How to Design Team Alliance [Free Templates Included]

Ever wished your team just clicked better? That everyone was aligned, accountable, and working with a shared purpose? That’s where a Designed Team Alliance comes in. 

A Designed Team Alliance (DTA) is more than just a working agreement; it’s a conscious, co-created set of values, expectations, and behaviors that help teams thrive. It’s a foundational tool in Relationship Systems Coaching, and it’s especially powerful in Agile and Scrum settings, where team dynamics can make or break success.

In a high-performing Agile Team Alliance, everyone is responsible for the atmosphere and culture they help create. The focus isn’t on how others should behave, but on how we commit to showing up for each other.

Whether you’re coaching teams or leading one, this blog will walk you through how to design your own team alliance, step by step. Oh, and yes, we’ve got free templates ready for you at the end! 

What is a Designed Team Alliance?

A Designed Team Alliance is a conscious, co-created agreement that defines how a team wants to work together, communicate, resolve conflict, and support one another. It’s not about managing others’ behavior but about making personal and collective commitments to build the kind of team culture you want to experience every day.

Unlike a traditional team agreement that often focuses on roles, responsibilities, or logistics (like deadlines and who-does-what), a Designed Team Alliance goes deeper. It considers the emotional environment, shared values, and the relational dynamics that hold a team together when things get tough.

In Relationship Systems Coaching, the concept takes on an added layer of complexity. Just as an individual coach partners with a client to set expectations, an agile coach working with a team as a system helps its members design the alliance with each other first. This collaborative process creates a foundation that the coach then uses to align the broader coaching agreement.

In creating the Designed Team Alliance, team members reflect on:

• What kind of culture or atmosphere they want to build

• How they want to feel in that space

• What values they want to live by

• And most importantly, what they personally commit to bringing to the team

This intentional design becomes the cultural and emotional framework for everything that follows. Whether it’s a Scrum Team Alliance, a leadership team, or a cross-functional squad, this shared clarity is a game-changer, especially in Agile environments, where flexibility, feedback, and trust are critical. In fact, research (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005) shows that teams with positive emotional climates perform better. And those with explicit decision-making and conflict protocols (Guttman, 2008) experience greater alignment and cohesion.

The DTA Should Address Two Issues

1. Creating Culture or Atmosphere — this is the space or environment the team members want to create. The advantage of designing the atmosphere is that if circumstances change, (e.g., the project changes, the restaurant we counted on is closed) the atmosphere we designed to hold together (for example the atmosphere of collaboration) still carries over to the new circumstances.

2. Sharing Responsibility — this is what the partners can be counted on for. Each person is responsible for creating the experience or culture they want for the team or partnership. Co-responsibility and accountability create empowered and leaderful systems.

STORMMES Coaching Agreement for Designed Team Alliance

When you're working with a new client, team, or coaching objective, having a clear and structured coaching agreement can make all the difference. One useful model for this is STORMMES, a practical tool that helps coaches and teams align on goals, expectations, and how they’ll work together toward success.

While STORMMES is often used in one-on-one coaching, it can be easily adapted for alliance teams or Agile groups looking to create strong foundations. This approach complements a Designed Team Alliance beautifully, bringing focus and intention to your agile coaching conversations.

Here’s what STORMMES stands for:

• S – Subject: What topic or goal does the team (or individual) want to focus on?

• T – Timeframe: What’s the timeline for this focus? What part will you work on today?

• O – Outcomes: What results are you hoping to see by the end?

• R – Roles: Who will do what? How will you collaborate?

• M – Measure: How will success be tracked? Where are you now on a 1–10 scale?

• M – Motivation: Why is this important? What’s driving the goal?

• E – Environment: What might support or block your success?

• S – Start: What’s the first step? Where do you want to begin?

By walking through each of these areas, you and your team create shared clarity about how you'll do it together. It’s a powerful way to enrich your team alliance in Agile settings and foster trust, transparency, and alignment from the very beginning.

