Do you miss parliamentary procedures, calling the meeting to order, rapping the gavel? really miss that gavel. Yeah…yeah…Roberts Rules of Order…good times…good times. Here’s one for you — you’re out of order.
Yes, that is the formal method used to discuss topics and reach decisions. Parliamentary procedures are still used at annual meetings and board meetings. We are talking about norming. Norms are basically informal rules of conduct. Norms are shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and procedures.
After a period of conflict, one idea might emerge as the best one, or the team might combine the best parts of several plans into a new solution.
Members begin to compromise and merge ideas and select from among the alternative ideas and solutions.
Hopefully the team has an objective decision-making model to determine what is reasonable, feasible, practical, and financially affordable.
And then decisions are reached.
Sometimes it is necessary to employ structured discussion methods like parliamentary procedures. But on most teams, as long as they use an objective decision-making model, can rely on the informal rules or norms of the organization’s values, beliefs and appropriate behaviors. Working on a team is a task event, and it is also a social event.
For more on this topic, watch a preview of Kit Welchlin’s keynote seminar on Team Building and Teamwork. Check back to Welchlin.com every Monday for a new video blog.