Ground rules
Ground rules are simple guidelines that improve teamwork and communication. Ground rules may be also known as working agreements, team arrangements, shared expectations, and group understandings.
Contents:
- What are ground rules?
- For everybody
- For mutual interactions
- For discussions
- For partners
- For hand signs, sign language, and video conferencing
- For teams
- For meetings
- For briefings
- For scheduling
- For feedback
- For technology projects
- For team documentation
- For visual indicators
- For standardized formats
- See also
What are ground rules?
Ground rules are simple guidelines that improve teamwork and communication. Ground rules define a team's common set of expectations and ways of working together.
Good introductions and sources:
-
"Norms, Values, Working Agreements, Simple Rules" by Esther Derby
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"A List of Ground Rules for Effective Meetings" by Get The Picture
For everybody
Be kind.
Be candid.
Be courteous.
Be constructive.
Be creative.
Be encouraging.
Be honest.
Be open-minded.
Be prepared.
Be present.
Be productive.
Be punctual.
Be respectful.
Be thankful.
For mutual interactions
Mutual respect.
Mutual purpose.
Mutual consideration.
Mutual communication.
Mutual commitment.
For discussions
Cell phones are off or on silent notification
Encourage everyone to participate.
Listen actively and attentively.
Participate fully.
Respect confidentiality.
Seek debate.
Minimize distractions.
Speak your mind.
Have fun!
Differences of opinion are natural and useful.
Disagree in private, and show a united front in public.
Ask for clarification if you are confused.
Do not interrupt, unless you are the facilitator.
Take responsibility for the quality of the discussion.
Build on one another’s comments; work toward shared understanding.
Stay on topic, don't go on tangents
Be cognizant of the level of detail required for discussion.
Know when to take discussions offline.
Do not offer opinions without supporting evidence.
Avoid put-downs, even humorous ones.
No side conversations.
Share air time; do not monopolize discussion.
Speak for yourself, not on behalf of others.
Speak from your own experience, without generalizing.
Listen with an open mind before you speak.
One person talks at a time.
Take responsibility for what you need in the meeting.
Let group know your attendance plans.
For partners
View the issue as “we” not “me”.
Accept where you are. It’s OK if things aren’t perfect.
Look for your part in the problem. In a partnership, partners play a role in happiness or unhappiness.
Make it safe to share. This includes giving a heads up about a big conversation, choosing a neutral time and place, and so on.
Focus on one topic, rather than multiple topics.
Focus on one goal, rather than just airing your needs.
Identify the issue from each partner's perspective.
Brainstorm solutions.
Ask for a time out, if you want one.
Acknowledge that growth together is a process, and allow time for changes to happen.
If the issue can’t be solved right away, then agree to check in from time to time to discuss the issue.
If talking feels difficult, then consider using writing. For example, you can write an email or journal entry to ask questions, suggest improvements, or describe emotions.
If communication feels blocked, then consider using a third party. For example, consider asking for help from a coach, counselor, meditator, therapist, or trusted friend.
For hand signs, sign language, and video conferencing
Sign language can be helpful for people who are hard of hearing, and also helpful for video conferencing, for large meetings, and for loud environments.
Vote yes: thumb up.
Vote no: thumb down.
Vote maybe: thumb sideways.
I understand: make the "OK" sign.
I don't understand: raise your open hand to your chest, palm facing front, and move it side to side.
Clarification ASAP: make the letter "C" sign. This means everyone pause as soon as possible, so the facilitator can do clarification.
Ask to speak in turn: raise your open hand. This means everyone will let the person speak when it's their turn.
Please be louder: raise your open hand to your ear, palm facing front, so the moderator and/or speaker notices. This can indicate "please turn on your microphone".
Please be quieter: make the "shhh" sign with your pointer finger at your lips. This can indicate "please turn off your microphone".
Please stop/freeze/wait: hold up your closed fist, fingers facing front.
I'm typing in chat: show your hand and move your fingers as if you're typing on a keyboard.
Time check: point at your wrist. This means please be aware that there's a time limit coming up.
Time out: make the time out sign. This means conversation stops, and the facilitator takes over.
For teams
All ideas are valid.
All voices are heard.
Ask questions if you are confused.
Presume good-faith intentions.
Test assumptions and inferences.
Try not to distract your teammates.
Use every failure as an opportunity to learn.
Debate the issue, not the person.
Critique the ideas, not the people.
Challenge one another, and do so respectfully.
Silence does not mean agreement nor disagreement.
If you are offended by anything said during discussion, acknowledge it immediately.
Aggression or personal attacks are not ok and will be halted immediately.
