Establishing Norms and Expectations

View or download the printable version of the Quick Guide to Establishing Norms and Expectations (PDF).

Establishing norms and expectations that foster psychological safety, which is a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, allows team members to communicate and coordinate their efforts effectively, resulting in stronger performance and better decisions.

What does this look like?

• The norms and expectations are explained and discussed by the team leader and are understood and agreed upon by the team members.
• The behaviors that fall outside of the norms are addressed promptly.

*See the Building Trust quick guide of the Managing Conflict module for more information on reflective listening.

Signs you may have a problem

• Team members demonstrate that they do not understand or agree with the norms.
• Team members are not consistently following the norms or violating them and are not trying to improve their behavior.
• The supervisor often has to intervene and coach team members on expectations for how they work together.
• Team members have a “meeting after the meeting.”

• Team members are not fully participating in discussions; instead, the discussions are dominated by one or two people.
• Team members are reluctant to admit their mistakes or when they don’t know something.
• The issues, regardless of their complexity, are all brought to leadership for resolution.

How to improve

• For new teams or teams with new members, set time aside to discuss the norms.
• When someone does not follow these norms, provide feedback and coaching.**
• Identify and resolve any misunderstandings or lack of agreement on norms.*
• Frame the issues as opportunities for learning and continuous improvement.
• Model these behaviors - the team will follow your lead, so be sure you are working on practicing these behaviors yourself:
  • Ask for feedback regularly.
  • Acknowledge and admit your own mistakes/fallibility.
  • Ask for and welcome different perspectives.
  • Ask open-ended questions and practice reflective listening.*

For more information refer to:
*Conflict Sources quick guide of the Managing Conflict module.
**Feedback and Coaching module.