Team Self-Assessment
This structured process helps teams openly and honestly evaluate their working dynamics across key dimensions. By making implicit team behaviors explicit, it fosters constructive dialogue and targeted action planning.
Use this method when a team needs to reflect on its performance, identify areas for improvement, and align on shared goals. It's particularly useful after a significant project milestone or during periods of change.
Solves: Unspoken tensions and disagreements hindering team effectiveness; lack of shared understanding of team strengths and weaknesses.
- 1
Step 1: Introduce the 6 dimensions (Team Relations & Environment, Information & Decision-Making, Responsibility & Accountability, Learning & Individual Purpose, Collective Purpose, Profit & Productivity). (5 minutes)
- 2
Step 2: Individual Reflection: Each team member silently reflects on each dimension, writing down statements that complete the sentence 'As a team, we...' on a personal worksheet, arranging them from development-oriented to celebratory. (30 minutes)
- 3
Step 3: Collective Mapping: Transfer individual statements to a shared whiteboard or flipchart, placing development-oriented statements on the left and celebratory ones on the right. (20 minutes)
- 4
Step 4: Clustering: Silently cluster similar statements to identify common themes and reduce duplicates, iterating until the group consents. (15 minutes)
- 5
Step 5: Dot Voting: Each team member votes on the statements they feel are most important to address or celebrate. (10 minutes)
- 6
Step 6: Digitization & Action Planning: Digitize the results and facilitate a discussion to determine next steps, such as celebrating successes or scheduling focused discussions on development areas. (10-20 minutes)
- Emphasize that the assessment focuses on the team as a whole, not individual blame.
- Encourage open and honest reflection by creating a safe and supportive environment.
- Adapt the 6 dimensions to better suit the team's specific context.
- Use a different voting method, such as ranking or assigning points.