Working/Team Agreements Template
How we do things around here 🎯
Documents that clarify ‘how we do things around here’ go by many names - team agreements, working agreements, handbooks etc. What you call it really doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you have one, it has broad support, you keep referring to it, and you keep evolving it together (as this work is never done).
If you want engagement in your team/org, then your ways of working cannot be left to chance or impossed top-down fashion.
Without such a document, people lack clarity around the patterns that endure in high-performing teams. We’re talking critical things like purpose, values, who does what (roles), plus how you structure and show up in meetings, make decisions, share feedback and more. When this stuff isn’t co-created, clear, agreed upon, documented and adhered to, we tend to default to the top-down ways of working we all know and hate.
I worked with one of my clients, FD Works - a fantastic firm of accountants, business advisors and Xero specialists based in Bristol and Bath - to get clear on all of the above. In their handbook, they even have a ‘Netflix for new starters’ to explain the why behind their weird wonderful, progressive ways of working.
And great news! They’re such a lovely bunch they’ve agreed to share the template with the world - thanks, Jonathan and team!
Free Template 🎁
Here it is. You can use it as a source of inspiration to help shape yours, and you can even hit ‘Duplicate’ in the top right-hand corner to use it as a template to create your own version.
For more information on team agreements/working agreements/handbooks and how to co-create them with your team/org, here’s a collection of the most helpful resources that I have found on the topic ✨
Support me
☕ If you find this useful and would like to support me to create more free stuff, you’re very welcome to fuel me with coffee: https://ko-fi.com/newwaysofworking
Support you
If your team/org could use some support, training or guidance to move away from traditional top-down ways of working then hit reply and we’ll schedule a call to see how I can help.
I offer training in:
Healthy *meetings*
Participatory *decision-making*
Growing a culture of *feedback*
A New Ways of Working (NWOW) *101*.
And a free NWOW *Playbook demo* / Lunch & Learn.
Just let me know if any of these match a current need - I’d love to help 😊
🌐 www.marco.work | LinkedIn | 📕 New Ways of Working Playbook