Andrea Robb and Laura Clydesdale
Andrea Robb: CEO + Founder, ARCx | Laura Clydesdale: Managing Partner + COO, ARCx
Andrea Robb and Laura Clydesdale founded ARCx, an employee experience design studio, to apply decades of in-house experience in talent management and redesign, organizational process improvement, and belonging work, to create more impact for all. ARCx believes working with leaders to embrace the tough questions is the unlock to business longevity and people sustainability. They take a full system approach, not top down, in an integrated and systemic way, that links talent and culture to the business strategy and that removes barriers to contribution, connection, and equity. This approach allows ARCx to help partners become more adaptive organizations, teams, and leaders. As thought leaders leveraging their in-house careers in-house at Airbnb, Autodesk, Lucasfilm Ltd, Levi Strauss & Co, GE, and Gap, Andrea and Laura’s work and writing have appeared in McKinsey & LeanIn.org’s Women in the Workplace report, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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We believe that teams are the fastest unit for change since they are the closest to the problem. Therefore, they should be nimble, empowered, and crystal clear in their agreements.
Team Agreements
Categories
Description
Andrea Robb and Laura Clydesdale believe scale and agility can only occur when teams are nimble and fully empowered. Teams - the fastest unit of change - bring the best creative solutions because they are closest to the problem. Therefore, teams that are both accountable and liberated to do their best work is the sweet spot. So how can teams + people consistently deliver on the mission and goals of your organization, while still remaining adaptive to new ideas and changing needs? We suggest Team-Level Agreements (TLA). Sometimes called “Team working agreements” or “Team operating manuals,” or even “Colleague Letters of Understanding” they are a clear set of guidelines and agreements that establish expectations for how all members of a team will work together and who is accountable for what. What works for one team may not work for another, but to put this into practice in a way best for your team, helps both innovation and accountability scale.
First, determine what is important to the organization but flexible enough for teams to personalize. (e.g. A work-from-home policy with guidelines for all, but flexible for teams to adapt for their needs). Second, identify the topic your team wishes to create a Team Agreement around (e.g. Schedules + Meetings, Communication Protocols, Technology Usage, Accountability, Decision Making, Check-Ins, Progress Reports, Team Values, etc.). Third, run one flight for each team agreement topic.
Suggested Questions
Types of Insights
Ways of working between team members and across teams
Alignment of team members around multiple ways of working
Team agreements designed to be experimental and revisited
Adaptive and empowered teams
Team accountability
In-person and remote working agreements