Communication
This is the team rule that says your teammate is trying to help—not secretly sabotage the project.
What is Assume Positive Intent?
This is the person we look for when an action item goes wandering into the wilderness.
Who is the action owner?
Meetings should begin and end at this agreed upon time.
What is on time?
This is how we keep one workstream from going rogue on the others.
What is working collaboratively?
When a risk pops up, do this before it grows legs and waits for the weekly status meeting.
What is raise it early?
If a commitment is in trouble, do this before the deadline starts sweating.
What is flagging it immediately?
This is what team members should check before showing up and asking, "What are we here for?"
What are meeting materials, prior notes, and/or the agenda?
This is what we do when an issue needs the right cross-functional people in the room.
What is assembling the Avengers to settle the drama?
This is what we avoid when a chat thread starts turning into a solution workshop
What is “let’s not solution in chat”?
Every deliverable needs this because "the whole team" can sometimes mean "no one."
What is one clearly identified owner?
This is what we do when one team’s move could send the whole process sideways.
What is pull the right people in before the whole thing goes off the rails?
These should win the debate—not whoever has the loudest opinion or the most confident Zoom face.
What are facts and data?
This project behavior keeps tasks from disappearing into the abyss between meetings.
What is follow-through?
During discussions, only one of these should happen at a time.
What is a conversation?
This is what we check before changing one step so we don’t break the whole flow.
What are upstream and downstream impacts?
This communication habit keeps leadership from hearing about an issue through the project rumor mill.
What is proactive communication?
This phrase means owning the work from "I’ve got it" to "it's done."
What is end-to-end ownership?
Healthy teams roast these, not the humans.
What are ideas?
This is what we agree on before the team starts arguing over the GPS.
What is the destination?