Tool 4: Communication charter

Learning objectives

This tool demonstrates the importance of effective communication in building trust between team members

It provides structure and focus – helping the team to improve the content and means by which they communicate

And it demonstrates the importance of the members agreeing and supporting the communication the team engages in

Facilitation tips

When using this tool remember the following:

How it works

1. Introduce the session and its objectives, underlining the importance of good communication to the success of teams.

2. Distribute Handout 4a, which outlines the links between the ten criteria for trust and good communication.

3. Explain that, in this session, the emphasis is on communication between team members and with the team leader, not with any outside bodies.

4. In order to identify all the different types of regular communication within the team, distribute two stacks of differently-coloured post-it notes to the team members. Allowing plenty of time ask them to individually

• list on post-it notes of one colour all of the key information, views, feedback etc, that they need to receive from other team members in order to do their job effectively – one idea on each post-it.
• write on the other colour post-its all the key information, opinion, and feedback that they feel they could usefully provide for other team members – again one idea on each post-it.
• Once completed, arrange for all the post-its to be stuck up on a wall. Get the whole team to work together to cluster the post-it notes which express the same idea together, and then group all of them under meaningful headings.

6. The team leader should play an important role in this discussion, prompting people for ideas and suggestions not included, and suggesting appropriate groupings. The leader needs to be happy with the final result.

7. Show the group a sample communication charter (Handout 4b) so that they can see what they are aiming at.

8. Split the team into pairs or groups of three and assign each group one or more of the headings identified in 7 above. Their task is to take all the items identified and list them on a flip-chart in a format similar to that shown in Handout 4b.

9. The teams need to discuss and agree:

• Who should start communications of this type?
• Who should receive these communications and who does not need them?
• What is the typical content of this type of communication?
• What would be the best method of communicating this?
• What priority should communications of this type have?
• When should this information be communicated?

10. Display the resulting flip-charts around the room and ask everyone to walk around and read the other teams’ results. In a session together, provide an opportunity for questions and discussion of the results. Ask the group to look for any inconsistencies between the work of the different groups. Resolve these through discussion.

11. Ask each team member to write down in one or two bullet points the commitments that they will make to the team. They should:

• Identify the people in the team that they particularly need to improve their communication with.
• Consider which elements of the communication charter grid they need to focus on.
• State specifically what they undertake to do or to do differently as a result of being involved in the process of preparing the charter.

12. Ask for a volunteer to type up the results into a charter and distribute it to all those present.