How to Design a Team Alliance in 7 Steps

If you’re creating a Team Working Agreement in Agile, launching a new project, or strengthening a Scrum Team, this step-by-step guide will help your team co-create a designed team alliance that’s authentic, actionable, and alive.

Step 1: Start with Purpose and Intent

Start things off by setting a safe, open environment where everyone feels invited to contribute. Clarify why you’re designing the alliance and how it will help the team collaborate more effectively.

Try this:

• “What do we hope this alliance will help us achieve as a team?”

• “How can we ensure everyone feels heard and included?”

This creates the emotional and psychological safety necessary for honest conversations, foundational for every Agile Team Alliance.

Step 2: Discuss Values, Working Styles, and Team Culture

Here’s where the heart of the alliance lives: culture and values. Ask your team:

• “What kind of team culture do we want to create?”

• “How do we want our team to feel, empowering, creative, focused, playful?”

Capture key themes and phrases in the team’s own words. These shared descriptors will define the atmosphere you co-create, whether you're working in-person, hybrid, or fully remote.

Step 3: Co-Create Behavioral Norms and Expectations

This is where a Team Working Agreement in Agile starts to take shape. Go beyond vague intentions, discuss how the team will behave together when things go well and when challenges arise. The goal is to design responses to friction before it happens, which boosts resilience and team alignment.

Questions to explore:

• “How do we handle disagreement?”

• “What protocols will we follow in tough situations?”

• “What behaviors help us stay aligned?”

Step 4: Define Roles and Responsibilities

Even in self-organizing Agile teams, clarity is key. Ask the team:

• “What can we count on each other for?”

• “Who owns what responsibilities?”

• “How do we support each other when someone needs help?”

Step 5: Agree on Conflict Resolution and Decision-Making

Conflict is natural, what matters is how you handle it. Define clear processes for navigating tension and making team decisions. Examples you can co-create:

• A step-by-step conflict resolution process

• What to do if consensus can't be reached

• When to escalate or bring in outside perspective

Step 6: Write It Down and Get Buy-In

Now it’s time to turn the conversation into something tangible. Write down the team’s agreements using simple, shared language. Avoid jargon or long-winded explanations—stick to the essentials.

Tips for documenting your designed team alliance:

• Keep it short, visible, and accessible (post it on a team board or shared drive)

• Use bullet points or cards summarizing your values, behaviors, and protocols

• Get verbal or written buy-in from all team members

Step 7: Set a Revisit/Review Cadence

A designed team alliance is a living document, not a one-time exercise. Sustain alignment by:

• Scheduling regular reviews (every sprint, quarter, or after major events)

• Making updates when new members join or priorities shift

• Reflecting on whether the team is living the alliance in retrospectives

The key is to treat the alliance as an evolving reflection of how your team wants to show up together.

Bonus Tip: Once your team has co-created its alliance, take a moment to recognize the effort! Celebrate this milestone because what you’ve built together isn’t just a document; it’s a shared commitment to work with purpose, respect, and unity.

8 Tips to Keep the Designed Alliance Alive

Here are some tips for you to design the team alliance and keep it alive in your team’s daily workflow: 

1. Make the Designed Team Alliance Visible

Your Designed Team Alliance can’t support your team if it disappears after the kickoff session. Keep it front and center, display it where your team works most. Whether it’s a chart on the wall, a whiteboard in the meeting room, a slide in your sprint deck, or a shared digital workspace, visibility ensures relevance. 

Some teams even turn their alliance into a manifesto, a values wheel, or a creative poster. The goal is to make the agreement more than just words, to make it part of the team's environment and identity.

2. Use It to Reflect During Retrospectives or Conflict

Don’t wait for problems to remember the alliance—integrate it into your regular Agile ceremonies. During sprint retrospectives or project reviews, reflect on the alliance together. What value or commitment stood out this sprint? What part of the alliance could have made collaboration smoother? 

