{"id":5509,"date":"2026-01-18T12:45:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/?p=5509"},"modified":"2026-01-18T12:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:50:13","slug":"team-agreements-why-now-is-the-perfect-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2026\/01\/18\/team-agreements-why-now-is-the-perfect-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Agreements: Why Now is the Perfect Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Something curious happened last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three different people, from entirely different professional contexts, asked me the same question: \u201cHow do we actually create effective team agreements?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t just the synchronicity that struck me; it was the timing. It\u2019s the start of the year, a season where we naturally audit what\u2019s working and what\u2019s causing friction. There seems to be a quiet, collective realization spreading across teams: We can\u2019t keep working by accident.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Assumption to Intention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Team agreements aren\u2019t about rules or corporate control. They are about alignment.<\/strong> In the book I co-authored with Michael Doyle<\/strong>, I Am a Software Engineer and I Am in Charge<\/em>,<\/a> we describe these agreements as a living document, a shared understanding of our habits, expectations, and rhythms. It is the bridge that moves a team from assumption<\/strong> to intention.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use the story of Sandrine to illustrate this. She starts her journey frustrated, feeling like her team is constantly out of sync. Her turning point comes when she stops waiting for things to change and realizes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do they know what I need if I haven\u2019t told them?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By making her needs explicit, she helps the team do the same. That is the heartbeat of a team agreement: It begins with a conversation, not a process.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

How to Start (or Restart) Your Agreements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your team agreement is currently a forgotten doc in a wiki, or if you\u2019ve never had one, here is how Michael and I suggest you breathe life into it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Start with Frustrations and Joys:<\/strong> Don’t start with a blank template. Ask the team: What has been draining your energy lately? What moments last month felt effortless?<\/em> Use these stories to find where agreements are actually needed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Focus on “Moments That Matter:”<\/strong> Don’t try to legislate everything. Focus on high-friction touchpoints: How do we handle interrupts? When is it okay to say “no” to a meeting? What does “done” actually look like for us?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Co-creation over Command-and-Control:<\/strong> An agreement handed down from a lead is just a rule. An agreement built by the group is a commitment. If people help build the house, they won’t want to burn it down.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Review and Revise Often:<\/strong> Agreements should have an expiration date. Your team changes, so your agreements should too. Make them a recurring topic in your retrospectives.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    A Tip from the Field<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    In my other book, Changing Your Team from the Inside<\/a><\/em>, I explore how the simplest acts, like discussing how you prefer to receive feedback, can build immense trust. A team agreement is simply an invitation for everyone to say: \u201cThis is how I work best. How about you?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Another Tip from the Field<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    I also love the way Isabel Monville<\/strong> approaches this. She often reframes the exercise by asking the team to look through the eyes of a newcomer: “What would a new team member need to know to be successful here? What is okay to do, and what is definitely not okay?”<\/strong> This shift in perspective makes the invisible “unwritten rules” visible, allowing the team to decide which ones are worth keeping and which ones are just bad habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Your Turn: A Small Experiment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Next time you\u2019re in a team meeting, try asking just one question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWhat is one working agreement we could make today that would make our day-to-day easier?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pick one thing. Write it down. Try it for a week. Reflect. That is how agreements become culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Are you rethinking your team’s rhythms this year?<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019d love to hear what\u2019s working (or what\u2019s driving you crazy). Let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Something curious happened last week. Three different people, from entirely different professional contexts, asked me the same question: \u201cHow do we actually create effective team agreements?\u201d It wasn\u2019t just the synchronicity that struck me; it was the timing. It\u2019s the start of the year, a season where we naturally audit what\u2019s working and what\u2019s causing friction. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/getty-images-Fj6U_5z6b7M-unsplash.jpg?fit=1920%2C1281&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNjQG-1qR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2813,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2019\/03\/28\/team-agreements\/","url_meta":{"origin":5509,"position":0},"title":"Team Agreements","author":"Alexis","date":"March 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the book, Changing Your Team From The Inside, I touched several times the notion of Team Agreements. 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