Aim to understand each others' strengths and also weaknesses.
Team decisions with high-velocity
For team decisions, here are some examples thanks to Amazon's "high-velocity decision making" tips.
Decision speed matters.
A high-velocity decision environment keeps up energy and dynamism.
A high-velocity decision environment is more fun than a low-velocity decision environment.
Never use a one-size-fits-all decision-making process.
Many decisions are reversible. Those decisions can use a light-weight process. So what if you’re wrong?*
Make most decisions with 2/3 of the information you want; if you wait for more, you’re probably being slow.
Get good at quickly recognizing and correcting bad decisions.
When we’re good at correcting decisions, then being wrong may be less costly, whereas being slow may be more costly.
Use the phrase “disagree and commit” to go fast: if you have conviction on a particular direction even though there’s no consensus, say, “Look, I know we disagree on this but will you gamble with me on it? Disagree and commit?”
Recognize true misalignment issues early and escalate them immediately. Do not let decisions stagnate into “You’ve worn me down”, which is an awful decision-making process, slow and de-energizing.
Team communications
Team communications have ways for remote people to participate.
Team communications have preferred channels, such as preferring chat, or email, or video.
Team communications are radiated when events happen, so other teammates can be in the loop.
If you email, then use the "To" field if you need action, and the "Cc" field if you don't need action.
Teammates commit to read communications sent directly to them within 1 business day.
Team whiteboards are eraseable any time; do not write "Do not erase".
If someone is wearning headphones, do not disturb unless there is an emergency.
The team uses Gibbs' rules from the CSI TV show.
Each teammate gets their own credentials, such as a username, password, and security badge.
Each teammate has a crossover person that is able to handle the teammate's work in their absence.
If you have a social network page that's relevant to the team, such as LinkedIn page, then make sure it's current.
Designate an office area for louder/bigger communications, and an area for silence.
Team bonding
Team bonding is good and valuable.
Team bonding that is focused on alcohol is not good, because some people can't participate, or don't want to participate.
Team bonding can use a not-about-work "swear jar"; if someone talks about work, they put a dollar in the jar.
Team success ideas at Google
Dependability: we get things done on time and meet expectations.
Clarity: we have clear goals and well-defined roles.
Meaning: our work has personal significance to each member.
Impact: our work is purposeful and positively impacts the greater good.
Psychological safety: everyone is safe to take risks, voice opinions, and ask questions.
For meetings
To focus a meeting
To focus a meeting and its goals, choose one purpose: informing, solutioning, innovating, or team building.
Examples of informing: status updates, content sharing, keynotes, lectures, etc.
Examples of solutioning: solving a problems, making decisions, strategizing, prioritizing, etc.
Examples of innovating: brainstorming, generating ideas, evaluating options, etc.
Examples o team building: all-hands, kick-offs, outings, offsites, gaining commitment for a change effort, etc.
To plan a meeting
Invite people with enough notice.
In the invitation, include the participants, meeting objective, desired outcome, and any preparation that you want partipants to do.
Is everyone clear on the objectives and outcomes?
Is everyone clear on what their roles will be in the meeting?
Who’s coming? What are their roles? Do they know that’s their role?
What supplies will you need in the meeting? Do you have them?
What activities will you do to get to the desired outcome? Not theoretically. Tactically.
Do we want to allot time for a retrospective? If so, with whom, when, and where?
To prepare a meeting room
Is a room available? If so, is the room able to be reserved?
Is anyone doing setup and/or teardown? If so, who and when?
Is everything working, such as projectors, monitors, phone systems?
To start a meeting
Start on time.
State the agenda and the objective, such as "Here's why we are here."
State the outcome. For example "At the end of this meeting, we expect to have X. To get there we will (explain process of what we are about to do).”
If necessary, remind the group of the ground rules. For example "Here are our ground rules. Are we still agreed on them? Is there anything we would like to add, remove, or change for this meeting?"
If necessary remind everyone to focus. For example "If there is anything that does not fit with this meeting, we will defer it by writing it down then following up about it after this meeting."
Share responsibility for the meeting’s effectiveness.
Silence any devices that may cause interruptions, for example ask everyone to turn off the ringtones on their mobile phones.
To participate in a meeting
Use your phone, tablet, laptop etc. only for legitimate meeting activities such as note-taking, presenting, facilitating, etc.
If more than one person is wanting to speak at a time, then raise hands and wait to be called on.
Do not interrupt when another participant is speaking. (The facilitator can interrupt as needed to support the process.)
All focus on one conversation; if you need to have a side conversation, take it out of the room.
We will not call on anyone twice until all those who want to have spoken once.
There will be no review for those who are late.
Ask for more information.
Be brief.
Be specific.
Beware assumptions, generalizations, or exaggerations.
Use examples when needed to explain what you mean.
Take responsibility for bringing the discussion to where it most needs to be.
Is there an “undiscussable” issue that’s really at the heart of things?
Take responsibility for your own feelings and experiences.
What is most important in this discussion?
Use I-statements, such as "I felt so angry when I saw that", rather than You-statements, such as "You made me so angry when you did that."
Emotional expression is welcome.
Avoid name-calling, stereotypes, cheap shots, or jokes at someone’s expense.
Work toward understanding—you don’t have to agree in order to paraphrase.
Step up, step back.
Speak for yourself.
Common ownership of ideas; don’t use names unless necessary for clarity.
We are here to debate ideas, not personalities.
Minimize repetition.
To faciliate a meeting
The facilitator has the power to make judgment calls on process, including directing the topic to where they think it most usefully needs to go (after checking in with the group), so that the group does not spend inordinate time talking about what to talk about.
The facilitator can use short stacks (up to 3-4 people), reserving the right to add people in an order other than that in which hands were raised in order to answer direct questions, add people in who are less vocal, or follow a thread of discussion.
To keep a meeting on track
Honor the meeting agreements.
Remind others who don’t follow them, including ourselves.
Defer anything that takes the meeting off track.
Work your magic.
Consider using "cups" idea, where there are a bunch of cups on the table, each with one ground rule.
To conclude a meeting
Summarize what the meeting accomplished, any agreements, any action items, etc.
Remind how the meeting fits into the broader context.
Explain what will happen next and recap any next steps.
Stop on time.
To follow up after a meeting
Take time to breathe and process.
Communicate with the partipants to share the outcomes, action items, etc.
Do a retrospective with the team.
Take action on the next steps.
Follow up on any deferred items, commitments, questions, etc.
To improve remote meetings
Prefer headphones over speakers. This is because headphones minimize office sound, and also some headphones have noise-cancellation features.
Prefer to have people join on mute. This is because it helps minimize extraneous sound.
Prefer push-to-talk over always-on-talk. This is because push-to-talk minimizes group noise.
For briefings
For briefings, such as check-ins, situation reports, standups, standdowns, and similar short meetings, here are some examples.
Who attends?
What do we talk about?
What order do we talk in?
Where and when?
How do we keep the energy level up?
How do we encourage autonomy?
Have a strong signal to end; for example, one person says 3, 2, 1, then everyone claps.
For standups and similar briefings
What did I accomplish yesterday?
What will I do today?
What obstacles are impeding my progress?
For standowns and similar briefings
Discuss insights
Discuss challenges
Discuss puzzles
Share appreciations
Share action items
For scheduling
For workweeks
Do a day or more that is meeting free. For example a team may like to choose Friday, because it works well with travel and holidays.
Do a weekly group huddle. For example a team may like to chooose Tuesday 10 a.m. for 50 minutes, because it works well with the week's rhythm.
Do a weekly team retrospective. For example a team may like to choose Thursday 10 a.m. for 50 minutes, because it enables the team to reflect back on the week, and still have some time in the week to make adjustments.
For workdays
Do you want a workday standup or similar meeting? For example a team may like to do a 9 a.m. standup each workday for 15 minutes, because it sets the tone for the day.
Do you want any kind of daily status update? For example a team may like to agree that each member posts a daily update at the start of the day in a shared team chat channel.
Does the workday to have core hours when the team expects people to be generally available for working together? For example a team may like to use typical office business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or may like to use more flexible workday core hours that are shorter, or that are only on specific workdays, or that are only for specific projects, etc.
Does the workday have any expectations about flex time? For example a team may be fine with people starting/ending on different hours to accommodate commuting, parenting, schooling, volunteering, etc.
Does the workday have any kind of end-of-business check out, such as a standdown meeting, or summary update, or process to turn in hours or timecards or receipts etc.?
What are general availability expectations? For example a team may like people to do their own schedule, because some people need to coordinate with others, such as for commuting, parenting, schooling, volunteering, etc.
What are special availability expectations? For example a team may want to assign someone on pager duty, or know how to reach teammates by mobile phone in case of emergency, or set expecations on whether after-hours emails are encouraged or not, etc.
For workhours
Do you have any kinds of ground rules about workhours? For example some countries and some industries have regulations regarding how many hours a person can work at a time, or per week, or per pay period.
Do you have any kinds of categorization about workhours? For example some companies and some unions have regulations about a set number of hours being paid at a regular rate, and overtime hours being paid extra.
Do you have any minimum/maximum workhours? For example some people have roles where workhours are as-needed, or on-call, or on-retainer; other people have roles where a set amount of workhours are expected every day, or every week.
For calendar times
Aim toward morning times instead of afternoon times.
Aim toward morning times for open-mind meetings, and afternoon times for heads-down focus.
Aim toward 25 minutes instead of 30, and aim toward 50 minutes instead 60; this is the Harvard idea.
For calendar notations
Use a team calendar to share events, such as important meetings, organization deadlines, holidays, birthdays, etc.
The abbreviation "OOO" means "Out Of Office".
The abbreviation "PTO" means "Paid Time Off".
For feedback
We aim to give lots of positive feedback; a good ratio is 5 positive interactions to 1 negative interaction, even in the midst of a conflict.
We praise effort and we also praise ability.
It's great to offer some positive feedback, then stop there.
Ask for feedback often.
Leaders need to explicitly lead great feedback culture.
Ask.
Don't punish.
Start small.
Show the impact.
Make it easy.
Make it open and transparent.
Create a regular system for feedback.
Implement feedback culture as normal.
Have a variety of feedback channels that work well for a variety of personalities.
Foster both positive feedback and negative feedback.
Explain measures behind decisions regarding feedback.
Explain the benefits of feedback.
Focus on transparency, so everyone understands how the feedback system works and its purpose.
Talk explicitly with the team about the feedback culture you want to create.
Create feedback norms for the team.
Systematize mechanisms for giving feedback.
Ensure you’re giving lots of positive feedback.
Value relationship-building.
Emphasize "What is going well" and "What could go better".
We value increasing people's strengths over trying to fix people's weaknesses.
Feedback values
We value giving and receiving feedback, and we make these ongoing goals.
We value feedback being consistent, continous, and constructive.
We value feedback that is timely, and comes early and often.
We value positive complimentary feedback, and we also value constructive negative feedback.
Feedback using SMART
Specific feedback is better than general feedback.
Measurable feedback is better than qualitative feedback.
Actionable feedback is better than unactionable feedback.
Relevant feedback is better than irrelevant feedback.
Timely feedback is better than late feedback.
Feedback safety
To give and receive truly candid feedback, people must truly feel a sense of safety and trust.
To create safety and trust, we get to know each other, and we talk about emotions.
Create safe places for feedback.
It's OK to say no to giving feedback or receiving feedback.
For technology projects
Time and place of meetings, such as daily scrum, standup, showcase, etc.
Testing strategy (unit, functional, integration, performance, stress, etc…)
Build and infrastructure plans (shared responsbilities)
Respect estimates.
Help when needed.
How to address bugs/fires.
Team availability (phone, office hours, attendance).
Capacity plan for sprints, iterations, deployments, etc.
No story creep.
Code is done when all code tests pass, and the code is deployed to production, and the customer accepts the story.
Set up early for demo and prepare.
Never ignore anything! (Such as bugs “solving themselves”).
We never say “no”. We say “sure, just chuck it on the product backlog. It’ll get prioritised later.”
Make sure everyone gets heard.
Each sprint must have a goal.
Stay focused on the goal / top stories.
Make sure daily goals are clear (we know the steps we need to take to achieve them).
We make decisions together.
We email documentation to everyone in the squad.
We need to show what we have done to the business people impacted, not just our product owner (when appropriate).
For team documentation
We use an "onboard" document that explains how to join our team, what we do, and how we work together.
We use a "people" document that lists our teammates' names, contact info, and what we're each doing.
We use a "responsibilities" document that states who is Responsible, Accountable, Consultable, Informable, Omittable.
We use a "wordbook" document that explains terminology, a.k.a. a glossary, dictionary, abbreviation guide.
We use a "pitch" document that we present to stakeholders about the project, progress, goals, etc.
We use a "canvas" document that is our Business Model Canvas.
For visual indicators
A checkmark means yes; a circle-slash means no; an "X" is not used because it is ambiguous.
A "RAG status" means "Red, Amber, Green"; Red means Stop/Failure/Danger, Amber means Slow/Warning/Caution, Green means Go/Success/Safety.
For standardized formats
Dates and times are written using ISO standard sortability, such as the formats YYYY-MM-DD and HH:MM:SS.
For times, state a timezone; for example "Let's talk at 14:00 Eastern" is the same time as 2 p.m. in New York; the timezone "Z" means Zulu time, a.k.a. UTC, GMT.
See also
Ground rule examples:
More team leadership pages that we like to share with our clients and partners:
React
Typescript
Django
Laravel
Facebook
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
D3
Tencent