Previously, this series addressed two ideas regarding Working Agreements – how to establish them and how to breathe life into existing ones. This article will focus on maintaining and sustaining the intended power of Working Agreements.

As stated earlier, Working Agreements will stick ONLY if the group commits to practicing them over time. This is the hallmark characteristic of high-performing teams – that they function from a deep understanding of the value and need for Working Agreements to which they hold themselves accountable. When Working Agreements are violated, the team addresses the violation. Brené Brown says this is when we choose courage over remaining silent. It’s when we are willing to rumble with vulnerability.

So, how does a team perform this critical step without alienating or pushing away team members? Here are a few options for “checking up” on your Working Agreements:

• Begin with the End in Mind

Begin and end each meeting with a focus on the Working Agreements, especially when they are new. Initially, it is important to talk about each statement and its intent. Each team member can take a statement – name it, explain its meaning for the team, and even monitor for it during the meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, each person reports on the team’s use of the Agreement for which they were responsible. This is repeated until the Agreements are internalized.

• Call an Agreement Out

With time, just a reminder of the posted Agreements keeps the focus. Depending on the Agenda for the meeting, it may be important for the team to pay particular attention to a specific Agreement, such as, “Because our work today is to identify intervention strategies for our struggling students, it is important that we practice our Agreement of “all voices heard.” Or “While we have committed to upholding all our Agreements, the one about hearing all points of view will be essential for our work today.”

• Fist of Five

This is a fun way to “check-up” on a team’s level of commitment to the Agreements. We are all busy people and this just reminds us to re-focus on how we have agreed to work together. Much like our childhood game of “rock-paper-scissors” we use the fingers of our fist to show our level of commitment. One is low; five is high. On the count of one-two-three, we hit our fist into the palm of the other hand . . . on three we show our level of commitment from one to five.

• The Norm Guy

Another fun way to bring focus to the Working Agreements comes from a high school team. They printed a picture of Norm from Cheers and put it on a tongue depressor in a can in the center of their work table. Any time someone forgot an Agreement, someone simply lifted “the Norm guy” as a humorous and clever way to remind the team of how they had chosen to work together.

• Turn and Learn

This strategy keeps the work real and timely. It helps a team estimate timelines, priorities, and due dates for projects and tasks to be completed. Some of us estimate something will take us less time than it really does which can cause frustration in the team. In private, everyone gets a Post-it-Note to write down how long they think a project is going to take or to show priority order if we are working on more than one project at a time. On a count of three, we show our answers and work from there.

• Time Out

This rumble tool from Brené Brown’s team is for those times when a team is being unproductive. It’s an agreement for a brain break – 10 minutes to walk around (preferably outside) to catch one’s breath. Anyone on the team can call for it.

Periodic assessment of your team’s effectiveness ensures high commitment to the Working Agreements. How is your team keeping the fidelity of the Agreements you have made to one another? Reference: Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead