To create a positive and productive working process, teams often develop mutual agreements. They use them as guidelines as to how things get done. The purpose of setting up these kinds of norms is to establish one team culture and also as a reference when things get rocky within the team. Further, organizations are more effective when each member knows what is expected of them and how members of the team will work together. Since the beginning of CorpoHub, we’ve made a series of informal agreements that shape our behavior. But shortly after the isolation, we learned that what was working before is not necessarily working now. So we decided to update CorpoHub Team Agreements that count as our guidelines while working remotely.
Team agreements that lead to high performance – how to get started
- Team agreements are thought through by the whole team. Therefore, everybody must be heard and included.
- Make them short and understandable.
- Each team member believes in the agreements and is willing to incorporate them into the team norm.
- Team agreements are dynamic. We can create them for a short time project, feedback sessions, workplace politics, etc., and can change or develop over time.
“If you want to be efficient as a group and achieve common goals and objectives, you have to make sure that your team members are fully aware of their responsibilities and obligations. This can be done with the help of a team agreement.“
CorpoHub team agreements
We see our agreements as a “social” contract between all CorpoHub team members, which outlines what kind of information we share, how we communicate with each other, and how we know what each of us is doing. Further, it helps us to have clarity about expectations about the work and culture of the team. It allows individuals to hold each other accountable. Moreover, it is a set of values, principles, or behaviors that we use to improve our communication.
So, we got together (online) at the end of March for a team agreement update. We all participated in and shared our opinions. As a result, we came down to six agreements (see picture below) that we found valuable at the time.
After two months, at our Monday Morning Meeting, we reviewed the agreements and used an app called Mentimeter (mentimeter.com) to see where we stand. Do the agreements still have value for our team or maybe we need another update. For now, we’re all set. At least until the next review.
Other examples of working agreements you can use when creating your own:
- Show respect. Don’t interrupt; listen to each other and let people finish what they’re saying. It’s OK to disagree with each other.
- Speak for yourself, not on behalf of others.
- Differences of opinion are natural and useful.
- Contribution. Everyone has an equal voice and valuable contributions.
- Meeting. Be on time, end on time, have an agenda, there will be no review for those who are late. Participate fully.
- Be transparent. No hidden agendas. No side conversations
- We make commitments as a team and are accountable for our commitments.
- Share all relevant information.
- Take risks.
- All ideas are valid. Listen with an open mind before you speak.
- Think creatively.
- Don’t forget to have fun.
Does your team have a written working agreement? If not, you should definitely create one. It is the glue that binds the team together.
