AI Working Agreements

Without clear expectations, AI adoption and outcomes may be limited. This Play helps align your team on why, when, and how to use AI so it becomes a seamless, trusted part of your workflow.

PREP TIME

5m

Run TIME

60m

Persons

2-10

5-second summary

Explore your team’s current relationship with AI.
Discuss why, when, and how the team can use AI as a seamless, trusted part of your workflow.
Create clear, actionable guidelines for responsible, effective AI use.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Video conferencing with screen sharing or meeting space
Digital or physical whiteboard (see template)
Markers
Sticky notes
Timer
AI tool, such as Rovo (optional)

PLAY resources

AI Working Agreements Template

More AI-related Plays

Learning Path: Make AI a Part of the Team

How to Co-Create AI Working Agreements

Align your team on why, when, and how to use AI to maximize adoption and results.

What is a working agreement?

Working agreements are shared norms for how a team will work together, communicate, and collaborate, whether they’re in the same location or across multiple time zones.

Why create AI working agreements?

Each person has their own ways of working, but achieving goals as a team requires adopting ways of working that work for everyone.

Establishing a clear pathway towards value and purpose is even more important when using emerging technologies like AI, where there are fewer best practices and more uncertainty. Co-creating visible, intentional AI working agreements can help:

Ensure everyone knows when and how to use AI, reducing confusion and risk
Uncover new, relevant ways to use AI in your team’s specific workflows
Build trust and consistency so everyone on the team can benefit from AI
Establish a clear baseline so you can see how your team’s AI usage grows and evolves

When should you run the AI Working Agreements Play?

Whether your team is new to AI or experienced with it, there’s never a “bad” time to create AI working agreements. This Play is especially helpful when a team is making a concerted effort to integrate AI into its workflows to drive adoption and improve outcomes.

Benefits of AI working agreements

Here are three benefits of running an AI Working Agreement Play:

Identify valuable AI use cases: In 2024, Atlassian research found 63% of knowledge workers agreed that AI is important, but weren’t sure how to use it in their day-to-day work. Aligning on AI working agreements can help bridge this gap.
Increase AI adoption and worker productivity: Knowledge workers report becoming 33% more productive because of AI. Opportunities to experiment as a team can increase AI adoption and team efficiency.
Unlock transformational impact: Making AI part of the team (by weaving AI into workflows and defining AI working agreements) is a necessary ingredient to generate transformational business value.

1. Prep the Play

Est. time: 5 MIN

Start by scheduling a one-hour working session with your team.

In the calendar invitation, briefly describe the purpose and goals of this session: to co-create clear, actionable AI guidelines so we can be effective, responsible, and collaborative as we use it.

Then, either copy this Confluence whiteboard template, or create your own version.

Tip: Adapt the template

No two teams are the same, so adjust the whiteboard template with real examples, specific considerations, and use cases from your group.

2. Set the stage

Est. time: 15 MIN

Open the session by sharing goals, expectations, and a pre-workshop survey for everyone to complete. In the survey, ask a few simple questions that will help measure your team’s baseline confidence in knowing how, when, and why to use AI.

Then, kick off the conversation with a short conversation about the opportunities of using AI in your work, including real examples of when AI can help (like automating repetitive tasks or surfacing insights) and when to use caution (like watching out for biased answers, over-relying on AI, and confirming accuracy).

Finally, discuss the ways your team already uses – or wants to use – AI. Write a list so you can tailor your agreement to real needs.

3. Discuss the prompts and co-create agreements

Est. time: 40 min

Guide your team through these prompts in the whiteboard template:

What do you need to feel confident and safe using AI?
What are practical standards for responsible and effective AI use?
Where can AI help (and not help) us?

Additional questions to consider:

What are our standards for responsible use? (e.g., always review AI outputs, never share sensitive data, flag unclear results)
Where and how will we use AI in our workflow? (e.g., brainstorming, documentation, research, meeting summaries)
How will we share learnings? (e.g., regular retros, sharing tips, updating the agreement)
Then, use the answers to these questions to co-create your team’s AI working agreements.

tip: Use AI as your teammate

Use AI tools to help draft, organize, and refine your agreements. For example, you could use an AI notetaker like Loom to capture notes and action items during the meeting. Tools like Rovo also come in handy for summarizing notes, writing drafts, and brainstorming ideas of responsible AI use that fit your workflow.

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4. Finalize agreements and measure progress

Est. time: 5 min

Wrap up the session by assigning tasks to complete any final refinements, and ask the team to complete a post-workshop survey with the same questions as the first survey to gauge progress.

tip: Get unstuck

Not sure what to write? Here’s an AI prompt to help: You are writing working agreements to guide why, when, and how your team uses AI. The purpose of these agreements is to stay aligned, increase adoption, and improve results as your team uses AI. Use this Whiteboard [paste Whiteboard link or document] to draft a page with AI Working Agreements for your team.

5. Share out

Est. time: 5 min

Summarize your team’s decisions in your shared workspace (such as Confluence), and share the page with the team and any key stakeholders in a Slack or Teams message.
Ask everyone to pin or bookmark the page for easy access.
Set a quarterly reminder to revisit and update your AI working agreements as the team’s tools and needs evolve.