4 Ground Rules and Charters

Teams work better when members have a common understanding of the group goals and ground rules for member behavior. In order to create a positive and productive group experience, each group is required to complete a a Group Charter and post it to the group discussion forum. You are welcome to create this on your own (a shared document in a Google Drive, for example), use this sample Word document, or modify available documents from Portland State University, Carnegie Mellon University, or Humber College.

Your charter must include the following:

• Contact Information. Make sure you share each member indicates the how he or she can be reached
• Preferred Method(s) of Contact. How will members of the group communicate with each other? You are welcome to use the tools available in Blackboard or set up an outside messaging app, as long as the entire group commits to responding responsibly. You may wish to establish expectations for response times (for example, within 24 hours)
• Meeting Times. You will need to set aside some times when you are all available. The charter is a good place to indicate the availability of all group members and best meeting times so that you can plan meetings.
• Length and Frequency of Meetings. How often will you meet and how long will meetings last? You don’t have to follow this strictly, but it helps to at least establish expectations.
• Team Roles and Responsibilities. Groups should expect each member to contribute an equal amount of work and time towards the final product, but sometimes it helps to assign roles. These can even change on a rotating basis. Some suggestions:
  • Leader: makes sure every voice is heard and keeps conversations focused and on task
  • Organizer: sets meeting times and shares the agenda
  • Note Taker: takes minutes at each meeting and posts them to the group discussion board where the instructor can easily find them
  • Materials Manager: keeps track of materials completed by individuals and responsible for submitting the final project to blackboard
  • Editor/IT Specialist: since one of the final projects will be in a video format, it may be wise to assign someone with previous experience to oversee the preparation
• Individual Strengths. What strengths do the individuals in your group bring to your team? You will find it helpful to assign roles and tasks if you are aware of these. Please list one or two teamwork strenghs for each person on the team. Suggestions include:
  • note taking
  • organizational skills
  • research skills
  • video editing
  • creation of visual aids
• Steps to Success. Teamwork activities can be very rewarding but they can also be frustrating when expectations are not met and members do not contribute equally. In order to get started in the right direction, have each team member list two to three things they have experienced in previous teamwork projects that they DON’T want to happen along with some suggestions for how these situations can be avoided. Include the top 5 in your charter.