Help Your Team Run Smoother

What it is

The Quick-Start Team Norms Cheat Sheet is a simple, practical resource that helps Team Leaders begin a Team Norms conversation without making the process feel heavy or overdone.

🔹 It offers a clear starting point for discussing how a team wants to work together.

🔹 It introduces Team Norms in a way that feels accessible and useful.

🔹 It is designed as a quick-start tool, not a full facilitation guide.

Who it’s for

This resource is for Team Leaders, supervisors, managers, and internal facilitators who want an easier way to begin creating shared team expectations.

🔹 Leaders who want a practical first step into Team Norms

🔹 Teams that need a simple conversation starter

🔹 Organizations that want to introduce healthier ways of working together

🔹 People who want to explore the Team Norms process before using a more robust workbook

What problem it solves

Many teams experience friction in how they communicate, make decisions, handle conflict, or follow through, but they don't have a simple way to address these problems.

🔹 It helps surface expectations that often stay unspoken

🔹 It gives leaders a lightweight way to begin an important conversation

🔹 It reduces the pressure of trying to build team agreements from scratch

🔹 It helps teams move toward more clarity, consistency, and accountability

What’s inside

The Cheat Sheet provides a streamlined introduction to the Team Norms process.

🔹 A concise overview of what Team Norms are

🔹 Guidance for starting a team conversation about expectations

🔹 A bare-bones framework for identifying helpful team agreements

🔹 A simple entry point that can stand alone or lead into deeper work

Why it’s worth it

This free resource helps Team Leaders get started quickly and meaningfully without overwhelm.

🔹 It gives you an easy on-ramp into Team Norms work

🔹 It helps your team begin important conversations sooner

🔹 It offers immediate value as a practical stand-alone resource

🔹 It also serves as a natural introduction to the more detailed paid Workbooks

This Cheat Sheet is intentionally simple—a practical quick-start for teams ready to begin. The paid Team Leader and Team Member Workbooks provide a deeper, more fully guided Team Norms process for teams that want more structure and support. There is also an option to have a Facilitated Team Norms Exercise, hosted by Margaret Ricci of Cultural Strategies, LLC. This is for Team Leaders who may want to stay with their teams inside the discovery process.

A Resources Page is also attached to help you complete the assigned work.

RBODWAMN

R.J., Board of Directors with a Minnesota Nonprofit

I feel the knowledge we gained from the Workshops will help us not only meet our goals but exceed them – it will help strengthen us. I think Margaret was extremely knowledgeable and did an excellent job! I would highly recommend her to other teams or organizations.

LRPACCDI

Lauren Roberts, President and CEO, cfm Distributors, Inc.

I learned so many new things about our team members that I hadn’t previously known which will allow us to connect on deeper levels in the future. My favorite part of the workshops was all the interactive group modules – we learned so much from each other. Other benefits of the workshops: 1) learning from others – what they need from me and vice versa – is something we’ll continue to have, 2) learning from others what I do well, and 3) learning about everyone’s backgrounds helped us get more comfortable with all people on our teams.

RGCFWCFB

Roger Green, Chair, Former Woodbury Community Foundation Board

Margaret Ricci crafted three sessions that carried our team through both CliftonStrengths and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team in a way that made it meaningful and useful for our future performance. The sessions gave us renewed confidence in our team and tools to deal with challenges in our interactions.

JHGPASEAPV

Jeff Hover, General Partner and Senior Executive at PiSA Ventures

We were fortunate to collaborate with Margaret and Cultural Strategies as we embarked on the launch of several product lines for our medical device company, Hometa. Her unique perspective and confident, interactive approach to team building led to substantial growth and understanding of our team’s dynamics which fueled engagement at all levels. Margaret’s keen ability to an atmosphere that establishes psychological safety so that even the most reluctant team member can engage in dialogue and frank discussion is outstanding and led to some eye-opening realizations about the stages of team performance. Her thorough knowledge of the 34 individual Gallup strengths coupled with her mastery of the Gallup Builder’s program created a strong foundation for our organization where all of us couldn’t wait to apply our role as either Rainmaker, Conductor or Expert. If you are not familiar with these roles or believe that they are represented by your org chart – you have much to learn and need Cultural Strategies to help you understand how leadership can arise at all levels in your organization! Whether your company faces a challenging goal, is struggling through “team storming”, or celebrating exceptional performance and victory, the value that your organization will gain from collaborating with Margaret and Cultural Strategies is exceptional.

PTDORCDI

Pat Thomas, Director of Refrigeration, cfm Distributors, Inc.

From the workshops, I learned how to have a view from the other side of the fence and how the people we work with everyday view communication, professionalism, and integrity in relation to our teams and our goals. My favorite part of the workshops were the personal interactions we had with others on our team. I also learned how to communicate clearly, how to understand if we all row in the same direction, we’ll get to where we’re going, and that conflict can be constructively done without being personal or demeaning.

BMDOSOCDI

Ben McCollum, Director of Store Operations, cfm Distributors, Inc.

I learned that we could create a framework to work within after setting up our team’s expectations. We were all in the same room in an environment where clear expectations were set and committed to. My favorite feature of the learning experience was understanding that I liked these workshops and realized we need more of these sessions. I also learned that 1) I actually know things! 😊, 2) I got to be more comfortable in my own skin and in my own voice, and 3) we improved communication throughout the workshops.

DHFC–COTWCF

Dick Hanson, Former Chair – Committee on Trustees, Woodbury Community Foundation

Beautifully done, Margaret! It was a pleasure meeting you and benefiting from your style, knowledge, and experience. It was a very inspiring and timely refresher for this old Maximizer still stretching for his Maximum…but getting close! But more importantly, it was an essential experience for our WCF leadership team as it transitions from the remaining seniors to the next generation. I believe it’s on the cusp of really establishing what we’ve all worked so hard for, and I appreciate your important contribution to that achievement!

JCDI

J.S., cfm Distributors, Inc.

From our workshops, I learned that true communication is needful and that we were beginning to build trust. The thing I learned most about was that learning more about my fellow teammates and leadership is the best way to start to build trust. I also learned more about myself, more about communication tools, and started to value vulnerability more than I had before.

TCDI

T.F., cfm Distributors, Inc.

As a result of our workshops, I had a much better understanding of team dynamics. What I liked most in the workshops were the chats we had within our specific groups that we all took part in. I also learned more about my own personal growth and the growth of others, how we improved our interpersonal skills during our time together, and how the deeper understanding of everyone really impacted our work teams.