Another round of team health checks is upon us

And I've learned a few things...

  • Take detailed notes of the discussion - you can use these to refresh memories, provide contrast, use for discussion points, etc
  • Take care to note the action items, the expected outcomes, the action item owners, and update notes on this as time goes on (if you're involved with the teams)
  • If you are doing it remotely, remember that GoToMeeting has a 6 camera limit - just because someone's face isn't on the screen doesn't mean they aren't there!  Keep everyone involved!
  • Don't let newbies off the hook - they tend to have good insight as a relative outsider
  • If a topic is voted all one colour, get people to talk about why they voted that way
  • Try to ensure that everyone is there, especially if the team has a track record of appreciating the time spent doing this
  • Note outliers/contextual changes on the results doc
    • i.e. A team recently took over a function.  Their lack of visibility into that function had previously led them to vote 'yellow'.  At this health check they voted 'red'!  Not necessarily bad (should it not have been red before?), and worth noting.
  • It's probably worth spending some time learning about 'interview questions' or the like - being able to ask good questions helps in the role of facilitator
The good news is that so far the experiment continues to be a success/worthwhile - it's fun coming away from one and knowing that folks genuinely benefited.

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