Rules Of Engagement

The goal for the team leaders is not to prevent elephants from entering your team - issues will always arise. The real objective is to create a team dynamic that encourages the quick and risk-free identification of an elephant that can have a negative impact. There are complex dynamics that create and keep an elephant in the room, so here is one simple thing you can do to help your team call an elephant an elephant.

The best defense against an invisible, unnamed elephant trampling your team's performance is to agree to rules of engagement. Rules of engagement make it easier for team members to take a stand and do the right thing.

They might address how to make decisions, share information, consider ideas for improvement, coordinate hand-offs, review work, challenge prevailing thought, prioritize and resolve conflict.

Rules of engagement do not have to be wordy, but they must fit your team and be embraced by them. Here are some examples you may like to use within your team:

• If an issue is not resolved after five e-mails, you must meet (phone or in person) to resolve the issue.
• All reports must be reviewed by at least one other team member before leaving the department.
• Customer-related tasks are always a higher priority than internal tasks.
• No team or committee meeting lasts more than one hour.
• Every project is debriefed for lessons learned within one week of project completion.

Excellent leaders keep their rules of engagement visible and apply them to decisions they make, even small decisions. These leaders also rely on their entire team to ensure each member (including themselves!) is performing within the rules of engagement. This encourages and empowers the team to uphold the rules and point out elephants as they appear.

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