Accountability: Define Roles and Ownership

To be completed in the Team Charter

Once you know why a team exists, it's equally important to determine who should be on the team and what work they should own.

Often, we bloat the number of people on a team because we are unsure who will do the work versus provide sporadic input and advice. Additionally, teams are frequently unsure of who owns which parts of the work. This leads to duplicated efforts, trod toes, hurt feelings, or failure to recognize the contributions of others. No bueno.

To avoid this, we allow the work to determine who is on the team and what role individuals play. We limit the size of our teams as much as possible.

In practice, some people who imagined they would be part of the team turn out to play more of a consulting or advisory role. This can ruffle feathers and make us uncomfortable. These are moments when we have to lean into trusting each other, and practice our strategy of Team Success even over Individual Success.

Here’s how to get started:

This process may be the hardest part of setting up a team. Following these principles will help: