Team Charter Assignment

Worth: 3 points

Format: Individual or group work

Overview

Throughout this week, you have explored the complexities of interculturally competent teamwork. You’ve analyzed how diverse perspectives strengthen team problem-solving while also creating potential for misunderstanding. You’ve examined how cultural dimensions like power distance, individualism versus collectivism, and communication styles shape team dynamics.

Now you’ll apply this knowledge by creating a team charter—a foundational document that establishes how your team will work together effectively. This assignment simulates the critical work that successful teams do before diving into production: explicitly defining expectations about communication, decision-making, roles, and conflict resolution to prevent misunderstandings and build trust from the start.

Your team charter will serve as a living document that guides your collaboration, helping you navigate differences constructively and leverage each team member’s unique strengths.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this assignment, you will be able to:

Develop comprehensive team agreements that establish clear expectations for collaboration
Apply intercultural communication principles to create inclusive team processes
Design communication and decision-making protocols that honor diverse working styles and preferences
Demonstrate understanding of how explicit agreements prevent conflicts and support team success
Create professional team documentation that can be adapted for future collaborative projects

Assignment Instructions

Step 1: Form your team and select a project

Team formation: You may work individually or in a group. While working individually allows you to design your ideal team charter, working with actual teammates provides valuable practice in the negotiation and compromise that real team charter development requires.

Select a project: Identify what project your team has come together to deliver. This could be:

A project you’re currently working on
Your final “Show & Tell” presentation and report project
A hypothetical professional project relevant to your field (translation/localization project, marketing campaign, event planning, content development, etc.)
Any collaborative endeavor where clear team agreements would improve outcomes

Important: The project you select should be substantial enough to require meaningful collaboration over several weeks. If you’re using a hypothetical scenario, make it realistic and detailed enough to inform concrete team charter decisions.

Step 2: Review the team charter template and identify areas for improvement

Download the template: Access the Team Charter template provided in the References section. This template covers essential sections including:

Team Charter Statement (your team’s commitment to one another)
Objectives (what you aim to accomplish and learn)
Values (principles guiding your work)
Decision Making (governance processes)
Roles (general and individual responsibilities)
Communication (platforms, availability, response times)
Meetings (structure and expectations)
Conflict Resolution (strategies for handling disagreements)
Feedback (how you’ll share and receive constructive input)
Work Methods (workload distribution and delivery processes)

Critically evaluate the template: As you review it, consider:

What sections or prompts are missing that would be valuable for your team?
Are there aspects of intercultural communication that should be addressed more explicitly?
How might you restructure sections for better clarity or usability?
What additional prompts would help your team have important conversations?

Step 3: Customize and fill out your team charter

If working individually:

Review the template and identify areas you believe it misses
Add new sections or prompts that address gaps (for example: technology preferences, cultural considerations, learning goals, accessibility needs)
Revise existing sections to improve clarity or depth
Fill out the charter as if you were establishing agreements with a real team, making your responses specific and realistic rather than generic
In your responses, demonstrate awareness of how different team members might have different preferences and needs

If working as a team:

Schedule a team meeting (video call or in-person) to discuss and complete the charter together
As you work through each section, share your individual preferences and needs openly
Identify areas where the template could be improved or expanded for your specific context
Add new sections or prompts that would strengthen your team’s ability to work together
Negotiate agreements that honor everyone’s working styles, schedules, and communication preferences
Make your commitments concrete and specific rather than vague (for example, specify exact response timeframes, particular platforms, specific meeting times)

Critical considerations for your charter

Communication and cultural awareness:

Acknowledge different time zones, schedules, and availability constraints
Consider language preferences and communication styles
Address accessibility needs (captioning preferences, document formats, meeting accommodations)
Respect different cultural norms around directness, hierarchy, and feedback

Realistic and specific commitments:

Use concrete timeframes rather than vague terms (“within 24 hours on weekdays” rather than “promptly”)
Specify actual platforms and tools you’ll use
Create a realistic schedule of availability that accounts for everyone’s other obligations
Establish clear escalation paths for when someone cannot meet a commitment

Flexibility and learning:

Acknowledge that this is a living document that may need revision as you learn about working together
Include a process for revising the charter if needed
Frame the charter as a learning opportunity rather than a rigid contract

Step 4: Format and polish your team charter

Before submitting, ensure your charter:

Is professionally formatted with clear headers, appropriate use of tables where helpful, and consistent styling
Is complete with all template sections filled out thoughtfully (not with placeholder text)
Includes any additions or improvements you made to the original template
Uses inclusive language that doesn’t assume masculine gender as neutral
Is free from typos and grammatical errors
Reflects your team’s unique context rather than generic statements
Demonstrates intercultural awareness in how agreements are structured

Step 5: Submit your team charter

File naming conventions

For individual submissions: LastNames_team-charter.docx
For team submissions: LastNames1_LastNames2_team-charter.docx

What to submit:

Your completed and customized team charter as a Word document
Ensure all sections are filled out with specific, meaningful content
Include any new sections or substantial revisions you made to improve the template

Please deliver your document in MS Word format so that it can be easily commented on and edited using track changes.

How Your Work Will be Graded

Category	Points	Characteristics of effectiveness
Completeness	1 point	• All template sections filled out with substantive, specific content rather than vague or generic statements • Agreements include concrete details (timeframes, platforms, specific processes) • Charter reflects realistic and implementable commitments appropriate for the team’s context
Critical Analysis	1 point	• Evidence of critical evaluation and thoughtful improvement of the original template • Demonstrates intercultural communication awareness in how agreements are structured • Charter accommodates diverse working styles, preferences, and cultural norms • For team submissions: evidence of negotiation and meaningful compromise in reaching agreements
Professionalism	1 point	• Clear, well-organized document structure with appropriate formatting • Error-free writing with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation • Inclusive language throughout

Reflection Questions

Consider these questions as you develop your charter:

How does making implicit expectations explicit prevent misunderstandings and conflicts in team settings?
What aspects of intercultural communication are most relevant for your team’s specific context?
How can team charters balance structure with the flexibility needed to accommodate different working styles?
If working with a team: What compromises did you need to make, and how did you negotiate different preferences?
How might the agreements you’ve established in this charter apply to other collaborative contexts in your academic or professional life?
What surprised you most about what needed to be discussed when establishing team agreements?

📥 Download this Content

Find this file on our repo and download it.

🤖 GAI Study Prompts

Copy the downloaded content and try it with these prompts:

“Review my team charter and identify any vague commitments that should be made more specific”
“What important team agreements might I have missed in my charter for [describe your project type]?”
“How can I make my team charter more inclusive of different cultural communication styles?”
“Help me improve the conflict resolution section of my charter—what strategies am I missing?”
“What are signs that a team charter needs to be revised, and how should teams approach that process?”
“How can I use this team charter as a conversation starter with my team rather than just a document to fill out?”
“What elements of successful team charters from [specific industry] should I consider incorporating?”
“How can I balance accountability with flexibility in team agreements?”

Next up: ICC Teamwork: Conclusions