Crafting Clear Team Norms

Teams don’t just work better with clear norms.
They become more resilient, more focused, and more accountable.

Team norms are the “how we work together” agreements.
They’re the difference between a team that functions well under pressure and one that fractures at the first sign of stress.

The best managers don’t leave norms to chance. They make them explicit and revisit them as the team grows and changes.

Why It Matters:

• Culture: Clear norms create safety and trust.

• Performance: When everyone knows the rules, work flows more smoothly.

• Retention: People stay when they feel aligned and included.

What Most Managers Overlook:

They assume norms will “just happen” as the team works together.
But unspoken norms can easily become unhelpful habits.

When Whitney Wolfe Herd built Bumble, she was deliberate about team norms like radical candor and rapid feedback. These weren’t just buzzwords—they were lived behaviors that helped the company scale quickly and maintain a positive culture.

How to Get It Right:

• Co-create norms with your team—people buy in when they help shape them.

• Write them down—so everyone has a clear reference point.

• Check in regularly: Are we still living these norms?

• Adapt as the team and business evolve.

Do:
✅ Make norms visible and part of your daily work
✅ Encourage everyone to speak up if a norm isn’t working
✅ Celebrate when norms strengthen team culture

Don’t:
❌ Assume norms are “just for onboarding”
❌ Let bad habits go unaddressed
❌ Forget to model the behaviors yourself

The best teams don’t just talk about how they work.
They live it—every day.