From the course: Management Tips

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 22,600 courses taught by industry experts.

Clarifying norms

Clarifying norms

From the course: Management Tips

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

Clarifying norms

“

- Formal rules and regulations at work are everywhere, but the most interesting guidelines are very often informal norms. The best norms, while informal and not dictated by management, are openly discussed within the team. They represent behavioral expectations people care about. And as social scientists we know they tend to be stronger than formal rules and regulations in terms of shaping productive behavior. People think twice when they know the group will hold them accountable. The time you should really think about norms is when you're the new boss over a group, you're part of a group that has gotten off course and begun underperforming, or if you're a member of a new project team. All three of these situations are useful times to get the team together and consider the behavioral norms you wish to support. Let's think for a moment about facilitating that conversation. Start by adopting a brainstorming structure where the first step is to generate possibilities while actively…

Contents