Working with my team on working agreements
My team would really like to create a team contract in which we establish agreements on how we interact with each other and how we approach specific tasks as a team. Do you have any experience with a methodology that can help us shape this with the team? I briefly considered using the 1-2-4-all method, but upon reflection, it didn't seem quite suitable. What are your thoughts?
Best regards,
John
Two words stand out, contract and methodology. What problem is the team trying to solve with such prescriptions?
There is ais nothing wrong with contracts and methodologies, even within a framework of the Scrum guide(which is NOT a methodology).
But to answer actual question it is necessary to know WHAT contract you want to sign(job contracts for team members? Internal contract with code of conduct? Else?) and what you mean by "methodology"(the various methods of communication between people in Scrum usually called techniques, but why do you need any technique to sign contract-people don't sign voluntarally)
While team contracts are not mentioned in the Scrum Guide, I still don't like the wording. The word contract makes things seem very formal and there is usually someone that has a responsibility of maintaining and determining adherence to them (i.e. lawyers, judges, and even police). Team agreements are less formal and lend to a group of professionals holding each other accountable.
In the past when I had a team bring up the topic, the way I facilitated was just a plain old conversation where the people involved discussed things and came to agreement. I reminded them before we started that not everyone can have their way so that it will be necessary for everyone to take the "I don't like it but will support it" approach.