Overview
Align a new or existing team on shared purpose, working norms, roles, and goals with the Team Canvas — a structured facilitation tool for building team alignment and cohesion. Whether you're onboarding a new team or realigning an existing one, this template gets the conversation started and creates a living document of how the team works together.
Key Features
- Team purpose and mission statement section
- Individual roles and responsibilities mapping area
- Shared values and working principles zone
- Team goals with success metrics fields
- Working norms and agreements section (meetings, communication, decision-making)
How to Use
- Start with the purpose section — ask the team "Why does this team exist?" and capture answers as sticky notes using Quick Actions before synthesizing into a statement
- Work through roles — each team member adds a Person Card with their name, role, and 2–3 key responsibilities
- Use the shared values section to generate and vote on the team's top 3–5 working principles using dot voting
- Define the team's goals using Cards — include measurable success criteria for each goal
- Close with working norms — use sticky notes to surface preferences around meetings, communication, and decisions, then consolidate into agreed team agreements using the Text tool
Benefits
Teams that name their purpose, clarify their roles, and agree on norms spend less time on meta-conversations and more time on the work. The Team Canvas is a 90-minute investment that pays back every week.
Work
Meetings