A guideline is a recommended rule or principle that directs code reviews, answers recurring questions, and provides an agreed path through unclear situations or disagreements. Keep guidelines in an open document that everyone can access and edit, then adapt them as projects and teams reveal new needs. section 3.3
From informal rule to shared agreement
A team repeatedly encounters tense review comments. It turns “be civil” into an explicit rule: respect each other and focus review comments on the code, not the colleague. The team records the rule publicly, defines consequences for violations, and later incorporates it into its Team Working Agreement. section 4.4.7 section 4.3
Useful guidelines help the team decide how to work together:
- Agree on the ideal review path and document decisions where everyone can find and edit them. section 3.3
- Refine rules when different projects or team situations expose gaps; treat change as expected rather than as failure. section 3.3
- Invite every team member to shape interaction norms, policies, codebase standards, and behavioral expectations. section 4.3
- Make respectful conduct explicit, even when it seems obvious, and state what happens when the expectation is ignored. section 4.4.7
