HBR Guide to Leading Teams (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 5

Agree on Rules of Conduct

If you ask six team members what they think “completing work on time” entails, you’ll probably get six different answers. The same holds true for your team’s other aspirations.

Now that you’ve talked openly about roles, the group shares a broad understanding of what a good team member is. But you must also sort out what a good member does—that is, the rules that will guide everyone’s behavior.

We each have our own rules of conduct, of course. Yours may tell you that getting to a 9:00 a.m. meeting at 9:03 is just fine. Or that it’s OK to chime in mid-presentation when you’re enthusiastic about an idea. Or that you should remain silent to avoid rocking the boat when you disagree with a decision the majority of ...