Effective team functioning is required to support optimal patient care. In a prelicensure nursing program, students often report poor team functioning while working on group projects. The use of team projects as both an authentic learning experience and assessment method in higher education is a common practice across many professional disciplines. Team projects provide the opportunity for students to develop and practice leadership skills. These skills include collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, and critical thinking.1 However, the literature also shows that students resist collaborative learning due to poor experiences with team projects, perceived unfair grading policies, and differing expectations of learners in higher education.2
One strategy to mitigate student resistance and team disfunction is the use of a team charter. A team charter is a student-centered, strength-based agreement used to foster effective team functioning.3 The purpose of this article is to discuss how a team charter was used in a nursing leadership course to promote effective team functioning and anchor foundational leadership skills.
Background
During a 13-week nursing leadership course in the third year of a prelicensure nursing program, 250 students participated in authentic learning experiences to support their understanding of complex health care systems and develop leadership skills to navigate change within these systems. Students worked in groups to develop and present a change proposal based on a student-identified real-life problem related to nursing. Student groups were formed based on their corequisite clinical group of 8 students. Each group developed a team charter based on a template (developed by J. Stark, 2018, unpublished) to guide their work and to promote effective team functioning.
Setting the Stage
At the beginning of the course, instructors engaged students in discussion about the rationale for incorporating a team charter to enhance team engagement. Prior to developing their team charters, students completed 2 learning activities intended to help students understand themselves and each other, and to enhance team functioning. At the beginning of the course, students completed the Dare to Lead List of Values and Daring Leadership Assessment.4 Students then shared and discussed their top 2 core values with their group to increase awareness of each other's values and promote better understanding of the behavior of their peers. The Daring Leadership Assessment helped students identify leadership strengths and areas for growth. Students reflected on their assessment results and created a leadership goal to work on over the term. Through this process, some students realized that their behaviors may not align with their core values. For example, a student may value honesty, but on reflection realized that when faced with conflict, they remained silent. After completing these 2 learning activities, students meet in their groups during class time to discuss and develop their team charters based on guiding questions in the charter (J. Stark, 2018, unpublished). Students submitted their completed charters to the instructor.
At the end of the term, students reflected on their leadership development and impact on the team's functioning through the completion of a written reflection based on guiding questions. Student awareness of the teams' values, strengths, and areas for growth is critical to understanding the behaviors and decision-making of themselves and others, and impacts team functioning and support for each other's development as leaders.
Exploring the Team Charter
The team charter template, adapted from J. Stark with permission, contains task-based and relational elements, including a group communication plan, an area to document team members' strengths and skills, an overview of common issues that student teams face, and guiding questions for students to discuss and outline their strategy to work effectively as a team.
In the group communication plan, students discuss and decide how their group plans to connect throughout the term to complete the project. For example, students plan the frequency and location of their team meetings, how they will communicate (eg, via email and text), and who will be responsible for organizing team meetings.
The team charter contains a chart with a list of skills commonly needed in group projects, such as research, writing, presenting, technical, and people skills (J. Stark, 2018, unpublished). Team member names are written across the top of the chart, and students self-identify their strengths and mark them with an X. The team then reviews the chart for the team's strengths and for any gaps in skills and plans accordingly.
The next section outlines issues commonly faced by teams to raise awareness of potential teamwork issues and promote upfront discussions. Common issues include scheduling, workload, power struggles, social loafing, meeting deadlines, and quality of work.
The final section of the charter contributes to a shared understanding and agreement of the teamwork process to help students plan for potential difficulties they may face as they complete their group project. The 4 key areas for discussion include working as a team, team dynamics, schedule and communication, and instructor contact to discuss group problems.4 Example questions include: What action will you take if someone is not "pulling their weight"? How can you resolve this issue in a way that keeps the team intact and moving forward to achieving your goal? Do you want your instructor to meet with individuals or with the entire group to discuss group problems? Once students have developed, agreed on, and documented their strategy to work effectively as a team, each member signs the charter.
Outcomes
Students' perceptions of creating and using the team charter were gathered from course evaluations, discussions with students, and a review of student written reflections. Students felt a sense of belonging and ownership over the group process and the end product. Students also commented that documenting their strategies for how to make decisions about their project at the beginning helped them stay focused on the end goal. Additionally, students stated it was helpful to identify potential conflicts upfront and document their strategies to manage these conflicts. Some groups reported that when conflict arose, it was helpful to have identified strategies that could be implemented at the time instead of identifying strategies when communication was already strained.
Students generally felt safe to work on new skills (such as their leadership goal) because the group had created strategies to support each other's development. For example, a student identified they were hesitant to state their opinion should it differ from the group or from another nurse in practice because they felt vulnerable and were afraid of looking "stupid." The group discussed the importance of everyone being respectful during all communication and that they would be open to all ideas shared. This student noted that this discussion built trust among the group and they felt more comfortable practicing speaking up during their group meetings.
Instructors' perceptions of setting the stage for the team charter promoted student engagement in this authentic learning experience. Using a team charter was an effective method for coaching students through difficult conversations and managing conflict with their peers. Only 3 of 34 groups required instructor assistance with group dynamics. Through this process students were empowered to practice leadership skills and effective team functioning while working as a team on a real-life problem.
Students suggested that smaller group sizes may be helpful to coordinate schedules and determine roles and responsibilities. Providing class time for students to complete and revisit the team charter may promote more discussion and planning. Student comfort and engagement in the group process may be increased by incorporating team-building activities.
Conclusion
Student development of a team charter supported their understanding of the complexities of working in teams, empowered students to work through challenges, and supported effective team functioning. The combination of individual exploration of core values, a leadership self-assessment, and student groups completing their own team charter created an authentic learning experience for students to develop and practice leadership skills.
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