Team Agreements for the Hybrid Workplace
If the hybrid workplace is here to stay, do your existing Team Agreements reflect the new rules of the road, particularly when it comes to team meetings?
A Team Agreement is a unique set of agreements that we create that describes how we would like to be treated in a team context, particularly in meetings. When we honor these agreements, they make team meetings a safe place and worth the time and effort for all concerned.
The new reality of a hybrid work environment means that there is at least one person dialing in remotely in every single meeting, and with this, a whole new set of situations to trigger our fearful selves. If the remote participant is feeling they are not included or if they haven’t received enough attention, they could clam up and not contribute. Someone else’s fear response to a perceived power imbalance could be a testy exchange with a colleague.
Now is the time to brush off your existing Team Agreements, and if you don’t have one, to create one. It’s an opportunity to come together and co-create rules and boundaries on how the team will work together to feel seen and heard even when not face to face. This is a chance to finally address all those seemingly small annoyances, many of which were tolerated even before the pandemic and which now have been amplified.
Here are 5 behaviors to consider adopting when updating your Team Agreements to reflect the hybrid workplace, according to Dale Ludwig of Turpin Communications:
Meeting agendas with talking points assigned are distributed in advance. This helps those attending remotely to anticipate what they will be responsible for and when, and also to know that their input matters and is expected.
An in-person team member monitors chat and advocates for remote participants. This allows the chat to remain relevant and be brought up in real time, not after the fact.
Documents, links and tech issues are handled through a separate channel. Use a separate channel such as Slack to ensure documents are distributed and as a means of communicating a failed connection efficiently.
Visuals, hands-on work, and co-creation are planned ahead to include remote participants. A little bit of advanced planning will help the whole team see what’s going on and contribute equitably.
Meeting minutes are published in a timely fashion. This gives anyone the chance to respond even after the fact if they didn’t have the opportunity to do so in real time.