Working in government or public service is tough. The problems are complicated, there's a lot at stake, and things move fast.

Better teams mean better public service. It's as simple as that. By taking the time to make your team as effective as it can be, you're not just making your own work life better—you're making government work better for everyone

However, figuring out if your team is really doing well can be difficult, that's where this tool comes in to help. The ‘Highly Effective Teams’ diagnostic aims to help you assess the effectiveness of your team, based on a set of questions that can be matched against key indicators.

This guide is part of a set of four documents designed to help you assess and improve your team's effectiveness. Here's a quick breakdown of what each document does:

  • The ‘Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams’ article: Breaks down each characteristic, why they’re important to effective team dynamics and why they’re included in this assessment process
  • This Guide: Provides step-by-step instructions on how to carry out a thorough ‘Highly Effective Teams’ diagnostic process
  • The Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams Diagnostic Template: This document dives into 8 important characteristics that make a team effective. For each trait, you'll find a list of questions to ask your team members.
  • Data Analysis Spreadsheet: This is where you can enter the data you've collected from the Diagnostic Tool. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate an average score for each of the 8 traits, helping you understand where your team stands.

Together, these four documents give you a comprehensive way to understand, measure and improve how well your team is doing.

Step 1: Understand your team

If your team is complex, with multiple stakeholders, you should consider carrying out a stakeholder mapping exercise. This will help you to spot any issues that could arise with stakeholders, help tackle any potential issues and head off any risks.

Step 2: Establishing ownership

Establishing a core team — of one or more people — to take ownership of the assessment (and subsequent steps) is essential to ensuring the process is structured, consistent and effective. Administering the assessment itself, for instance, requires planning, execution and analysis. Without a designated lead, these tasks can become fragmented, leading to potential oversights or misinterpretations.

If your organisation has a dedicated people team, they may wish to lead the assessment.

Whoever decides to take the reins, having buy-in from senior leadership is likely to help you roll out the assessment, and take action based on the findings.

It's also important that those who are being asked to engage with the assessment have protected time to do so.

To make the most out of using this diagnostic tool, engagement from your team is essential. Before carrying out the assessment, the implementing team should communicate the purpose of this assessment to all stakeholders involved and what their participation might look like in this process, see step 4 (preparation) for some example text.

Step 3: Setting up the assessment

The questions found within the The Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams Diagnostic Template, should serve as inspiration for the kinds of questions you might want to ask your team. We suggest a survey-style format, using a 5-point Likert scale.

  1. **Customise based on your collaboration: **This is not a ‘one size fits all’ assessment tool, it provides a blueprint that we recommend you change based on your needs and context, in collaboration with your team members. Please take a look at the indicators, questions, and even the characteristics themselves — decide which ones work best for your team’s unique context.
  2. **Select your assessment tool/survey software: **You may wish to set up the assessment using existing survey software (copy and paste the questions into your software of choice). Alternatively, you could circulate copies of the The Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams Diagnostic Template.
  3. **Access Data Analysis Spreadsheet: ** If you decide to circulate copies of this document to stakeholders, we have provided a Data Analysis Spreadsheet which gives you the opportunity to input your combined data and receive an average score for each characteristic. Ensure you have access to this data analysis spreadsheet.

Step 4: Carry out the assessment

This process strives to be as participatory as possible, embracing inclusivity and diversity to ensure the representation of varied perspectives. It is highly recommended that all team members be afforded the opportunity to complete this assessment.

1. Preparation:

  • Communicate the purpose and importance of the assessment to all participants.
  • Clearly define the scope and objectives of the assessment.

Suggested email text

Hi all, we're launching a tool to measure the effectiveness of our teams. The first step is the completion of a diagnostic tool (or survey), which is a quick way for us to see what's working and what needs a tweak. Your honest feedback will help shape our path to becoming a high-performing team.

We will be in touch at a later date to discuss the results of this diagnostic and will provide a forum through which we can reflect on the findings as a partnership and set out actions for improvement.

Thank you for helping us grow and improve!

2. Distribution

3. Data Collection:

  • Encourage all members of your collaboration to answer honestly and thoughtfully.
  • Ensure that all responses will be kept confidential (not attributable to individuals).
  • Set a clear deadline for data submission.

4. Data Input:

Step 5: Analysing and reporting your data

After you have completed the assessment phase, your results will need to be consolidated into a database. If you’re using a survey software, it will do this for you, and, depending on your level of subscription, may also provide reporting templates.

If you decide to circulate hard copies of the diagnostic, or forward copies of The Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams Diagnostic Template, we have provided a Data Analysis Spreadsheet which gives you the opportunity to input your combined data and receive an average score for each characteristic.

If you’d like to analyse results (and differences) within your team, you’ll need to make sure you’re capturing that information somewhere within your dataset (it’s easiest to do this by building them into the questions). E.g. Seniority, gender, ethnicity. You can then assess if there are differences in experiences across your team.

Maintaining confidentiality in data collection, especially regarding sensitive topics like gender, ethnicity, and seniority, is crucial. It builds trust and encourages honest responses. On the other hand, disaggregated data, which breaks down information into categories like seniority, gender, and ethnicity, is highly valuable. It helps you analyse differences within your team, uncovering disparities and informing better decision-making. Ensuring respondents’ privacy while collecting this data is vital for obtaining useful insights and promoting inclusivity and equality.

