Are Team Groundrules Important?

I am looking for information on the importance of and use of ground rules by teams.

The Team Doc Says…

Groundrules, also known as operating guidelines, are critically important to the success of your team. They provide boundaries for acceptable behavior, team rules, team roles and responsibilities, team communication and team processes for accomplishing the goals of the team. They are priceless for bringing new team members on board quickly in an already existing team.

In conflict situations, groundrules help team members by providing a process or procedure to refer to rather than making things up on the fly. They are also a huge help for communication issues (one of the biggest hurdles a team has). In addition to team groundrules, the team should have meeting groundrules (aka working agreements) that define the acceptable behavior and process for team meetings. For additional tips on groundrules, take a look at “Every Team Member Talks — No One Listens” and “Team Members Late to Meeting.”

Best regards,

Denise O’Berry
aka “Team Doc”