HKSM

A team charter is a collaboratively created document that defines how the team will work together, including roles, decision rules, norms, and escalation paths. It sets expectations and boundaries to enable effective collaboration throughout the project.

Key Points

• Co-created with the team and key stakeholders to define working agreements, roles, and decision rules.
• Complementary to the project charter, focusing on team behaviors and ways of working rather than scope or business goals.
• Established early and revisited regularly to reflect changes in team composition and context.
• Makes expectations explicit, reducing conflict and accelerating decision-making.
• Should be concise, visible, and easy to reference for daily work and onboarding.
• Clearly states authority levels and escalation paths to prevent delays and rework.

Purpose of Analysis

• Clarify how the team intends to collaborate, decide, communicate, and resolve issues.
• Align roles, responsibilities, and boundaries of authority across functions and vendors.
• Identify gaps in expectations early to avoid friction during execution.
• Tailor team practices to the project context and organizational policies.

Method Steps

• Prepare: review project charter, constraints, policies, and initial stakeholder needs.
• Facilitate a workshop with team members and key stakeholders to co-create the charter.
• Define purpose, team values, and success criteria to set a shared direction.
• Map roles and responsibilities; clarify decision rights and authority levels.
• Agree on decision-making methods (for example, consensus threshold, product owner final call).
• Establish working agreements: meetings, communication cadence, tools, time zones, and response times.
• Set conflict management and escalation paths, including when to involve sponsors.
• Document quality expectations, definition of done, and coordination with external teams.
• Validate the draft with the team, sponsor, and affected stakeholders; secure buy-in.
• Publish, socialize, and schedule periodic reviews to inspect and adapt.

Inputs Needed

• Project charter and objectives.
• Stakeholder list and stakeholder expectations.
• Organizational policies, HR guidelines, and compliance requirements.
• Team roster, skills profile, and resource constraints.
• Existing working agreements or lessons learned from similar teams.
• Initial risks, assumptions, dependencies, and constraints.

Outputs Produced

• Team charter document with values, roles, decision rules, and working agreements.
• Defined authority levels and escalation procedures.
• Communication cadence and collaboration tool standards.
• Conflict resolution and issue management protocols.
• Updates to stakeholder engagement approach, risk log, and onboarding materials.

Interpretation Tips

• Treat the charter as a living artifact; update it when team composition or context changes.
• Keep it short and practical; prioritize clarity over completeness.
• Ensure visible sponsorship and team ownership to encourage adherence.
• Use it in retrospectives and performance discussions to ground feedback.
• Align with organizational culture while tailoring to project needs.

Example

A cross-functional project team creates a one-page charter that states purpose and success criteria, names key roles, and defines how they will work. They agree to a daily 15-minute stand-up, weekly stakeholder sync, and a two-day response time for questions. Decisions on scope trade-offs require product owner approval after team input; technical standards are set by the lead engineer. Conflicts are first discussed in the team, then escalated to the sponsor if unresolved within two working days. The charter is shared in the team workspace and reviewed at each iteration retrospective.

Pitfalls

• Creating the charter without real team participation, leading to poor buy-in.
• Overly long or vague content that no one reads or uses.
• Never revisiting the charter as the team or environment changes.
• Ambiguous authority and escalation paths that slow decisions.
• Ignoring organizational policies or cultural norms, causing conflicts later.

PMP Example Question

A new cross-functional team is experiencing delays due to unclear decision rights and meeting norms. What should the project manager do next to address the issue?

1. Facilitate creation of a team charter that defines roles, decision rules, and working agreements.
2. Escalate to the sponsor to assign decision-makers for each function.
3. Update the risk register and wait for the next status meeting.
4. Issue a detailed communications plan without team input.

Correct Answer: A — Facilitate creation of a team charter that defines roles, decision rules, and working agreements.

Explanation: A team charter, co-created with the team, clarifies how decisions are made and how the team collaborates. This proactive step reduces delays and conflict.