To understand people's attitudes from the survey results, we use a scale ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 shows a very negative attitude, and 5 shows a very positive attitude. We then find the average score to determine the general attitude.

Here is how you can interpret the average score:

  • 1.0-2.4 = Negative attitude
  • 2.5-3.4 = Neutral attitude
  • 3.5-5.0 = Positive attitude

It’s important that results are communicated to the wider team soon after the assessment has been completed. We recommend a short, accessible report that highlights areas where teams performed well and opportunities for improvement. You may wish to outline ways forward, however, it is important for remedial actions to be co-produced with the teams themselves.

Our next section outlines key steps in providing your team an opportunity to reflect on the assessment findings, with an emphasis on action planning.

Step 6: Providing the opportunity for reflection

After the assessment phase, and once you have consolidated your findings, offering the opportunity for team members to reflect on these findings can be a powerful step in bringing about positive change. These sessions can be a chance to celebrate areas of strength as well as highlight areas for improvement. Taking the time to celebrate strengths within a team is pivotal in this reflection phase, recognising and applauding strengths fosters a positive work environment, boosting morale and motivation. When team members feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to working on areas of improvement.

It’s important that these sessions are designed to be inclusive, creating a space that facilitates open and participatory discussion. When all members of your team feel confident to share their experiences and input, it leads to a richer, more comprehensive understanding of the team's dynamics and the underlying factors that influence them. This collective introspection can unearth hidden challenges, highlight strengths, and pave the way for actionable solutions. You may wish to provide an online form, or box, where team members can share reflections anonymously.

You may want to divide these sections into two parts:

  1. Collective reflection: Feedback session with all members of your team to gather their insights - encouraging open dialogue to understand diverse perspectives.
  2. **How to action insights: **Co-produce steps to address identified areas for improvement.

The goal of these sessions is to construct a transformation plan, with clearly measurable targets, so the whole team can work together to become more effective.

Step 7: Following up and measuring progress

Once areas of improvement have been identified, it's time to make a plan for how progress will be measured. Consistent monitoring of your team’s journey means that blockers can be solved as they happen, and that positive changes become tangible results.

Several key steps should be considered when measuring your progress:

1. A core team (most likely the same team that carried out the assessment process) should manage the monitoring process for your improvement targets. You could consider the following approaches:__

  • **Pulse Surveys: **Implement regular pulse surveys to gather ongoing feedback and insights from team members. These short, focused surveys can help gauge the progress of the improvement targets, identify emerging__ issues, and gather qualitative data on how the team perceives the changes.
  • **Periodic Assessments: **Conduct periodic diagnostic assessments at predefined intervals. This involves revisiting the initial assessment process to measure progress and identify areas that require further attention. Comparing the results of these assessments over time can offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of your improvement efforts.__
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define and track specific KPIs related to your improvement targets. KPIs provide quantitative data that can help measure success and identify any deviations from the desired outcomes. Regularly review and analyse these KPIs to inform decision-making.__
  • Feedback Mechanisms:** Establish open and transparent feedback mechanisms within the team. Encourage team members to share their observations, concerns, and suggestions related to the improvement targets. This can be done through regular meetings, suggestion boxes, or dedicated communication channels.__
  • Action Plans:** Develop and maintain clear action plans that outline the steps required to achieve your improvement targets. Assign responsibilities and timelines to ensure accountability within the core team. Regularly review and update these action plans as needed.

__2. __Identify the frequency that you would like to evaluate (or discuss) progress against your targets, this could be in regular all team meetings that you hold throughout the year.

3. Encourage collective ownership in regards to hitting your targets, and celebrate successes and improvements where they occur. You could consider the following approaches:

  • Establish Clear Goals and Targets: Begin by setting clear and measurable goals. Make sure these targets are specific, relevant, and time-bound.

  • Communicate the Importance of Collective Ownership: Clearly communicate to all team members and stakeholders why collective ownership is crucial. Explain that everyone's contribution is vital in achieving these goals. Use real-world examples of how collaborative efforts have led to success in the past. For instance, share a case study of a project where diverse teams working together resulted in innovative solutions.

  • Create Accountability Structures: Establish accountability structures that ensure everyone is responsible for their part in achieving the targets. Assign roles and responsibilities to specific team members or departments.

  • Regular Progress Tracking: Implement a tracking system to monitor progress toward the targets. This could involve regular check-ins, reporting mechanisms, or software tools. Provide a dashboard that visually represents progress.

5. **Recognise and Celebrate Achievements: **Whenever a milestone is reached or a significant improvement occurs, celebrate it. Recognition can take various forms, such as:

  • Team Awards: Recognize teams or individuals who made significant contributions. For example, you can present a "Gender Equality Champion of the Month" award to acknowledge outstanding efforts in promoting gender equality.
  • Public Acknowledgment: Share success stories or achievements through internal newsletters, or company-wide emails. Celebrate not only the end results but also the efforts and initiatives that led to those results.

6. Decide when you’re going to run the full assessment process again - You can compare the scores with the previous year, evaluate where improvements were made, and areas that need more attention.

Download the Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams Diagnostic Template.

👋 We would love to know what you think! Leave us a comment below to share your thoughts.

(Image Credit: Unsplash)