What's the point

A Team Canvas is a 1–2 hour session to align your team around how people like to work, where their strengths and gaps are, and what the shared mission is.

Teams perform best when they have shared alignment. Whether you’re forming a new team or onboarding new members, running a Team Canvas helps everyone get on the same page — who we are, how we work, and what we value.

Without this kind of session, your team’s velocity will eventually hit a ceiling. It's like tuning an engine — you need to align how the parts work together before you can go full speed.

Thinking about how teams work together is essential before thinking about the what.

How to run this session

Start with a good template like the Team Canvas itself

It's a great icebreaker and having a few core areas of how you work as a team that you feel are important to dive into are a great starting point. Topics often include shared goals, personal motivations, working styles, team values, and areas for growth.

Try using a virtual whiteboard (e.g. Miro, FigJam) and have each person fill in their answers on sticky notes. Key areas might include:

• What motivates me

• How I prefer to receive feedback

• My working hours or preferences

• What I need from the team

• What I bring to the team

Then talking through them as a team to dive deeper will help uncover some deeper context and understanding.

This will also help improve the psychological safety of the team. As a leader, model vulnerability. Share your own strengths and shortcomings. This builds trust and invites others to be open too.

What's next

You should leave the session with clear, actionable next steps. For example:

• Schedule a biweekly tech debt grooming session

• Start a sync with the data team to align schemas

• Add a 30-minute social hangout each Friday

Overall, this session is a force multiplier. When people feel seen, safe, and aligned, they move faster — together.

Next up, I'll be speaking about Directly Responsible Indiviudals in teams. Watch this space.