Work with your team to develop the basis for more effective relationships and interactions
People tend to think of rules as the opposite to freedoms, but they are not. They are actually a practical means of preserving those freedoms in our interaction with others. Rules are actually a strategy for preserving the freedoms that are the most important to us.
The reality of our interactions with others is that we have to trade-off some freedoms in order to preserve other freedoms. Logic dictates that we cannot all be free to do everything. And rules are the means we use to ensure the best outcome for all.
But which freedoms are best traded off, and which freedoms are best protected?
The importance of context in defining good ground rules
The answer to this question depends on the nature of the interaction and what it is trying to achieve. The rules we apply can have a big effect on our effectiveness, efficiency and enjoyment in the interaction. For that reason, rules are best determined in the context of the interaction.
Teams and meetings are often inefficient where they have not woken up to this fact. Yes, they operate within the context of a set of national, social and company rules (whether they observe them or not). But there will be other rules that would enable them to work better in their specific situation and mix.
Furthermore, rules work best when they are clear, explicit and mutually agreed between people. This helps clarify when rules are being infringed, and it empowers the people concerned to address this.
This form of rules applied to teams and meetings are referred to as ground rules.
Teams and meetings that have developed, agreed and applied them within themselves tend to work far more effectively and efficiently than those that have not. In many cases, the process of thinking through what the ground rules should be and why is as impactful as the rules themselves. And if the rules are self-developed, the team also feels empowered to adjust them whenever this would be beneficial.
So how should a team or meeting set about developing its own ground rules?
We would propose that they begin with clarifying the impact they want the rules to have. What behaviours do they want to see more of as a result? And what behaviours they want to see decline? And why – what will be the benefit of that on people and performance?
In sharing this understanding, the members of the team/meeting begin to better understand each other. Ideally they will have past experience of working with each other or in similar situations. This will help focus the rules on what is really going to make a difference.
Once the desired and undesirable behaviours have been agreed, it is a relatively simple matter to turn them in to rules. In many cases this can be done simply by prefixing them with the words ‘We will …’ or ‘We will not …’
The rules can then be given prominence at the start of each meeting as a reminder. And they can be used as part of the meeting review at the end.
Resources to support you
The Ground Rules Jamboard enables teams to quickly and participatively create their own ground rules. And its interactive nature means that changes can be easily accommodated as the team/meeting continues to learn about itself. It also includes simple guidance on how best to use it.
Click any of the following links …
- To access your own Ground Rules Template for engaging your team in your next meeting (15 seconds)
- For a tour which will equip you with your own Jamboard and the skills to use it (2 mins)
- For other Jamboard instant templates
- To better understand the potential of Google Jamboard
- For further guidance on ground rules and some example sets
#googlejamboard #virtualwhiteboard #GroundRules #Codeofbehaviour