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Team Chartering Program

We'll help your team come together and commit to crushing their shared goals with pride and joy

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You should try this chartering because it's like having a loving marriage counsellor for your leadership team!

Rich F. - Director of Product - Change.Org

Our Team Chartering program is built from these individual workshops...

The Problem

Professional teaming is a discipline that's still in its infancy. Team-centric structures for work are a comparatively recent phenomenon. In 1980, only 20% of work was team-based. By 2010, that number was 80%. (Hollenbeck et al, 2012). This is why we are all still trying to solve 'the collaboration problem' at work.

When we consider the nature of a team, we know there are a lot of things that can go wrong...

  • Ambiguity around roles
  • Confusion about priorities
  • Lack of strategic thinking
  • Lack of trust and safety
  • Misalignment around values

The Solution

A team is a small group of people with complementary skills, who are committed to a shared purpose, goals and work system for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

In order for a team to address these kinds of problems, it needs to be deliberate and thoughtful about the 'why', 'what', 'how', and 'who' of the group. It needs a team charter. With a team charter, the group builds a shared understanding of how they best work together and commits to act accordingly. It includes important details on common purpose, values and roles. Its creation is a key milestone in the team's onward journey, informing their direction and providing guidance when times get tough.  

The Program

We've put together a highly customizable team chartering program that can meet the needs of (almost) any team. 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. You'll be able to put your team charter into action immediately.

The program will help you to...

  • Build relationships and shared connections (i.e. understand who you are as people, beyond the work)
  • Better understand each others value and needs (i.e. establish what you can contribute and what you need from each other)
  • Make visible the roles and accountabilities of the team, identifying gaps or weak spots
  • Verbalize your shared mission (i.e. clearly state what makes you a team)
  • Establish shared values (i.e. understand the share principles and ideals that will help you decide, survive, adapt and thrive)
  • Envisage the future together and raise awareness of possibilities, opportunities and risks

The Process

Team chartering can take 1-5 days, depending on two main factors...

  1. The specific needs of the group, which will determine the time needed for each topic (mission & vision, values, roles, etc...)
  2. The rest and reflection time needed between each topic session, which will depend both on the availability of the group and the complexity of the work associated with the chartering

Once we take these factors into account, most clients find that they need 2-3 days to achieve their desired outcomes.

During our discovery call, we'll seek to understand your goals and we'll make recommendations based on our extensive experience of working with teams. Every team is unique so your proposal will be customized to your needs.

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molly s

I was really inspired by how much the team individuals were present and willing to work together. They have a better understanding of each other as people.

The exercise around future changes was a great way to get the team to think outside of their own individual work and to think about tackling a larger effort as a program.

I'd recommend PeopleStorming because they balanced an approach of fun and practical exercises that were able to keep everyone engaged and understanding the value of what they were doing.

Molly S. - Product Management Lead - Indeed

eric s

This workshop ran at a good pace without being draining. It moved smartly between each area and left enough time at the end for in-depth discussion. The progression of activities was the best example of start-to-finish design I've ever been involved in.

It was all valuable and useful. We came out with clear actions and takeaways - something I particularly loved.

Anyone doing this chartering with PeopleStorming will learn about themselves and their team and will do so with no fluff or wasted time.

Eric S. - Director of Product - Change.Org

poorna k

Do this workshop! It will have improve the health and performance of your team. It will surface pertinent tensions, and result in useful discussions and actions. And it's fun!

The facilitation was transformative - with great questions that moved the conversation in useful directions while remaining inclusive, timely and on-topic.

We made progress in becoming a team, and it gave us a useful and substantive set of materials (objectives, vision, mission, working agreement) that we will keep honing and realigning-on, going forward.

Poorna K. - Machine Learning Manager - Upstart

cat b

I think the values charter was really helpful. As well as the mission statement to get everyone aligned. The fact that both of you have worked in the tech industry helped us connect quickly and common challenges of a product team. I thought everything we did was really well thought through in terms of cadence.

Cat B. - Design Lead - Indeed

Everyone is responsible for creating the conditions where the work gets done; no one can do it on their own.

Robert Poynton