OLIVIER DE WECK: One of the first assignments
that I ask students to do in the class
is to write a team charter.
Now what is a team charter?
You can think of a team charter like a manifesto.
It's essentially defining the identity and the goals
that the team wants to pursue.
And in this kind of class, there could be many different goals.
For example, as a team you want to learn as much
as you can about the process of systems engineering and design
and so forth.
Another charter could be that you are very ambitious
and you want to win the competition.
So you want to score as high as you can.
And the ultimate goal is to be as highly ranked as possible
in the competition.
Another goal could be just to have fun, you know.
To just have a good time, to learn,
but essentially to really be together
in this learning environment, to learn
and have fun at the same time.
And so the flavor of each team is a little bit different.
And rather than just letting it happen without much thought
or discussion, the purpose of the team charter or project
charter is to encourage these discussions early,
such that the team is on the same page
as they proceed into the project.