Norms are acceptable ways of behaving within a group that are shared by the group's members. You may have noticed that, in some groups that meet regularly people sit in the same seat each week (e.g. your Managing People & Organisations class). At other work groups you might find that the starting time of the meeting includes a fifteen-minute leeway. Norms can be formalised and written up in a manual that sets out rules and procedures for action; however, norms are usually informal and implicit, rather than clearly stated.

Norms usually develop gradually and informally as group members learn which behaviours are necessary for the group to function more effectively.

Most norms develop in one or more of the following ways:

1.  Explicit statements by supervisors or co-workers. A supervisor, for example, might set norms about lateness to group meetings. These statements increase the predictability of group members' behaviours and help the group attain its task goals.

2.  Critical events in the group's history. Critical events may establish an important precedent. For example, a group might develop a norm of secrecy about its actions after an earlier incident where a group member's unguarded comments resulted in some disadvantage for the group.