2.5 Agree the ground rules

      Ground rules should be set early to make it clear what behaviour is acceptable among members of the team, including you as the team leader. Depending on the circumstances, ground rules can also relate to other internal departments, customers, competitors, shareholders and so on.

      It is better for your team to create the ground rules themselves rather than you imposing the rules upon them. This may seem counterintuitive – you are, after all, supposed to be the leader – but you can lead the team to produce their own rules. Here’s how to do it.