Founder and team working styles

Describe the behaviour, not the person

One founder may want to test an offer this week; another wants a budget and delivery plan first. One person prefers a written brief, another a live discussion. These preferences show different ways of handling uncertainty, information and time, not who cares more.

Labels make disagreements harder to solve. Replace “you are reckless” with “we committed to a supplier before comparing the cash-flow effect”. Replace “you never move” with “I need a decision date to update the customer”. Specific observations invite an answer.

Founders, investors and the nine-to-five expectation

People sometimes describe this as an entrepreneurial brain meeting a nine-to-five mindset. Those labels can hide the actual issue. Ownership, pay, decision authority, financial exposure and commitments outside work can give people different reasons to move quickly or ask for more certainty.

An employee working agreed hours is not automatically less committed. A founder sending a late message does not automatically expect an immediate reply. A VC asking for reporting may be following an agreed responsibility. Ask what response, decision or evidence is actually needed, and agree boundaries instead of guessing what another person thinks.

Make a working agreement

A short working agreement records how work is coordinated and what happens when the usual process fails. Two co-founders or a larger team can use it. Keep each rule concrete enough to follow without guessing.

For example, require a written note for customer-impacting changes, let the accountable person make routine decisions and require two approvals above a spending limit. Define “urgent” and how to raise it after hours. Review the agreement after a month and when roles change.

• Roles: who owns each result, and who must be consulted?
• Communication: which channel, what response time and what needs a meeting?
• Decisions: what can one person decide, what needs agreement, and how will a tie be handled?
• Capacity: what is realistic this week, and how will someone flag an overload?
• Disagreement: how do you pause a heated exchange and resume it with the right information?

Connect the day-to-day rules to formal agreements

A working agreement does not replace employment or shareholder contracts, partnership terms, a company constitution or professional advice. Discuss ownership, contributions, pay, intellectual property, authority and exit options. Ask a lawyer to document rights and obligations. business.gov.au recommends clear contracts and written dispute steps.

Keep formal terms aligned with actual practice. Revisit them when responsibilities, control or roles change. Record agreed changes and tell the people who need to act on them.

Use a simple format for difficult conversations

Ask each person to describe the event, its effect and what they need next. For example: “The delivery date changed after we confirmed it with the client. I reset expectations without the new information. Please alert me before changing a committed date.” Ask what the other person understood.

Look beneath positions: a request for a full plan may reflect cash concerns; urgency may reflect a customer deadline. You can disagree and still record trade-offs, the decision owner and a review date.

When the conversation remains stuck

If direct discussion fails, consider a facilitated conversation with a clear agenda. A mediator can help clarify perspectives, disputes and options, but does not decide for the parties. Urgent safety, employment, legal or financial matters may need specialist advice or another process.

Record who will do what and by when. A new meeting rhythm, approval limit or responsibility split may be enough. Follow up on the agreed date and adjust the working agreement if the friction returns.