Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Social Contract
Use when a team needs explicit, revisable working norms and a way to record consent, objections and reservations.
- People
- 3–25
- Base procedure time
- 90 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Build working relationships; Explore through dialogue.
English guide
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How this method works
Agree desired and unwanted behaviours to create revisable norms for collaboration. Use at a team’s launch, when implicit rules differ from person to person, or at a point when ways of working are being reconsidered. Individually recall helpful and difficult collaboration, then rephrase judgements about people as observable behaviours. Cluster similar behaviours, leave no one outside the contract, and check consent while recording objections and reservations. The output is a social contract with a display location, review timing and change procedure. Do not run this as a substitute for work rules, the law or harassment response, or in a setting where an objection can lead to disadvantage.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
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- Recall collaboration0–12 minutes from the start (12 minutes)
Action: Recall. Participation: Individually.
Individual record
- Rephrase as behaviour12–30 minutes from the start (18 minutes)
Action: Rephrase. Participation: Individually → groups of 3–6.
Individual record
- Cluster norms30–52 minutes from the start (22 minutes)
Action: Cluster. Participation: Groups of 3–6.
Shared record
- Check consent52–75 minutes from the start (23 minutes)
Action: Check. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Display the contract75–90 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Display. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 12 minutes, recall one good team and one difficult team. Without naming people, separate behaviours that helped from behaviours that hindered collaboration.
- For 18 minutes, rewrite abstract phrases such as “respect one another” as one-sentence behaviours whose implementation anyone can observe.
- For 22 minutes, work in groups of 3–6 to cluster similar proposals, separate desired from unwanted behaviours and narrow the list to no more than 6 items per group.
- For 23 minutes, merge duplicates as a whole group. Check with each person in turn whether they can follow every clause and whether they have objections or reservations, and record the responses.
- For 15 minutes, write a final copy of the agreed clauses. Decide where to display it, a procedure through which anyone can propose changes, and the next review date.
If something changes
If
At least half of a small group’s clustered proposals use unobservable expressions such as “value” or “be mindful of”.
Then
Return each proposal to one sentence stating who does what in which situation, and remove words that cannot be observed.
If
At least 1 person expresses a reservation or declines to speak during the consent check.
Then
Do not force signatures or consent. Create a separate field where reasons for reservations can be recorded anonymously, and treat the clause as provisional.
If
With 15 minutes remaining, either the channel for receiving change proposals or the next review date is still undecided.
Then
Choose one channel through which everyone can propose changes, and record the next regular meeting as the review point in the final copy.
Preparation
Materials
- Behaviour proposal cards: 6 per person, 75 × 75 mm
- Wall areas for classification: one per group of 3–6; divide the participant count by 6 and round up for the number of areas, each at least 90 cm wide
- One final-copy sheet for the social contract per venue, A1 or larger
- One record sheet for consent and reservations per venue; names are optional
- Dark medium-tip pens: one per person
Room and setup
- Island tables for groups of 3–6: divide the participant count by 6 and round up for the number of tables; group sizes differ by no more than one person
- One shared surface per venue where everyone can read the final-copy sheet; keep passageways at least 60 cm wide
Adjust for people and time
For 3–8 people, integrate all proposals in one circle. For 9–25 people, divide the participant count by 6 and round up for the group count, distribute participants into groups of 3–6, narrow each group’s list to no more than 6 items, then return to the whole group. Prepare 6 cards per person and one classification surface per group. With more than 15 people, allow silent reading first and have people indicate support or opposition to the same content simultaneously to reduce the influence of speaking order.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not replace work rules, the law or harassment response with this contract, and do not run the session where objecting can disadvantage someone. Do not force signatures, consent or speech. Names on the consent-and-reservations record are optional; retain anonymous reservation reasons separately and treat affected clauses as provisional.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Matt Takane; Tim Beattie: Social Contract
https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/social-contract/
CC BY 4.0 adaptation; changes made
- CC BY 4.0
Current-page licence notice
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Credits on the checked source page
- Named contributors on the source page: Matt Takane, Tim Beattie
- Contributors listed in the official practice source (repository handles): @mtakane, @tdbeattie, @rdebeasi, @springdo, @infosec812, @ilaria66, @kattekrab, @rmarting
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Social Contract.
Source lineage
CC BY-SA 4.0 — this site's adaptation and translation contributions · Legal code · Official source policy
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Diagram, print, and video language
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Editorial provenance
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