Make team expectations visible
Students define how they want to work together before roles, feedback, and conflict become confusing.
Team Formation Tool
Team Alliance
A simple team agreement canvas that helps students and groups make expectations visible before collaboration gets messy.
Best for
- Classroom
- Student Teams
- Team Formation
- Collaboration
- PBL
- Student Programs / CTE
Use During
- Refine
- Plan
- Check-In
- Retrospect
What it helps with
Reduce group-work drama
Shared agreements give teams a way to talk about accountability without making it personal.
Build trust and ownership
Students co-create norms, values, and commitments instead of waiting for the teacher to manage every interaction.
Preview the template
When to use it
- Before a project, Learning Sprint, or group challenge begins
- When student teams need clearer roles and commitments
- When a group is stuck in recurring conflict or uneven participation
- When students need language for feedback, accountability, and support
- With faculty or educator teams that need a lightweight agreement before shared work
How it works
Name the purpose
Clarify why the team exists and what success looks like.
Choose shared values
Identify the values the team wants to practice together.
Set working agreements
Turn values into visible behaviors and commitments.
Plan for feedback and conflict
Decide how the team will raise concerns and repair trust.
Revisit the alliance
Use check-ins and retrospects to update the agreement as the work changes.
Why the Team Alliance works
Most group-work problems are not caused by students being unable to collaborate. They happen because the expectations stay invisible until something goes wrong.
The Team Alliance makes those expectations discussable early, so teams can build trust, name commitments, and return to an agreement when the work gets harder.
Want the full explanation and examples? Read the article: The Team Alliance Canvas
Skills & Alignment
This resource supports team formation, collaboration, communication, and shared accountability. These are suggested connections, not a formal standards alignment.
IB Learner Profile
- Communicators
- Open-minded
- Principled
- Caring
IB Approaches to Learning
- Social skills
- Communication skills
- Self-management skills
21st Century Skills
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Leadership
- Responsibility
Inquiry Practices
- Reflection
- Shared norms
- Feedback
- Revision
What's included
- A printable Team Alliance Canvas for creating shared team norms, commitments, values, roles, and working agreements.
Related resources
Ready to use it?
Download the free printable Team Alliance Canvas and help your students build shared norms, clarify expectations, and collaborate with more trust and accountability.
Download for free