ABOUT
This Module helps team members discuss the importance of having rules, procedures, and agreements out in the open and very clear rather than hidden and secret. The steps of the module guide teams through the identification of three levels of rules: Little Big Rules, Working Rules, and Relationship Rules and write these out.
Little-Big Rules are the small issues, they may be light-hearted in nature but actually very serious at times. These small practices and agreements that can make a big difference in day-to-day teamwork. They demonstrate respect for each member’s little idiosyncrasies, preferences, and personal requests.
Working Rules are those procedures and policies that help the team get its work done and reach its goals. When these rules are set and followed, work gets done more smoothly.
Relationship Rules are agreements team members make to each other on how they will deal with personal misunderstandings and conflicts. They create the culture of teamwork and help address interpersonal issues before they become stressful problems.
WHEN TO USE
Use this Module when:
- establishing a new team and you want to get agreements, procedures, and relationship rules in place early in the process
- re-engaging an existing team which it’s likely has never openly listed many of the rules that members operate under
- onboarding new team members so that they learn the written and unspoken rules and personal preferences of existing team members
- resolving conflicts that may appear to be interpersonal but are actually based on the misunderstanding of unspoken or implied rules
This module, Establishing Team Rules, has two components.
1) The Discussion Guide and Worksheet
This discussion guide, which is what the team members complete, contains step-by-step interactive fields, check boxes, and open fill-in spaces. This guide can be completed online using the interactive pdf and then shared or referenced as the team discusses each step. Some steps are designed to be completed together.
The supporting worksheet helps team members create a list of team rules, categorize these, and discuss how agreeing to follow and update these can improve team functioning.
2) Facilitator/User’s Guide
These support materials are available to help guide the leader or facilitator through the steps of the discussion guide. An example of a completed worksheet listing team rules helps team members take responsibility for working together to continuously improve team functioning.
The facilitator may be an outside consultant, the team leader, or one of the team members. However, everyone can help ensure success by reading through some of the tips and suggestions in this guide.
NOTES FROM DR. PATRICK HANDLEY
This is one of my top three favorite modules to facilitate with teams. Interesting enough, team leaders and many human resource and talent management specialists tend to overlook it. This may because that they feel organizations have policy manuals in place and those cover the type of rules this module might address. It isn’t.
This module helps team members clarify the agreements and procedures (shorthand for rules) that they follow as they work together as a team.
So often, these are implied or “understood” but are never voiced or written down. Yet when a team member breaks one of these agreements, other members can really get upset. If there is conflict on a team, I almost always work this module in as I’m selecting the key team coaching sessions I want to facilitate with the team.
Here’s the deal, most “new” members have to guess what the rules are. In fact, for some teams, their favorite sport is watching new members learn the rules the hard way the team functions by. This involves learning the little hot buttons or issues each team member has. Learning what the procedures are for accomplishing tasks and what to do and what not to do. Finally, learning what emotional and psychological buttons not to push. Wow, that’s stressful work.
It’s also stressful for any team member, regardless of how long that member has been on the team, to try to track the different agreements and rules the team strives to follow. That’s why it is such a positive step forward to guide team members in creating an open, transparent set of agreements and rules.
COMBINATIONS
Use with:
Module 6: Building on Personality Strengths, to link personality preferences to the various rules that people would like to see put in place.
Module 8: Clarifying Team Roles- to help teams create essentially what you could call a team manual or operating structure that helps them stay on a success track.
Module 9: Solving Problems Together, to help teams teams discuss how their problems, conflicts, and challenges are typically interlaced with their way of seeing problems and the rules they have in their heads for solving these. Opening up each member’s perspective is key to conflict resolution and fixing day to day issues that arise for any team.
Module 6 and Module 8 as a set of three. You’ll notice there is no single module on resolving conflict. The reason is that diving into a session and labeling it conflict resolution starts with the problem rather than on a positive tone. When this happens, it is very difficult to manage. The reality is that conflict in teams is often embedded in failure to appreciate personality differences, frustration over team roles, tension that comes from breaking rules or non-inclusive decision making, etc etc. There are three modules in the library of 12 Modules, that addresses each of these. It works far better to improve in each of these team competencies to that not only is conflict resolved at the cause (rather than the hot reactions that have boiled to the surface).