Team
Rules -
Establishing a code of conduct for your
team
As teams learn to work together, they often
establish informal sets of rules that govern
the way they work together. Usually, these
are established informally as the team learns
what works in getting things done, and what
does not. Rules can cover things like punctuality,
timely issuing of minutes, and so on.
Occasionally, people lack the sensitivity
or social skills to conform to these informal
rules. They may behave in a way that damages
the team’s delivery to its client,
undermines the cohesiveness of the team,
or makes other team members unhappy. Or
they may challenge the status quo (sometimes
correctly) in a way that team members do
not like.
When this is causing conflict, a useful
way of resolving the situation can be for
team members to formalize these unspoken
rules. By making them clear and explicit
and agreeing them through fair debate, the
worth of the rules can be established and
non-compliance can be shown.
The process of negotiation is an important
part of this. By negotiating the rules,
people with over-stringent standards are
brought down to earth, while people whose
standards are too lax have the reasons for
higher standards explained to them. The
process of negotiation also provides a forum
within which the team takes the time to
look at new strategies, and decides whether
or not it wants to adopt them.
Rules should be written down after being
agreed on by team members. These rules then
act as the benchmark against which behavior
can be judged. Democratic (not necessarily
unanimous) agreement is needed for the rules
to be valid.
The process of negotiating the set of rules
means that they are likely to be rationally
considered. The formality of the documentation
of the rules means that there is no scope
for people to misunderstand what is expected
of them. The agreement of the majority of
team members gives the rules democratic
legitimacy.
Ultimately, when an individual consistently
ignores or violates these rules, one way
forward may be for the individual to be
asked to leave the team. This is tough,
but in some cases necessary.
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