A Charter is a statement of intent that reflects the parties agreement on what they will do together and how the relationship will work.
To ensure a Charter is meaningful, it needs to reflect discussion on the following key topics, which may or may not be documented in a separate Agreement document:
- Why they choose to work together, their individual and collective expectations and contribution to successful outcomes, and their shared vision.
- How they will work together, how they will govern and review the relationship and the engagement model.
- What they’ll measure and monitor to reflect success in achieving their shared ambitions.
The process for developing the real and meaningful Charter is participative and encourages engagement, alignment, ownership, and understanding between all levels of the organisations.
The Charter is usually a one page reference and, while the content differs in each case, it typically represents their aligned views of the Shared Vision, Principles (or behaviours), and Success Outcomes (or objectives). It is often signed by the Leaders as a reflection of their personal commitment to the intent.
The success of a Charter is not only in its content, but in the process through which it is created and the ongoing use of it within the organisations – it needs to be much more than a poster on the wall!
Click here for a PDF Discussion Paper – covering Charters, Agreements and Performance Management.
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