Chapter 4
Smooth the Path to Performance with Agile Chartering

Agile chartering can provide a powerful core for a liftoff, or it can stand on its own as your liftoff. It can fuel the rest of the liftoff work and supply the momentum to carry your team forward. When agile chartering is incorporated into liftoff activities, team members are given the opportunity to focus on clarifying the work with one another and the product manager. The team can make immediate progress and avoid the confusion of conflicting assumptions, unclear roles, and miscommunication.

In this chapter, you’ll explore why chartering matters in agile environments. You’ll discover why we often include agile chartering in a liftoff agenda, and explore why you may want to include a chartering workshop as part of yours. You’ll learn about the three critical elements of an agile charter—purpose, alignment, and context—and how each adds a different benefit to the whole. You’ll also learn how chartering happens in two rounds. In the first round, the product manager, sponsor, and key stakeholders take a first pass at defining the work of the team. In the second round, the team has a chance to influence the work and decide on its approach. And finally, you’ll discover the five simple rules of agile chartering and learn why you’ll want to focus on creating a living document.