TEAMCOMPACT

SM131FALL2015(B1)

Introduction
Throughout this semester, teams will engage in two team assignments and engage in team
checkpoints. In order to have a successful and positive team experience this term in SM131, it is
important for your team to discuss and agree to a common goal, clear expectations, roles, and
responsibilities for working together this semester to complete your team assignments.
During the Team Checkpoints, teams will evaluate team process and progress based on their
ability to meet the established expectations. If expectations are not being met, it will be the
responsibility of the team to retool their strategies to ensure that the team process is oriented
towards meeting them.
Timeline

Friday, Sept 18th

In-Class Team Compact Workshop

Monday Sept 21st

Draft of Team Compacts Due

Friday Sept 25th

TAs to return Drafts w/ Comments

Monday Sept 28th

Final Draft of Team Compacts Due

Keep in Mind
The Team Compact should address the following:
1. Goals what does your team plan to accomplish this semester? Write the goals so that
they are clear, well-defined, and measurable. How will you know if you have been
successful in achieving your goals?
2. Expectations for Behavior and Performance what are your expectations for working
together this semester? What are team members responsibilities to the team? What are
the guidelines for behavior, communication, and work quality that you expect?
3. Roles- activities or duties assigned to each team member to help achieve the teams goals
The Process
What is it? It is a document that clarifies what each team member can do to reach high
performance. The compact is a reminder of what values are important to the team and
everyones responsibility to take action to help the team complete assignments during the

TEAMCOMPACT

SM131FALL2015(B1)

semester. It is a written commitment indicating how each member will share responsibility for
shared learning and task accomplishment.
Why create one? The purpose of the agreement is to help student team members come to
consensus on the responsibilities of each team member and the timelines for project completion.
The underlying assumption will be that the teams success will be improved upon if all team
members work together toward a common goal. If the compact is taken seriously and team
members work collaboratively then the teams will experience success.
To ensure that the compact is understood by all team members, an honest discussion regarding
individual skills, goals and prior team experiences must be conducted. Each team member must
take inventory on what they have for skills to help the team as well as what skills they would like
to learn. Next, the team members should discuss prior team experiences and what made such
experiences successful or not. What values or behaviors helped the team achieve success or
hindered the team from success? Having this discussion and coming to agreement on
values/behaviors/expectations that the team wants to adopt or avoid will assist the team in having
a successful semester.
Whats the end result? If written successfully with the input, understanding and agreement of
all team members, the compact can serve as a tool to effectively and meaningfully engage all
team members in the tasks that the team is charged with this semester.
How should the discussion to create the compact develop? Bring and discuss your answers to
the above questions to your first team meeting. From your discussion, develop an overall team
goal for the semester. Your goal(s) should be specific, defined and measurable such that at the
end of the semester, any member can look back upon the time together and say, yes we did or
no we didnt achieve our goal.
From this goal, discuss values and behaviors that will help your team achieve this goal. Define
these values and behaviors in terms of expectations of each team members. It is critical that each
team member openly discuss these expectations and have a clear understanding of what
behaviors are needed to help the team reach success
What are the steps to create one for our team?
1. Complete the Team Compact Worksheet
2. Hold a team discussion regarding your expectations for this semester
3. Create a Team Compact

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SM131FALL2015(B1)

Team Compact Worksheet

What special skills or knowledge can I contribute to the team?

What skills need further development?

What worked well in my past team experience that I might find useful for my new team?

What is my hope or goal for this semester regarding my team?

What hindered my last team experience, meaning what could we have done better?

What is my fear or concern this semester regarding my team?

What do I need or want to get out of this semester to make it worthwhile for me?

Notes: