Norming · 02
Build a working agreement from reality—not a blank page.
Give a new or evolving team a complete language for communication, information processing, decisions, and execution—then choose the norms it wants to reinforce or change.
MAKE THE PATTERN DISCUSSABLE
Start with what the team is experiencing.
Generic working agreements often sound sensible but disappear in practice. Starting with the team’s actual behavior makes the conversation concrete: what is working, what is not, and what should become an explicit norm?
A SIMPLE PLAYBOOK
From result to a better way of working.
The assessment creates the shared evidence. The web report and facilitation presentation help the team use it together.
- 01
Map the unwritten rules
Give everyone the same description of how information, decisions, and plans currently move through the team.
- 02
Discuss the tradeoffs
Treat both poles of every dimension as valid, then identify where the team needs more range.
- 03
Write the agreement
Convert the discussion into a small set of specific norms people can use in real work.
THE RELEVANT DIMENSIONS
Put precise language around the work.
TeamDynamics describes four parts of team behavior. For this moment, these are especially useful places to begin.
START THE CONVERSATION
Three questions worth asking.
- 01
Which unwritten rule would help a new person understand us fastest?
- 02
Where does our default style help us—and where does it get in our way?
- 03
What should teammates be able to expect from one another?
KEEP EXPLORING
One framework, more team moments.
YOUR TEAM, MADE VISIBLE
Give this conversation a shared starting point.
Add the complete roster once. Everyone contributes to the team result and receives guidance they can use.