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Work Agreements: What Are They? A team without Work Agreements is like a complex machine without an operator’s manual. If not actively maintained, performance will eventually degrade. Teammates might function at acceptable levels for a while, but without Work Agreements, they will eventually decline into separateness and egotistical self-interest.
A Work Agreement is a covenant, promise, or pledge that transforms dysfunctional and non-productive work behavior. It is not a ground rule. It is an emotionally mature promise based on collaboration and achieving customer satisfaction.
Emotionally mature and productive teammates create Work Agreements to guide them. They strive to sustain Right-Minded Teamwork because they have experienced the benefits of a unified team with shared interests and common goals.
In the book Right-Minded Teamwork in Any Team: The Ultimate Team Building Method to Create a Team That Works as One, you will find this definition of Right-Minded Teamwork: Right-Minded Teamwork is a business-oriented, psychological approach to team building where acceptance, forgiveness, and adjustment are teammate characteristics, and 100% customer satisfaction is the team’s result.
When you apply RMT, your Work Agreements describe what acceptance, forgiveness, and adjustment look like on your team. They define your psychological approach to teamwork or your team’s Right-Minded thought system.
This book will teach you how to successfully facilitate Work Agreements. Everything you need to know to get started can be found here.
Strictly speaking, there is no one absolute right way to facilitate Work Agreement dialogues, but there are a number of fundamental principles for moving teammates into their collective Right Mind.
Those key principles are the 10 Steps covered in this book. Learn them, and you will succeed.
In the thirty-five years of my team-building career, I facilitated over 500 teams in varying states of conflict and dysfunction. Every team created some kind of Work Agreement and succeeded as a result.
In short, Work Agreements are created in team workshops where leaders and teammates openly discuss unresolved interpersonal or work process issues that are already hurting or which have the potential to hurt team performance. These issues are addressed through team-wide Work Agreements.
If you feel like facilitating Work Agreements is too much, pause for a moment and consider the bigger picture.
The 10 Steps to facilitating and creating Work Agreements are logical and practical. When followed, Work Agreements are consistently effective. Your Right Mind already knows this to be true. It will only take facilitating your first two or three teams using the 10 Steps to confirm this truth for yourself.
As you practice, remember you will make mistakes, especially in the beginning. Don’t give up. The long-lasting benefits you will bring to your teams will far outweigh any initial missteps.
I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Work Agreements are right for every team, everywhere, forever. If you use them, they will help make your client team(s) and the world a better place.
As you do, you will do your part to make the world a better place for everyone, everywhere, forever.
Let’s get started now.
Dan Hogan
