Establish Team Ground Rules
Establishing “Team Ground Rules” is an easy way to improve team performance in a crisis.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Most Critical Incident Management Teams simply don’t train or work enough together to develop the behaviours and communication skills of a “high-performance” team. Establishing ground rules (social contract / team charter) helps a new team to quickly adopt (or mimic) some “high-performance behaviours until they become more natural over time.
Ground Rules are a “social contract” between team members (and with the leader) that can help build psychological safety and provide a common framework for collaboration, decision-making, communication, and conflict resolution. It serves as a roadmap to align the CIMT members towards a shared purpose, fostering a sense of cohesion, accountability, and trust.
EXAMPLE
This is an example. It’s usually for team to develops their own ground rules / social contract.
Ground Rules - We will:
Ensure that major decisions during CIMT meetings are approved by the TL. All decisions/actions taken within the CIMT or sub-teams must be recorded in the action log.
Keep meetings short, aiming for approximately 30 minutes.
Come to meetings well-prepared (to share quick updates and to actively participate in problem solving).
Commit to working together as a cohesive unit, valuing each member's contributions and actively seeking opportunities for collaboration. We will operate under the principle of "One team - One Goal."
Uphold confidentiality by ensuring that all discussions, notes, and logs are kept confidential and require TL approval for release, including internally.
Speak up when we disagree. We must speak up and express our concerns. We encourage open communication by voicing disagreements with decisions.
Share all new information on the situation with the CIMT and ensure it is logged for reference.
Stay off the phone during meetings. We will assign someone to handle our calls on our behalf.
Obtain TL approval for all external and internal messages regarding communication and media.
Wait for our turn to speak during question rounds, minimizing interruptions.
Commit to doing formal handovers every time CIMT members are replaced, without any exceptions.
Establish fair and equitable workload distribution, ensuring that everyone carries a reasonable share of tasks. We will discuss mechanisms for redistributing tasks as needed to maintain balance and efficiency.