ThemeFacilitation & roles
CardCard 43 of 63
Questions5 to explore
StepOpen the session

Ground Rules

Unite around behavior & etiquette

Ground rules online replace the implicit social contract of a shared room, and without them behaviour defaults to whatever participants already do on video calls.

When people share a physical room, a set of implicit norms governs how they behave: put your phone away, don't talk over people, look up when someone is speaking. Online those norms do not transfer automatically. Without explicit ground rules, you get unpredictable behaviour: cameras off by default, background noise, side conversations in private chats, and participants multitasking visibly.

Ground rules for a remote workshop cover both etiquette (camera expectations, muting, using the raised-hand feature) and participation (how to signal you want to speak, how to use the chat, what counts as being present). They are not about control; they are about creating a shared container that works for everyone.

Online, specificallyOnline the norms of a shared room do not exist and cannot be assumed, so ground rules must be stated explicitly at the start and ideally agreed together rather than simply announced.

In a remote session

The same building block as it plays out online: how experienced facilitators tend to handle it when the room is a screen. Illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

Cover cameras early

Camera expectations are the most contested ground rule online: be explicit about what you are asking and why, and give people permission to turn them off for breaks or when they need a moment. A camera-on request without explanation lands as surveillance.

Agree them, do not announce them

Rather than reading a list of rules at the start, briefly surface the key ones and ask if the group is comfortable. A short moment of agreement creates more buy-in than a one-way announcement.

Keep them short and specific

Five or fewer rules, stated in positive terms ('microphone off when not speaking' rather than 'no noise'), are more likely to stick than a long list of dos and don'ts.

Refer back when needed

If a ground rule breaks down mid-session, refer back to the agreed rules rather than singling out the individual. 'We agreed to keep mics muted when not speaking' is less uncomfortable than 'can you please mute yourself.'

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

What are the two or three behaviours most likely to disrupt this specific session, and are those explicitly covered in the ground rules?
Have you prepared an explanation for why each rule matters, rather than just stating the rule?
How will you handle it if a participant does not follow a rule, especially a camera or muting expectation?
Will you announce the ground rules or create a brief moment where the group agrees to them?
Are the rules stated simply enough that they are easy to remember throughout a multi-hour session?

What trips people up online

Camera policies that are not explained feel coercive: participants comply with resentment or ignore them; take thirty seconds to explain the reasoning.
Long lists of ground rules signal over-control and are mostly forgotten after the first five minutes; focus on the three or four that actually affect this session.
Failing to refer back to ground rules when they break down early in a session signals that they were performative rather than real, and the rest of the session runs on different norms.