Elements of an effective team charter to successfully complete the group consulting project

Mission:

To research and orchestrate elements of an effective team charter to successfully complete the group consulting project (Darbi, 2012) (X, 2018).

Vision:

Working collaboratively and successfully in a virtual team while avoiding conflict (Darbi, 2012) (X, 2018).

Shared Values:

· Punctuality: Respect for team members’ time and deadlines are key (Sverdrup, Schei, & Tjolsen, 2017); members should arrive within five minutes of group calls and submit assignments on-time (Dube & Marnewick, 2016).

· Reliability: Trust that teammates will accomplish individual tasks and goals thoroughly and on time.

· Open communication: If an individual is delayed on a task, the individual will notify team members no later than 24 hours before a scheduled conference call or assignment due date. This will allow team members to make any necessary adjustments. Strong communication is critical to team performance and understanding of each member’s responsibilities (Dougherty, Wyles, Pawlina, & Lachman, 2018) (Developing, n.d.).

· Respectful collaboration: Members will be mindful of differing viewpoints and listen respectfully to team members’ full idea/view before adding commentary (Developing, n.d.).

Goals:

· Host initial Group Conference Call on Sunday, 7 October at 7:00 PM to discuss Team Charter.

· Complete draft Team Charter for final group conference call by Friday, 12 October.

· Host a final group conference call to discuss Team Charter on Sunday, 14 October at 7:00 PM EST.

· Allison will post Final Team Charter in the Week 6 Team Charter Forum discussion board for the class and team locker on Monday, 15 October.

· Individually submit Final Team Charter along with individual Reflection Paper by Sunday, 21 October.

· Allison will create the google document for the outline and send the link to all members to begin brainstorming for the consulting project. Each member will brainstorm ideas for the three sections by Thursday, October 25 in preparation for the scheduled call on Sunday, October 28.

· Part 1: “Brainstorm the challenges and/or opportunities Lauren’s team might face.”

· Part 2: “Recommend and explain agenda; identify the ground rules for the team; and recommend ways that Lauren could build relationships and trust during this initial meeting.”

· Part 3: “Recommend actions Lauren should take now to resolve these conflicts; discuss what Lauren could have done to prevent the conflicts from occurring in the first place; and recommend actions Lauren can take to minimize team conflict in the future.

· Group Conference Call to create outline and assigning individual sections for Group Consulting Project on 28 October at 7:00 PM EST.

· Submit individual sections of draft Group Consulting Project by Saturday, 3 November via Google Documents.

· Group Edit Conference Call Sunday, 18 November at 7:00 PM EST.

· Complete Group Consulting Project by Tuesday, 20 November. All team members will submit the final paper by 11:00 PM EST.

Communication Plan:

· Team members will communicate twice a week through the group discussion board. All members should check the discussion board every Wednesday and Friday to see if any team member has posted (X, 2018) (Developing, n.d.).

· Conference calls will be scheduled on weekends to accommodate team member work schedules (X, 2018) (Developing, n.d.).

· The team will use conference calls to brainstorm and outline project assignments – Shelby will summarize key points from the conference calls to be posted in the team discussion board for review by the other team members and the professor (X, 2018) (Developing, n.d.).

Roles/Work Division Plan:

· Allison: Team Coordinator – As the team coordinator, Allison is responsible for facilitating teamwork and helping members align their strengths with their roles (Dougherty et al., 2018) (X, 2018).

· Shelby: Will summarize key points and due dates from conference calls.

· Kadi – Will mediate group conflict regarding differing views if needed (Behfar, Peterson, Mannix, & Trochim, 2008).

· Amber – Will reach out to any member who has not responded/missed a group call (Developing, n.d.).

· All teammates will have equal distribution of Group Consulting Project sections (Knight, 2016).

· All teammates will edit and review the draft Group Consulting Project prior to the Group Edit Conference Call on 18 November at 7:00 PM.

· All teammates will support statements in their individual sections with facts and references from a scholarly source.

Conflict Management Plan:

· Late Assignments: If a team member is having trouble completing an assignment or unable to meet the team deadline, the team member is responsible for communicating the issue at least 48 hours ahead of the assignment deadline to allow the other members to reassign the work.

· Plagiarism: If a team member is pulling exact verbiage from a source, they will use APA format to cite the source. If team members find an area where they believe a source is necessary they will bring this to the team’s attention to avoid any potential penalties on the final paper.

· Differing views: Kadi will listen to viewpoints and come up with a compromising solution that is satisfactory to all parties. If a compromise is not possible, the team will then vote to decide what change will occur (Behfar et al., 2008).

· Lack of communication/Member silence: Unexpected issues arise and the team members understand this, however, each member is still accountable to the team and responsible for accomplishing specific tasks but the member needs to communicate this to the team. If a team member is missing from a scheduled call or has not posted a scheduled assignment by the due date, Amber will reach out to the member by email or phone (Developing, n.d.).

· Issues with work product quality: Members will communicate any issues with the work product quality in an honest and respectful manner. Where team members believe there could be improvements they can add suggested edits to the shared document to be discussed by the team. Team members will be open and accepting of constructive criticism to ensure the final project assignment is completed to the best of the team’s abilities (Pazos, 2012).

Team Member Approval of Final Team Charter (name & date of approval)

· Allison: Allison J. Bostrom, 10/14/2018

· Shelby: Shelby Alther, 10/14/2018

· Judsina: Judsina Gorham, 10/15/2018

· Kadianne: Kadianne Simmonds, 10/14/2018

· Amber: Amber C Bosse, 10/14/2018

· Mariah: Mariah Davenport, 10/14/18

References

Behfar, K. J., Peterson, R. S., Mannix, E. A., & Trochim, W. M. K. (2008). The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 170–188.

Darbi, W.P. (2012). Of mission and vision statements and their potential impact on employee behaviour and attitudes: The Case of A Public But Profit-Oriented Tertiary Institution. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(14). Retrieved from https://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_14_Special_Issue_July_2012/11.pdf

Developing a Communications Charter Delivering Clear Messages. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2018, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/developing-communications-charter.htm

Dougherty, R. W., Wyles, C. C., Pawlina, W., & Lachman, N. (2018). The team is more than the sum of its parts: Implementation of charters to improve team dynamics in an anatomy course. Asia Pacific Scholar, 3(1), 6-14. doi: 10.29060/TAPS.2018-3-1/OA1050

Dube, S., & Marnewick, C. (2016). A conceptual model to improve performance in virtual teams. South African Journal of Information Management, 18(1), 1-10. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.4102/sajim.v18i1.674

Knight, R. (2016). Make Sure Your Team’s Workload Is Divided Fairly. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–8. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/11/make-sure-your-teams-workload-is-divided-fairly

Pazos, P. (2012). Conflict management and effectiveness in virtual teams. Team Performance Management, 18(7/8), 401–417

Sverdrup, T. E., Schei, V., & Tjolsen, O. A. (2017). Expect the unexpected: Using team charters to handle disruptions and facilitate team performance. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 21(1), 53-59. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/gdn0000059

X. (Producer). (2018, March 10). Why and How To Write a Team Charter [Video file]. Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIwkbImktrU