Agreements Beat Assumptions

Assumptions are soft. Agreements are hard. I used to say “ASAP” and “end of day.” I thought I was being flexible. What I was doing was creating fog. The team guessed; I corrected; we both lost time. Now we write agreements.

What’s an agreement?

A clear understanding of done, owned, and covered. I use a simple AAA:

• Aim: what “done” looks like, by when.

• Autonomy: what the person decides without me.

• Air cover: what I’ll own if it goes sideways.

How it sounds (office)

“Aim: draft the onboarding FAQ, 800–1000 words, by Wednesday 3 p.m. Autonomy: you choose layout, tone, and examples. Air cover: if Legal pushes back, I’ll handle it.”

Frontline version

“Aim: close register with full count by 9:05. Autonomy: you decide which returns to restock first. Air cover: if the new POS glitches, call me—I’ll swap you to lane 2.”

Why it works

Agreements prevent the three worst frictions: rework, resentment, and rescue. Rework happens when “done” was never defined. Resentment happens when decisions are unclear and the boss rewrites your work. Rescue happens when the boss jumps in at the end because expectations were fuzzy. AAA kills all three.

Where to store it

In the open. In the ticket, the chat thread, the note on the task. “We’re aligned on X by Y. You own A and B. I’ll own C.” The written trail saves relationships later.

What to avoid

• Vague verbs: “look into,” “handle,” “circle back.” Say “draft,” “ship,” “decide.”

• Deadlines with no scope: “by Friday” without describing “this is done when __.”

• Hidden ownership: if it’s “we,” it’s no one. Name the owner.

Repairing a miss

When an agreement slips, don’t moralize. Diagnose. Scope wrong? Dependencies missing? Decision rights unclear? Fix the template, not just the person. And then make the next agreement smaller.

Team habit

We start the week by agreeing on three “Aims” across the team (Now / Later / Never). We end the week by checking the hit rate. If we’re missing, we reduce scope or change the rhythm. It keeps us honest and fair.

Do this for a month and watch how many “just checking on this” messages disappear. Agreements shrink the gap between what you thought would happen and what actually did.