alexe-ev Build Operating Norms
Purpose
Help teams establish explicit, agreed-upon operating norms — how decisions are made, how feedback is given, how disagreements are resolved — that create psychological safety and operational consistency.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A new team is forming and norms haven't been established
- An existing team is experiencing recurring friction around how they work
- A team has grown or changed significantly and old norms no longer fit
- A team offsite or reset is a natural moment to revisit working agreements
Do not use this skill when
- The goal is meeting rituals and cadence (use design-team-rituals)
- The goal is process design (use design-operating-cadence)
Required inputs
- Team type, size, and structure
- Known friction points or gaps in current working norms
Optional inputs
- Existing team agreements or culture documents
- Team values or principles
- Input from recent retros or feedback
- Remote / hybrid / in-person context
Upstream context
Works best when:
- Team rituals are designed
- Operating cadence exists
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- design-team-rituals (norms inform how rituals should be facilitated)
- run-retrospective (norms are reviewed in retros)
Instructions
- Identify the norm domains: communication, decision-making, feedback, conflict resolution, work hours and availability.
- For each domain: surface current implicit norms and identify gaps or friction.
- Draft explicit norms for each domain — specific enough to be actionable, not so rigid they become rules.
- Co-create norms with the team — norms imposed without buy-in aren't followed.
- Define how norms will be maintained and reviewed.
- Define how norm violations are handled (without shame, with accountability).
Output
Provide:
- Norm domains covered
- Explicit norm statements per domain
- How norms were co-created (or should be)
- Norm review cadence
- Accountability approach for norm violations
- Version and date (norms should be revisited periodically)
Risks / caveats
- Norms written by one person for others are not norms — they are rules
- Too many norms create bureaucracy — focus on the ones that prevent the most friction
- Norms must be revisited when the team changes significantly