What Is Our Process for Holding Each Other Accountable in a Respectful and Dignified Manner?

Team Norms

Department/Grade Level

Developed by (names of team members)

Day of Week

Time of Day

Location of Meeting List of Collective Commitments

Jim Stenehjem ND LEAD 2011 What is our process for holding each other accountable in a respectful and dignified manner?

Whenever a team makes a norm, they would do well if they also created an action, protocol, ceremony or routine that gives everyone in the group permission to keep the norm. For example…if you have a norm “We will be cellphone free in our meeting.” Then a protocol would be at the very beginning of the meeting everyone takes out there cellphone and turns it off. Here’s another…If we have a norm that states “we will stay on task and not bird-walk” then the accountability action would be when a member detects that the group is off task, they simple place their fingers on the table and exaggerate two fingers doing a bird walk. I love the the story Mike Mattos tells of his leadership norm at Pioneer Middle School not droning on and on about a subject where action or a decision needs to happen. A member of his team would thrown in a laminated photo of a horse…in essence, “stop beating the dead horse.” In my staff meetings I struggled getting the staff to show up exactly on time. For some reason, the staff held themselves to a lower standard then they did their students! So we set the same norm we have for kids…”Be on time ready to participate.” I had my assistant stand at the door and when 8:30 a.m. hit exactly, she’d pick up the roster clipboard where other had signed in and they would have to come to her to register their attendance. When anyone was late, I, as the principal, had a professional conversation with during the day. Amazing how I had 100% “On- time-ness” from the first meeting on.

I encourage teams create an associated protocol with every norm, within reason. It makes all the difference and put our actions where our values are!!! Plus, it is kinda fun, builds in from the beginning an accountability mechanism, and gives real permission to keep the norm that everyone said was important. www.allthingsplc.org Do We Have Team Norms or “Nice to Knows”? Posted on October 25, 2010, by Kenneth Williams