What Are the Group Norms in Your Organization?
Group norms ensure we have a safe and productive experience together. Set yours intentionally.
This article was written in collaboration with Andy Crissinger and Ray Foote.
“While successful culture can look and feel like magic, the truth is that it’s not. Culture is a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. It’s not something you are. It’s something you do.” ― Daniel Coyle, ‘The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups’
Group norms serve as the foundation for shaping expectations around ‘how things are done around here.’ Without conscious design, groups will inadvertently develop their own customs, which may not align with the desired culture or values. By intentionally establishing and naming group norms, leaders can influence how team members interact with each other, communicate, and collaboratively work towards common goals. This intentional approach fosters group cohesion and drives success, as it ensures that the norms align with the organization’s values and aspirations.
Have you ever been in a high-functioning group where conversations, even if challenging, are handled with presence and care? What makes employees feel safe enough to speak up and contribute to conversations such as these?
Author Daniel Coyle writes in his book, The Culture Code:
“One misconception about highly successful cultures is that they are happy, lighthearted places. This is mostly not the case. They are energized and engaged, but at their core their members are oriented less around achieving happiness than around solving hard problems together. This task involves many moments of high-candor feedback, uncomfortable truth-telling, when they confront the gap between where the group is, and where it ought to be.”
How do we orient around solving hard problems together? How do we also create non-violent workplaces in the process?
Intentionally set behaviors make for a safe and productive group experience. Clearly defining the behavioral norms for your group and organization gives everyone a structure for how we commit to being together. Norms set the tone for the culture you’re fostering. (Remember: Culture is the sum of ‘how we behave’ in the organization. See also: How Early Do You Need to Create Culture in Your Company?)
Intentionally setting group norms for your organization is an opportunity for the group to express and embody its values.
Some norms that support safe environments (and creativity and innovation) are:
- Get Curious
- Turn Towards the Difficult
- Ask Open Questions
- Own Your Perspective (Speak in “I” Statements)
- Ask for What You Need
- Give & Receive Feedback
- Establish a Check-in Process
What are the stated behavioral norms in your organization? What does it feel like to have these in place? What have you noticed about how the group responds to these norms?
If there are no named behavioral norms as a structure for the whole group to lean into, ask yourself the following:
- How do you feel in your organization or with your team? What is your level of psychological safety in the group?
- How does the group communicate?
- What are the behaviors that you see as commonplace in your organization, though they are not named?
- How does the group make decisions?
- How do they face conflict and discuss heated topics?
- What are the standards, expectations, and rituals around meetings?
- What is the culture of listening?
- How does the group ensure everyone has the chance to speak?
- What are the expectations around humor?
- How does the team handle accountability?
- How do we talk about issues within the group?
- How safe is it for someone in the group to point out where something is not values aligned or other concerns?
- What behaviors would you like to see your group establish as norms? What would increase safety and trust?
One fundamental piece of leadership wisdom is that people will support that which they help create. Therefore, the more you can make the establishment of explicit team norms a co-created process the better. Your role as a leader is not necessarily to fully define the best team norms on your own. Rather, you can engage your team in a shared conversation where norms are identified and called out.
Simply take the list of questions above and ask them as “we” questions (e.g. “How do we make decisions?” “What are our expectations around humor?”). Dedicated time at an offsite can be a great occasion to engage your team in this kind of dialogue, but it can also happen in smaller chunks — consider dedicating an hour a week over the course of a month to flesh out your team’s shared norms. As you facilitate the discussions, do your best to draw out the wisdom of team members by asking open questions like “When we are at our best and performing at a high level, how will we be making decisions?”
Taking the time to create and implement group norms can significantly enhance the level of psychological safety, trust, and overall performance within your team. As a leader, laying the groundwork for a thriving culture begins with crafting the group norms that align with the values of the firm — because, after all, culture is not something you are, it’s something you do.
