Processes Team purpose


Team purpose

Being clear about the team's purpose will help create an identity and define the team's aims.

Team purpose in a hurry

The first step to managing a team is to clarify its purpose, do this in 3 steps:

  • Define the purpose of the team
  • List the key team deliverables
  • Name the team

Team purpose process flow
Manager Team Define purpose of the team List key deliverables Name the team Review and commment Publish team purpose

Team purpose in detail
  • This is the reason for the team existing and is sometimes described as its mission
  • The definition should be concise, a few sentences, and be easy to understand
  • The team purpose should be agreed by senior management and published
  • The team purpose should be reviewed annually and refined if anything has changed

Key deliverables
  • This is the list of things that the team needs to deliver to be viewed as fulfilling its purpose
  • Categorise these deliverables into less than 10 categories
  • Consider the deliverables as being what needs to be delivered over a 1-year time horizon
  • The Key deliverables list should be agreed by senior management and published
  • The Key deliverables list should be reviewed annually and refined if anything has changed

Name the team
  • The team name should be concise, self-explanatory and reflect the team purpose above