These conversations help reinforce the behaviors the team agreed on, especially in moments of tension or misalignment. The Designed Team Alliance becomes a compass, not just for how you work, but for how you grow together.

3. Review and Revise at Team Checkpoints

A strong Team Working Agreement in Agile is never static. As your team grows, your working agreements should evolve too. Set regular checkpoints, monthly, quarterly, or whenever there’s a big change in team composition or priorities. 

Ask your team what they want to keep, drop, or add. What commitments are no longer serving the group? What’s missing that could help you go further? This approach keeps the alliance responsive to real team needs.

4. Assign a “Culture Steward” or Rotating Team Role

Assigning a rotating role like a “culture steward” keeps ownership of the alliance shared and active. This person can lead quick check-ins at the start or end of meetings, reminding the team of one alliance principle to carry forward. 

It doesn’t have to be formal or lengthy, just a small moment of reflection that brings focus. Rotating the role also ensures that everyone has a hand in shaping and nurturing the team culture.

5. Open and Close Meetings with the Alliance

Ritualizing the alliance makes it stick. Start meetings by asking a team member to name one part of the agreement they want to embody during the session. Or end meetings by reflecting on what part of the alliance showed up in your collaboration. 

These bookends keep the values alive and visible. Some teams even pick a song that represents their alliance and play it at the beginning or end of key gatherings, it sounds small, but it sets the tone beautifully.

6. Reinforce the Alliance Through Stories and Symbols

Sharing real-life examples of when the alliance was honored can make it tangible. Include these stories in team newsletters, retros, or town halls. You can also explore symbolic ways to connect with the alliance, use metaphors, gestures, or even visuals that represent how the team is feeling or what they’re aiming for. These practices help your Agile Team Alliance move from theory into felt experience.

7. Rate Your Alignment and Adjust Together

From time to time, ask the team to rate how well they’re living the alliance on a scale from 0 to 10. This opens the door for reflection and improvement without blame. 

Follow up with, “What would help us move one step closer to fully honoring our agreement?” These micro-adjustments help the team stay in tune and create psychological safety for ongoing improvement.

8. Remember: The Alliance Is Never Final

Finally, remember that your Designed Team Alliance is not a fixed contract; it’s a living agreement. It should grow as your team’s needs and dynamics shift. Update it when team members join or leave, when priorities change, or when new challenges emerge. Treat it like a prism that reflects your team's shared values, and turn it regularly to catch new light.

Designed Alliance Templates You Can Try

Below we’ve shared some neat and tidy tables with Designed Team Alliance templates for different types of teams, such as Scrum Teams and Cross-functional or Distributed Teams. Each template has a short explanation of how the it fits the team's structure:

Scrum Team Alliance Template

Best for: Scrum Teams including Developers, Product Owner, and Scrum Master.

A template designed for Agile Scrum teams to align on working agreements, daily collaboration rhythms, sprint behaviors, and handling blockers or conflict. It supports clear roles, ceremonies, and commitment to team norms.

Distributed Team Alliance Template

Best for: Teams spread across time zones, working in hybrid/remote setups, or with diverse skills (e.g., Dev + Design + QA).

Tailored for teams working across locations, time zones, or specializations. Emphasizes asynchronous communication norms, shared tools, flexible availability, and clarity around handoffs and dependencies. Ensures inclusivity and visibility across boundaries.

Bonus Point: Most Important Questions for Consultants and Coaches to Ask Clients

• 1

  What is the culture, space or atmosphere you want to create in the team (couple, or partnership)? How would you know you had that?

• 2

  How do you want it to feel? (Empowering, supportive, spacious, oppositional, vulnerable, etc.) For teams or work partnerships: “What kind of culture or climate do you want to create together? What are the values you want to live by as a team? How would you know you had that?

• 3

  How do you want to behave together when things get difficult, or when there is conflict? (Who do you want to be together with?) What are the team’s conflict protocols?

• 4

  What would help the partnership/team to flourish?What can your team or system count on from you? What will you each commit to one another?