Collaboration guidelines

Many organizations are so focused on finalizing a decision that they neglect the critical precursor to a successful agreement: setting standards for how that decision will be made. TeamOps stresses intentionally designing, building, and reinforcing shared workstreams and collaboration environments through which decisions and projects flow. This helps align expectations, reinforce the shared reality, and minimize unexpected barriers to success.

When shared realities are based on effectively and efficiently sharing information, it means that communication practices need to be as aligned as possible. Collaboration guidelines are the articulation and documentation of the cultural norms, software standards, and behavioral expectations that help standardize team member experience within an organization. These include details such as how company values are visible in workstreams, etiquette for various communication channels, organizational rituals, and guidelines for tool use. Codifying expectations facilitates more effective and universal collaboration, and helps ensure that miscommunication doesn't stall a decision or result.

Guidelines should be included in your team's Single Source of Truth (SSoT) for easy reference and continuous accountability. Depending on the format of your knowledge management system and the volume of codification you have, it could either be a dedicated section, or woven throughout all of the pages.

Examples and resources for collaboration guidelines

Example: Setting Internal Communication Guidelines for Standardized Tool Use

To minimize miscommunications that can stem from cultural diversity, contextual interpretations, or various levels of software experience, OASCI maintains a handbook page about internal communication guidelines. These rules, instructions, and examples ensure that our internationally distributed workforce is using the same tools in the same way, and handing off results to one another without the risk of important information getting “lost in translation.”

Resource: How to Create a Team Working Agreement (article)

Change management support for collaboration guidelines

Quick Start Tips: - Individual: Confirm that your SSoT includes a section for collaboration guidelines. If it does, commit to making at least one contribution to it per week. If it doesn’t, contact the DRI for the SSoT to resolve. - Team: Build a “suggestion box” communication channel or form where all team members can make suggestions for Collaboration Guideline additions. - Company: Update your company’s onboarding and continuing education programs to include training about collaboration guidelines.