Teamwork Exercise: Establishing Standards of Excellence

Introduction

Teams should establish “standards of excellence” that establish the team’s expectations for itself and its members. Standards of excellence should address, for example: the contribution of time and effort that each team member is expected to put forth, a basic understanding of how team members are expected to behave with one another, and a timeline and workplan for accomplishing the team’s goals. Standards of excellence can help teams to remember that they must adhere to a set of sometimes stringent expectations in order to successfully achieve their goals.

Exercise Purpose

The purpose of this exercise is to:

• Assess whether your team has established standards of excellence;
• Consider the development of additional standards of excellence; and
• Discuss ways in which your team can hold team members accountable for their individual responsibilities.

Exercise Instructions

• Determine whether your team has established a set of ground rules that articulate how the team will operate and how team members are expected to behave and interact with one another. If ground rules have not yet been developed, engage in an exercise to develop them (see http://www.collaborativejustice.org/how/tools/teamex-climate.htm for an exercise on how to develop a set of ground rules for your team).
• Determine whether your team has a Memorandum of Understanding in place. If your team does not have a memorandum of understanding, see http://www.collaborativejustice.org/docs/Sample Memorandum of Understanding.pdf for a sample. Make sure that your memorandum of understanding includes the following vital components: an explanation of the team’s vision, mission, and goals, a description of the team’s structure, a general workplan, and a listing (and signatures of) all team members.
• Discuss other standards of excellence by which your team might hold itself accountable:
  • Meeting Records: What do team members expect to be produced as a result of each work session (e.g., written meeting records—in what format? What should be included? What level of detail? Who will develop and distribute these reports?)
  • Utilization of a Dynamic Workplan: Has the team established a dynamic workplan that is revisited and updated on an ongoing basis? Does the workplan provide specific action steps, outline how these items will be accomplished, and give a deadline for accomplishing each task? Is there a protocol for checking on progress and holding team members accountable when tasks are not completed?
  • Accountability: Is the team clear about how it will hold members accountable for participating in the group’s work (e.g., what will be done if a team member routinely misses meetings or falters in their responsibilities?)
  • Decisionmaking: Has the team agreed to a decisionmaking practice (e.g., by consensus, majority rule, etc.)? If decisions are not consensus-based, has the team discussed establishing methods to assure that all members are heard and can agree to accept decisions that are contrary to their own ideas? If by consensus, how will the team deal with members who are having difficulty compromising or accepting a decision made by consensus?
• Add to your team’s ground rules document a list of the standards of excellence your team has developed and establish a schedule by which you will revisit those standards.