Why are there unwritten rules

Then hand out a survey, consisting of open-ended questions geared to extracting the rules, and give participants a week to submit their responses anonymously.

Near the conclusion of the meeting, encourage participants to share some of their responses within the group to elicit additional input. Solicit Feedback from the Edge. During the uncovering process, not all responses will reflect actual rules. Some may just illuminate symptoms, attitudes, or other unproductive behaviors in the organization. Once you uncover an unwritten rule, identify whether it benefits, harms, or has no impact on the organization.

If the answer is yes, you should further reinforce and reward it. If the answer is no, you need to determine whether it is neutral and can be ignored or whether it is dysfunctional and needs attention. An example of an appropriate rule for a department striving for efficiency might be that the first person to arrive in the office each morning turns on the copier, thus enabling coworkers to avoid delays in using the machine. Because of rapid technological changes, many rules related to technology rapidly drop off the radar screen of organizational memory.

I witnessed a dysfunctional rule in a corporation where the CEO wanted to establish teamwork as an organizational norm. Then they must choose the best approach for moving forward. In the example of the management team whose bonus system contradicted its stated goal of creating teamwork, the reward system could be adjusted to include individual, team, and organizational performance, thus encouraging synergistic effort. The bottom line when counteracting dysfunctional rules is to remember that rules drive behavior.

Whatever action you take to reverse an unwritten rule must lead unequivocally to the desired behavior. Therefore, before implement- ing a policy, dictum, or action, carefully consider its possible systemic consequences. Also, routinely observe employee behavior and adjust the drivers of behaviors as necessary through performance metrics, leadership role modeling, or organizational policy. Unwritten rules and assumptions also exist at the industry level.

It is in this realm that even greater potential competitive advantage resides. Here are a few areas to consider when putting together a list for your team or organization:.

Hopping on back-to-back video calls is draining. Be explicit about when people can turn off their cameras and when they should plan to have them on. But at many workplaces, video calls have become the default, even for meetings when a phone call or no-video call would suffice.

Or maybe your team agrees that everyone should turn on video for the first 10 minutes of a call to establish a connection, and then make it okay to turn it off for the remainder of the meeting.

These can all alleviate anxiety and level the playing field among employees. These are tough times. Consider making it okay to have an off day, or to take a break in the afternoon. Beth Heltebridle, a branch librarian at the Frederick County Library in Maryland shared with us that she made a list with her Branch Leadership Team during their library closure due to Covid.

One of the hardest things is that our days look so different, and we miss interactions with other team members. New hires are the most likely employees to lack a sense of belonging and psychological safety.

Being remote makes it harder to get answers to small questions. And given the economic climate, many people feel lucky to even have a job or are terrified of losing theirs, which may make people feel especially hesitant to reach for fear of coming across as needy, slow, or annoying.

These lists give permission for everyone to ask questions. We often work with people who have very different work styles — think extreme extroverts, cautious decision makers, and assertive debaters.

Or consider the executive team at Facebook, which never told employees to ignore security and privacy issues, but did create a work environment that many say prized growth above all. Of course, signaling how employees should act, rather than directly stating it, is sometimes an effective way to communicate. Being explicit all the time is not only cumbersome; it can also seem patronizing or insulting. Write out the unwritten rules.

Ask yourself what norms your employees are holding in their heads, and then get them on paper. Do your employees think the best way to get ahead is to do whatever senior leaders say, or to show that they can think for themselves? Do they think promotions are meted out fairly, or just go to people who gossip with the boss? You may be surprised what you learn.

Challenge your accepted norms. Think about whether each norm helps the company achieve its goals. This plan will likely emphasize education and should involve leaders from the top of the organization, to emphasize how seriously management takes these misperceptions.