A practice is a repeated behavior with a name, something you want to keep doing on purpose. It differs from a rule: a rule says what must or must not happen (don’t send an email without approval), while a practice is softer but still important (review the output before you send). Rules protect the floor. Practices raise the standard.
Closing a small office at the end of the day is a good example. Someone locks the door, kills the lights, checks the thermostat, and makes sure the deposits aren’t sitting on the counter. The first time it’s a bunch of little actions. Once the team decides it matters, it becomes the closing practice.
Why you care
Agents follow whatever pattern you give them: a sloppy pattern just gets faster, while a thoughtful one compounds. “Ask us any questions you need before starting” makes the agent interview you instead of guessing. A practice that keeps proving itself can graduate into a checklist, a workflow, or a skill. You name it, teach it, watch whether it works, and decide what it deserves to become. Most good work is a small behavior repeated until the team can trust it.