Team Charter

Objective:

We provide project management scaffolding to ensure the project meets its deadlines and the cohort emerges at the end even stronger than we began. (24 words)

Roles:

Who will take notes? Lena

Who will keep meeting on track/on time?

Who is responsible for tracking actions? Each member

PM principles 

1. Communication should not fall through the cracks

   • “Reply all” is crucial: communication should go through the listserv by default

   • CC at least one other person to make sure a message isn’t isolated in just your inbox

2. Empower cohort members to be responsible for their tasks

   • Deadlines: no personal reminders (maybe a blanket one to the list)

3. The PM keeps us prioritized (along with the co-chairs)

   • Timebox!

   • Learn to recognize and gently redirect bunny holes

4. The PM stays at a 25,000ft level

   • Keep an eye on the purpose: what do we need to walk away with today?

   • What is the desired outcome?

   • Productivity check

     1. Are we where we need to be? For example, pause to ensure we’re where we need to be 10 minutes into a 25 minute agenda item.

     2. When a new topic comes up in a discussion that takes the conversation in a new direction, pause the discussion and ask the team “do we finish the topic on the agenda or does this new topic need to be handled right now?” add the new topic to the parking lot at the end of the meeting agenda if it can wait.

Role from charge

• Manage group deliverables and timeline (done in conjunction with the chair/co-chairs);

• Confirm communication methods;

• Schedule meetings/calls;

• Assist with discussion facilitation and decision-making;

• Assist with agenda-building;

• Affirm and, as necessary, expand the member responsibilities and roles;

• Identify and manage project risks (done in conjunction with the chair/co-chairs);

• Convene pre-mortem and post-mortem risk assessments;

• Manage minutes and group documents and ensure group information is kept up-to-date.

Co-project managers (Christine, Lena)

• Co-chair Project Manager Operation Leads group

• Oversee project management;

• Available to assist the embedded project managers and keep an eye on project-wide mechanisms and management

Embedded project managers (Christine, Lena, Neil)

• Staff the three coordinator groups as their assigned project manager.

• Attend coordinator group meetings and support the work of the chair(s) and members.

• Additional work will include management of the coordinator group’s minutes, timeline and deadlines, discussion facilitation as needed, and understanding and communicating dependencies

Collaboration

• The PM Leads will actively collaborate with the Communication Operation Leads on systemwide communications, providing guidance as necessary and sign-off for SILS-News content.

• The PM Leads will collaborate and liaise closely with the SILS Service Manager.

• The PM Leads will collaborate with the coordinator groups (facilitated by the PM Leads members serving as project managers for those groups) and provide guidance to the functional groups and subgroups that report to the coordinator groups.

Deliverables

• Develop a plan that includes a timeline for completing their work and initial deliverables. Within four weeks of the PM Leads’ launch, the plan will be delivered to the SILS Working Group for review and endorsement.

• Manage and refine the overall project timeline, in coordination with the SILS Working Group and coordinator groups;

• Manage and refine the overall project Responsibility Assignment Matrix (i.e. RACI), in coordination with the SILS Working Group and coordinator groups;

• Facilitate pre-mortem and post-mortem risk assessments;

• Design documentation templates and best practices, including for minutes and tracking action and decision items, to be shared with all cohort groups for their use;

• Onboard new SILS cohort members that join mid-phase;

• Manage user permissions for project tools.
  
  

What are our expectations for working together?

• We assume everyone has the best intentions. We check our assumptions and ask clarifying questions when we’re uncertain.

• We use the bunny card respectfully when our conversation takes a deep dive that is not productive. We use the parking lot for topics that are important but not today.

• We create agendas with sufficient time for members to prepare.

• We assign homework outside meetings to get work done and ensure everyone is participating.

• We accept responsibility for the work we have been assigned and come prepared to meetings.

• We commit to doing as much listening as talking. We invite people to talk who we haven’t heard from yet. We ask people who find they are talking a lot to make adjustments to balance conversations.