There is probably not a stronger trend in commercial services than teaming. Fewer and fewer individuals are working alone in the business. Many transactions are completed in cooperation with others on a transaction basis. Others are forming work teams where they work together on a strategic business basis.

The team operating agreement is a simple document, developed in Microsoft Word, that should be discussed at a team retreat, maybe set aside a morning outside of the office to complete the agreement. This agreement should be completed annually and signed by all team members. In the expectations section you may want to include the fee sharing formula.

For a team to continue to be successful it requires communication, mutual respect among the team members, shared vision and agreed upon roles and expectations. The process of completing a team retreat and physically executing the "team operating agreement" will help maintain a winning team.

Click HERE to download the Word form