Shifting operating norms to make behaviour change stick

CodeShift connects awareness, choice and practice in its account of internal patterns. Imagine a team trying to put that learning to work. In one meeting, colleagues are asked to share concerns early, but the agenda requires only finished answers.

This is an illustrative situation. A person with an unresolved concern may feel caught between the invitation to speak and the expectation to look fully prepared. Asking for a different behaviour leaves that conflict in place unless the team also examines its routine.

Underneath the formal invitation, what do people understand they are expected to do? Explore that question with the team, including how people interpret the situation and which responses they feel able to choose.

The shift needs a practical setting. A programme's language needs a place in the meetings, handovers and decisions that follow it. Teams can start with one recurring situation and examine whether the arrangements give people a reasonable opportunity to use the intended practice.

Make the existing norm concrete

An operating norm is a shared expectation about how work is done. Some expectations are explicit, such as a decision deadline. Others need to be discussed, such as whether asking for help will be read as responsible preparation or lack of competence.

Choose one recurring situation and describe the current practice without blaming people. Ask what normally happens, who takes part and what people believe is expected. Compare those accounts. Different roles may experience the same routine differently.

Keep the inquiry open. A delay might reflect an unclear handover, competing priorities or missing information. An internal assumption could be relevant too. Avoid selecting an explanation before examining the work.

Describe the replacement routine

Turn the desired change into an arrangement people can use. “We value openness” does not specify what should happen at the next meeting. A clearer agreement might be to identify unresolved questions before reviewing proposed actions, with a named person responsible for clarifying each one.

Keep the routine proportionate to the work. A short handover may need one additional question rather than another meeting. Specify who participates, what information is needed and who makes the decision. People should be able to distinguish an invitation to contribute from a transfer of responsibility.

Check for conflicting expectations

Ask what someone would have to risk or give up to use the new practice. A colleague might be encouraged to raise concerns while also being expected to present every project as fully under control. Discuss that conflict rather than treating their hesitation as a failure of commitment.

Examine everyday responses as well as formal wording. What happens when someone flags an uncertainty, requests help or identifies a mistake? Teams can agree how to respond in ways that keep the work moving and make the information usable. That does not mean avoiding accountability or accepting every proposed action.

Try the routine in one place

Consider an illustrative handover between a project team and a service team. Both want fewer surprises. They agree to add a section for unresolved assumptions, identify who will clarify each assumption and confirm when an answer is needed.

During the first handover, the service team can ask whether an item is a known constraint, an open question or a decision awaiting an owner. The project team has a specific way to disclose uncertainty without having to guess how it will be received.

This arrangement is a practical experiment. It does not guarantee a particular result. Review whether it helped the participants understand the work and whether it created unnecessary effort. Adjust the arrangement using their accounts.

Connect reflection with the routine

Invite participants to notice their own interpretations while trying the new arrangement. What made an assumption difficult to name? What did asking a question seem to imply? Which response did they choose, and what happened next?

Those questions connect organisational practice with personal awareness. They also leave room to change the routine itself. Integration should not require someone to compensate indefinitely for an arrangement that does not work.

Decide what to keep

After several relevant uses, review a few specific examples. Did the agreed conversation take place? Were responsibilities understood? What remained unclear? Give people a way to say that the experiment was unhelpful or incomplete.

Keep the useful parts and revise the rest. Record a short shared agreement so new colleagues can understand it too. Avoid adding a large reporting burden merely to demonstrate that the new routine exists.

A new norm becomes part of daily work through repeated use, interpretation and adjustment. Start with a situation that matters, make the expectation clear and examine how people experience it. That gives the intended behaviour a practical setting in which to develop.

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