Remote Team Agreement

Instructions

Team agreements work for teams of any number. Note, though, that team agreement discussions conducted online work best with a maximum of twelve participants. Also, it’s ideal if the team is already comfortable using tools such as video conferencing and chat.

The process for creating a team agreement falls into a series of phases:

1. Consider what your needs are based on your team and situation.
2. Research what options there are to best suit your needs.
3. Finalize (or create afresh) the Team Agreement (TA) template that you will present to your team, including some specific options based on your research.
4. Distribute the template, requesting that team members review it and prepare to discuss their preferences.
5. Meet to discuss and finalize the agreement.

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To follow are some prompts to get you started thinking about what your needs are.

• Do you need to share your calendar or schedule with your team? If yes, consider which online calendars would serve your purposes; or, note that many task management apps include calendars within their functionality.
• Do you need to track productivity?
• Do you have security protocols in place?
• Do you need a secure connection when accessing any of your networks?
• Is there anything preventing your access to needed information?
• Does the team need access to an intranet, online file system, or database in order to complete their work? If yes, consider what kind of access, permissions, and security protocols they’ll need to connect to the system.
• Are there any on the team who need support working with tools or technology? If so, consider your training options and/or if this factor should influence which tools you suggest.

Template

For established teams, rephrase any “shall we” questions along the lines of: “Do you have any problems with [established tool/practice/system]?”

INFORMATION

• What kinds of information do you need to share?
• What kinds of information do you expect to be shared with you?
• Shall we try out a communal task board such as [insert some options here]? Or any others?
• Do you have preferences re: tools for sharing how you can be reached—such as [insert some options here]?
• Do you have preferences re: tools for knowing what everyone is working on—such as [insert some options here]?
• Do you have preferences re: standup/retrospective software—such as [insert some options here]?
• Do you have any preferences re: time tracking tools such as [insert some options here]? Or any others?

COMMUNICATION

• In the following chart, please note:
  • the mediums you prefer to use for work purposes (add an “X” or note particular kinds of work);
  • your preferred response times for each medium; and
  • the mediums you prefer to use for social purposes.

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• Do you have preferences re: group chat tools—such as [insert some options here]?
• Do you have preferences re: video conferencing tools—such as [insert some options here]?
• Do you have preferences re: Virtual Office tools—such as [insert some options here]?
• Shall we have an established forum for sharing and discussing ideas—such as [insert some options here]? Or just bring up ideas in our regular meetings?
• We’ll want to have an established forum for expressing appreciation of each other. Some possibilities are Merit Money or Bonusly, and YouEarnedit. Would you like to try out any of those—or do you have other suggestions?
• We’ll also want to have an established forum for offering constructive feedback—such as with [insert some options here, perhaps including Feedback Wrap or a Virtual Pillow Fight]. Would you like to try out any of those—or do you have other suggestions?

COLLABORATION

• [If your time spans more than one time zone] Which time zone should we use when scheduling activities?
• Should we set (some) core hours for collaboration purposes?
• Some tools that facilitate online collaboration include [insert some options here]. Would you like to use any of those—or do you have other suggestions?