental awareness,
shareholder value and respect for our employees.
With these principles in mind, the Team will
endeavor to make all of its decisions
democratically. When this is not possible, the
Team will employ a Weighted Decision Making Tool
to assist with the decision.
Weighted
Decision
Making Tools: Weighted decision-making tools will be used for
all decisions that cannot be made democratically,
either for reasons of time, or for difference of
opinion.
* Narrowing Tool--this tool will be used to narrow
the field of choices down to 2-3 (See Appendix B).
The criteria used in the tool will be unique to
each decision but will be based on the Team's
Values and business principles. The average of the
Team Members' scores will be used for the final
decision.
* Decision Tool--this tool will be used to decide
between the choices the Team picked using the
Narrowing tool. (See Appendix C). It will be used
to compare a narrow range of choices and evaluate
each among a specific and generally complex list
of "SMART." criteria (Strategic, Measurable,
Achievable, Related, and Time-bound). The criteria
used in the tool will be unique to each decision
but will be based on the Team's Values and
business principles. The Team will establish the
priority numbers, and each Team Member will then
score each item. The average of the Team Members'
scores will be used for the final decision.
Changes to Decisions
* Team decisions are final, and all Team Members
will work with the decisions made.
* A plurality of the Team can request in a team
environment that a decision be revisited if they
feel that changes in information or circumstances
warrant.
Discipline
Overview
* No Team Member(s) shall undertake any disciplinary
action unilaterally.
* Grievances with other Team Members, team policies,
or decisions shall be voiced to the entire Team,
and the Team be given the opportunity to respond,
before seeking outside assistance with any team
issues.
* If the majority of the Team agrees that a Team
Member is performing at an undesirable level, the
Team Member shall be evaluated and placed into one
of three categories: Lack of Skill, Values Issues,
and UNACCEPTABLE. Procedures for dealing with each
issue are outlined below.
* Once a Team Member is evaluated, the Team is
responsible for formulating a plan with clear
achievement goals and dates, written and signed by
all Team Members.
Lack of Skill
* If a fellow Team Member is performing work at a
level that is unsatisfactory to the other Team
Members, and the Team Member lacks the skills to
perform the work at a satisfactory level, it is
the responsibility of the Team Leader to
redistribute the workload or to provide/coordinate
training to overcome such obstacles.
* Ongoing performance issues of this type are a
reflection of the Team's failure and will not be
held against the individual involved provided that
reasonable and appropriate effort are expended by
Values Issues
* the individual to overcome these issues. If, in
the judgment a majority of Team Members, an
individual is not upholding the Values of the
Team, the Team will discuss these issues openly
with the individual in a team environment and
develop a plan to overcome these issues. The plan
will include but is not limited to:
* A clear, time-bound, milestone plan for bringing
the individual's work up to a level that is
acceptable to the Team.
* Required progress updates and reports.
* Required behavior change, and milestones, or
impartial judge to evaluate change.
* Ongoing performance issues of this type are a
reflection of the Team's failure; however, if
these issues are not resolved by the end of the
semester, or one month after the improvement
plan is implemented whichever is longer, the
Team may find these issues are
UNACCEPTABLE, and may proceed according to
Section 7.4 of the Team Charter.
UNACCEPTABLE: The Team may find a Team Member's performance
to be UNACCEPTABLE. Minimum criteria for this
finding are:
* Team Member has been found to be UNACCEPTABLE per
Section 7.3.2.
* The Team Member has missed two consecutive
meetings, with no explanation or advance
notification.
* The Team Member has missed one deadline, with no
valid excuse and with no work product or visible
effort displayed.
* The Team Member continually misses deadlines
without advance notice.
* The Team may make a report on the situation in
writing to the course professor, and/or MBA
office. In the event that a report is submitted to
the MBA office or professor, the report must be
written and signed by all Team Members.
* The individual being reported has the right to
include a statement expressing their views with
this or separately. The Team does not have the
right to edit or change this statement, but will
have the opportunity to read and sign it prior to
submission.
Communication
and The Team will utilize a variety of methods of
Coordination: communication including meetings, e/mail, and
telephone/conference calls. The preferred method
of communication with the team is email. If
members do not respond within a reasonable amount
of time, depending on the importance of the email,
communication via his or her preferred phone line
is the next outreach. Finally, if a member still
cannot be reached, his or her home phone or work
number can be called.
Commentary: The approach used to develop the Team Charter was
the allocation of work. After our first meeting,
we determined which group member would develop
which section of the charter, as well as creating
their personal bio. As each member completed their
section, they would e-mail it to the group for
feedback and the team leader would put the
sections together to form the final charter. The
final draft would then be sent to the group for
comments and approval.
Fortunately, the only difference in opinion faced
by our group was determining the layout of the
charter. Some believed a resume format would be
better, while others preferred a charter
containing a mixture of charts, bullets, and
paragraphs. After having a group discussion, we
obtained an overall consensus to use the mixed
layout. As the charter took form, we realized it
was the right choice.
The most useful item in the Team Charter will be
the communication plan as well as the
decision-making processes. These guidelines will
ultimately steer our group in the right direction
as difficult issues are addressed within our
group. We all are in agreement that our least
useful item will be the discipline. We have
complete confidence that each member will perform
his/her duties by the agreed upon deadlines. This
group is willing to help each other out when
necessary should any personal, family, or work
obligations interfere with completion of an
assigned task.
While working on the team charter, the easiest
item was to acknowledge our individual goals that
lead us to the MBA program and ultimately this
group. The team goals were made easy to recognize
once we were given direction in the MBA 700
Assessment class. The hardest part was to identify
our weaknesses and agree to improve upon those
skills as we move forward. This class was
especially helpful in identifying those flaws.
After acknowledging these weaknesses, we as a
group can utilize group projects as a platform to
learn the required material and more importantly
improve upon those individual weaknesses. This
will allow us to reach our individual and team
goals simultaneously.
The general concern that our group holds is the
ability to all meet at an agreed upon time. Our
informal meeting time before and after class seem
to be acceptable to everyone however any meeting
of great length outside of our scheduled classes
could present a challenge. Nonetheless, we are a
group that is willing to be flexible. Any
reasonable accommodations will be made to meet as
a group.
Overall the team charter will prove to be a useful
resource to keep the team on course. Should our
progress stall in any way, the team charter will
lead us back in the right direction. Our agreement
will ensure that everyone is fully aware of what
is expected from them as a group member.