As a team member, you may not worry too much about how the entire team thinks. Yet it can be a good indicator of the level of team development and how effective your workplace team is. For a team leader, knowing how the team thinks is essential. Sometimes, just chatting with team members or observing interactions during meetings isn’t enough to assess the health of the team.
Here’s a simple assessment tool from my Bonuses page to provide you with some insight into how your team thinks. You can download it here and complete it yourself.
Keep in mind that this assessment is largely based on YOUR opinion of how the team thinks. I encourage you to share this tool with your team leader and with other members of the team to see if you all view the team the same way.
What’s interesting about having other team members complete the same assessment is the way it opens up conversation about the team dynamic and how each person views the team and its development. You will find that some answers are the same, while others are not. Keep in mind that you and other team members may not agree with the answers in the assessment—but this kind of conversation can be healthy.
The assessment has a scoring range of 1 to 5, with 1=least like your team and 5=most like your team. On the score sheet, circle the number that you feel best identifies your immediate team.
| 1. We look for ways to assist each other. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2. We all respect each other’s viewpoints. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3. We ask for feedback from each other about our performance. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4. We believe we can constantly improve our actions & performance. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5. We look for ways to encourage each other. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6. We review and eliminate old ways of doing things. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 7. We believe in taking control of our behavior and constantly moving in the direction of our mission. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8. We accept and learn from our mistakes. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 9. We respect each other. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 10. We know something personal about each of our teammates – e.g. likes, dislikes, significant other, pet or children’s names. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Now, total your score based on the scoring range to the right.
The assessment sheet includes a Results section that details the overall health of your team, based on the total score. Does your team think like an effective team? Or is it experiencing a few hiccups?
Completing this assessment can help identify areas that need work, and even find patterns that help determine why your team may be experiencing issues or discomfort with each other. Give it a try.
Excerpted from One Team, One Dream by Gregg Gregory
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