We can avoid some of the basic misunderstandings through the process of creating a team agreement: a basic set of collaboration expectations. A team agreement determines the type of information we share, how we communicate with each other, and how we know what the other is doing. So for the happy melly team, we started when we were using Zoom, the video conferencing tool, and with Zoom, I set up an online sticker note board in [inaudible – 01:59]. And all I did was hang four sticky notes on the board, one called Information, the other called Communication, and the other called Collaboration. And then I also put an extra post-it just for the tools because I was curious about what tools people thought were important for what they were using or what had just appeared. So team agreements. In many of the interviews I conduct with remote teams, I hear that creating a basic set of guidelines helps avoid misunderstandings. Through my workshops, I learn that very few companies have team agreements. So I wanted to share a little bit about the process and experience of the Happy Melly team, which is completely distant, hoping that they highlight how to create a team agreement and what the process might look like for you. Phil Montaro of the Anywhere office introduced me to a policy he had created for team agreements, and he called it ICC Workflow.
I have certainly talked about it in the past. And it represents the division of your labor into three categories: information, communication, and collaboration. Specifically, you`d ask the team what kind of information you need for the projects you`re working on, what kind of communication you use to do your job, and how do you know what everyone else is doing. When we were all done, we took the opportunity as a team to talk about each post-it. And the things we agreed on were placed in a Google Doc. At first, I remember it was a relatively painless process. There wasn`t really any disagreement about everything we just set the ground rules for. What are the expected response times? And how are we going to give each other feedback? And what tools did we want to use to communicate? So, just a basic set of ground rules.
And the idea was that we would evaluate them regularly. The ICC workflow is just one way to create an agreement. The importance is not in the method. It`s about discussing everyone`s assumptions and documenting the points the team agrees on. We all have our own preferences for the way we work. When we work with others, we need to find common ground. Where are the files stored? How do they bear the name? What are email logs? And so on. When we are in the same place, we can afford to be a little sloppy in our processes.
If a colleague hasn`t saved a file in the right place, we can simply ask them about it. In a remote team, this requires more effort. We need to send a message or a call. And every step (even a small one) adds time and energy to the process. Teamwork is not always easy. But when teams work and communicate well, the benefits more than outweigh the difficulties. One way to improve the chances of a team performing well is to agree on expectations in advance. Here`s how we`re going to do it. Many other things have also been raised. For example, meeting minutes and ways to improve our feedback process and how everyone is struggling with OKRs and what we could do to make that process a little easier. And we found out that we didn`t have each other`s phone numbers, which was interesting.
One day, all the communication came from Chad and he realized that he couldn`t let anyone in the team know because he had no way to communicate with us. He didn`t know our phone numbers. It`s not something that`s ever appeared before, but it just pointed out that it would be a good thing to have it. So I would say that even though the happy melly team was already happy and functioning as a well-oiled remote machine team, we still found ways to align and improve when we reviewed our assumptions together. And it really showed me that whether you`re starting a new project with a new team or you`ve been working together for a long time, creating a team agreement and putting those assumptions in place can really help form the glue that holds your team together. Task: At your first team meeting, create an agreement with the team`s expectations. Write down your names on a single piece of paper and list the rules and expectations you agree on as a team. We suggest you start with this: Instead of starting the ICC workflow from scratch, I decided it would be easier to go through the Google document point by point, which we decided last time, and take a look at everything we`ve written and decide on its relevance. And I admit that it was a bit complicated to just go through the list. So I wonder if there`s a way to make this more fun. But even that highlighted some differences in how we use the tools, and it gave us the opportunity to clarify some assumptions, which was very interesting.
For example, Chad, our illustrator, there [inaudible – 05:02] status updates, and other people look very closely and really look at it every day. This kind of thing is good to know, because if you want to tell Chad something important, you have to mark it specifically in an update, and I had done that, or use another tool that he pays more attention to. One of the hypotheses we encountered came from [inaudible – 05:24], who assumed that when she saw the Slack status of an available person, she assumed she was online and available to answer questions. But it turns out that most team members don`t exactly keep their Slack status. For example, I am one of those people. I only opened it in my browser all day, but I turned off all notifications. So it`s open, but when I`m working on something else, I don`t know. Clarifying this assumption will save her from being frustrated in the future if she doesn`t get an immediate response from people because she knows she can`t assume they`re online. So it`s been about four months since we created these team agreements. And in the meantime, we`ve hired a few new people for the team. When I led the new team members to the team agreement, it was pretty obvious that a number of things were outdated. And given that we had just hired new people, I thought it was a good opportunity to review the team`s agreement to see if we were still on the same page.
Now, I didn`t do it right after I hired the new people. But instead, I waited about a month and after the last person was hired before we looked at the team`s agreement. And I thought it was a good idea because it gives them the opportunity to settle in and see who`s who and learn how things work. And I think that gives them a better perspective to give their opinion during the review process. So I found it useful.. .