Team Health Checks Reference

Foundation

Why Team Health Checks?

Health checks give teams a structured way to surface hidden problems before they become crises. The key insight from Spotify's Engineering Culture: teams that talk openly about what's not working are more resilient than teams that pretend everything is fine.

Unlike maturity models, health checks are explicitly not about reaching a higher level — they are about understanding the current state and having an honest conversation about it.

Health checks are for the team first. If results are reported to management as a progress metric, psychological safety collapses and honest answers stop.

Foundation

The Spotify Squad Health Model

Developed at Spotify by Joakim Sundén and Jason Yip, the Squad Health Check model uses a traffic-light assessment across 11 dimensions. Each dimension is scored Green (good), Amber (some concerns), or Red (needs urgent attention).

The power is in the conversation — not the colour. Two team members might score the same dimension differently, and that disagreement is the signal to discuss.

The Dimensions

11 Health Dimensions

🚀 Easy to Release

Green

Releases are routine, automated, and low-stress

Amber

Releases happen but require manual steps or cause anxiety

Red

Releases are rare, painful, or avoided

🎯 Suitable Process

Green

Our process fits the work; ceremonies are valuable

Amber

Some ceremonies feel like overhead; process occasionally gets in the way

Red

Process is chaos or bureaucracy; we're constantly context-switching

💡 Tech Quality

Green

We're proud of our codebase; tech debt is managed

Amber

Some areas are a mess; tech debt slows some work

Red

We're drowning in debt; the codebase is a liability

💎 Value

Green

We know why our work matters; it creates real customer value

Amber

We sometimes do work of questionable value or unclear purpose

Red

We don't know if our work matters; we feel like a feature factory

🚄 Speed

Green

We move fast; good ideas reach customers quickly

Amber

We're slower than we'd like; blockers are common

Red

Delivery is painfully slow; nothing moves without a fight

🎠 Mission

Green

We know exactly why we exist; everyone's aligned on our mission

Amber

Mission is vague or changes often; alignment is patchy

Red

We don't know what we're trying to achieve or why

🎈 Fun

Green

We enjoy our work; team atmosphere is positive and energising

Amber

Work is okay but not particularly enjoyable; morale is flat

Red

Work is stressful or joyless; people are burning out

🧠 Learning

Green

We learn constantly; individuals grow professionally

Amber

Some learning happens but it's ad hoc; growth is slow

Red

No time or space for learning; we're stuck in firefighting mode

🤝 Collaboration

Green

Team works seamlessly together; healthy cross-team relationships

Amber

Internal friction or difficult cross-team dependencies

Red

Silos, blame culture, or cross-team conflict

🔧 Support

Green

We get the support we need from leadership and other teams

Amber

Support is inconsistent; some impediments aren't removed

Red

We feel unsupported; impediments never get resolved

💪 Pawns or Players

Green

We control our destiny; we influence what we work on and how

Amber

We have some control but often get work assigned without input

Red

We feel like order-takers with no influence

Running a Check

Session Format

Preparation
→ 11 dimension cards (physical or digital; one per card)
→ Green / