Help:Workgroup charter

Purpose

State the purpose of this workgroup including the objectives and the rationale. The more completely the background and purpose of the workgroup can be identified, the more likely members will support it in accomplishing its objectives.

Specified outputs

List the actual outputs which the workgroup plans to develop, for example guidelines, support resources for the guidelines, reports etc.

Leadership style

Describe the group's leadership style, how the group functions to ensure its accomplishment of the stated objectives. Indicate the specific responsibilities (if any) of the assigned leaders.

Here are a few options, noting that other models not mentioned here are equally may be equally viable. Each model has costs and benefits; different styles will be right for different groups.

• One or two assigned leaders: The leader(s) of the group actively facilitate the group's accomplishment of the objectives. For groups convened over a long period of time, a succession plan may be needed. Any name can be used to describe this leadership position: convenor, facilitator, director, leader, manager....

• Shared or collective) leadership: A group that has a shared leadership style relies on its members to voluntarily lead aspects of the project on an as needed basis given interest, aptitude, and experience of members. This style is characterised as inclusive (every member can participate in leading the group) and enriching (the group's members directly benefit from participation). Shared leadership works well when the group encourages ownership, learning, and sharing.

• A small number of facilitators that work collaboratively to oversee and manage the work of the group: This model might work best in a situation where the work is performed by a very large group.

Skills required to achieve workgroup objectives

List the skills necessary to achieve the workgroup objectives. This does not necessarily mean that members must have these skills to participate in the workgroup, but rather they have the will and desire to develop these skills through their participation in this workgroup.

Example,

• We are looking for individuals who understand...
• We are looking for individuals who can do...
• We are looking for individuals who know how...

Note: These skills are not a requirement to join, but skills we expect to develop and pursue towards our workgroup objective.

Participants

Describe who can participate in the workgroup.

• Is signing up to this workgroup, in the member section below, a requirement and will this serve as a signature?
• Will there need to be some note about how to treat members who are not on the member list but are participating? For example,

Note: This charter applies to all members participating in this workgroup (whether or not they appear in this section).

Member responsibilities

List the general responsibilities and expectations of workgroup members. For example,

Members of the XX workgroup agree to:

• regularly contribute to discussions taking place on workgroup talk pages,
• contribute to workgroup-wide task completion and volunteer for assigned task completion,
• and strive toward a consensus that realises the best and most reasonable outcomes in WikiEducator's interests.

Members and signatures

List the workgroup members with each member name linked to their WikiEducator user page (suggest using the signature code '~~~~' to record date/time of joining; see instructions in the edit version of the table below).

Workgroup members
Sam Pluser 12:06, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
Albertus Einstein 04:38, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Additional workgroup roles

Describe the responsibilities for additional roles that are needed in the group, if any. For each role, list the person currently serving in that role.

Resources to achieve Workgroup objectives

Outline the level of financial (i.e., grants, etc.) and human and intellectual capital (i.e., internal or external, estimated hours per week, etc.) that will be necessary to reach Workgroup objectives.

List relevant resources that can be used to inform the Workgroup's outputs.

Boundaries

Describe the scope of commitment required of workgroup participants:

• How much time will the workgroup need to complete the objectives?
• How often are team members expected to meet?
• What is the scope of this endeavor?

Ground rules (the process)

Outline the process that workgroup participants will use as they work together to achieve the desired outcome:

Meetings:

• When and where will the workgroup meet?
• What technologies will be used in order to meet?
• What happens if a member cannot be at a meeting but has not finished an assignment due?
• What are expectations regarding participation in meetings?

Editing: What ground rules will the group use to collaboratively create and revise needed content?

Communication: How and where will members communicate with one another?

Decision-making: WikiEducator encourages all groups and teams to make decisions using a consensus approach. For a discussion of the use of consensus decision-making in Wikipedia, see

• What is Consensus?
• Consensus

The project plan

Include access to the workgroups planning documents, providing a gantt-like focus on who will do what and when. A spreadsheet in Google Docs (published on the web for all to see), for example, might facilitate this process.

Evaluating workgroup success

Document a process for evaluating the workgroup's outcomes against its stated objects and target dates and taking action to ensure that the workgroup learns from the process:

• How will the workgroup measure progress? (for example a concise report documenting activities and achievement of the outputs)
• What can members do to learn from this experience about how not only to make this workgroup better but future workgroups as well?

Approval

Outline the criteria for consideration and the process for approving the workgroup charter.

Once the charter is approved, consider adding Template:Approved charter to indicate that substantive changes, without prior group discussion and consensus, are discouraged.