Organisations are a constant stream of new initiatives, changing goals, evolving roles, new hires, priority projects and the increasing impact of hybrid and remote work. So, how do teams stay aligned and consistent in the way they work regardless of department, location, time zone or initiative?
It’s important that teams codify their way of working as it ensures that members collaborate and communicate easier, decision making is clear and new starters can quickly understand how things are done. We regularly support organisations create team agreements as a powerful way of ensuring alignment & consistency. A good team agreement captures the practices and behaviours essential to the success of the team.
Here are 20 questions we ask teams to help them codify their way of working. How clear and consistent are your team members when it comes to these essential questions?
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1: What decisions are made where, and by whom?
2: When decisions impact another part of the business, how do you involve/ engage them?
3: When and how is it ok to challenge decisions?
4: How and when do you delegate decision-making?
5: When should you let people know a decision is being made?
6: How do you record decisions?
7: How do people propose new ideas?
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8: How do we prioritise?
9: How do we coordinate resources and people?
10: How do we coordinate activities with other teams?
11: How do we visualise the work so everyone can see what each other are working on?
12: When do we plan together?
13: When is it ok to say “no”?
14: What technology do we use and for what purposes?
15: How do we communicate how much capacity we have?
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16: What do you do when you think someone isnโt going to follow through?
17: What should you do when you need help?
18: What happens if your role/ someone elseโs role needs clarifying or changing?
19: How do we agree expectations of each other?
20: What do we do when someone is overworked/ under stress?
In this week’s Distinction Consulting newsletter, we share our step by step approach to building a team agreement.