Agreement setting works really well between groups of all sizes from pairs of colleagues to a manager and team member to larger teams. The idea is to collaboratively define a framework for how a group of people will work together successfully.

Product leaders trying to empower their teams have a hard time. Product managers lack formal authority within their teams, they need to persuade and massage their teams to get to the outcomes they need. Even for CEOs, CPOs and CTOs with formal authority, it is far more effective to empower teams to organise themselves in pursuit of their goals than it is to command and control.

One of the best techniques I have found to bring together a team with a shared sense of purpose, vision and responsibility, and to develop empathy amongst team members is collaboration agreement setting.

In just 45 minutes you can bring a team together, define how you will work together, and set a solid culture that will be a bedrock for success.

How to do agreement setting sessions

If you are hosting the session, check out this check-list before you get started:

🤗What works well:

😩What doesn't work:

Ask these 11 questions to build your agreement

Using a Google Doc, Miro Board, Notion or other collaborative page, work through these 11 questions. Brain-writing and heads-down brainstorms can be great. But agreement setting works best when the team can interact.

If you are the moderator, try to be on the look out for cues that a team member may not be comfortable or maybe holding back. You can always invite them to do a second pass of the document after the session.

  1. What would the dream / success look like for us working together?
  2. What would the nightmare/ worst-case scenario look like?
  3. What’s the best way for us to work together to achieve the dream?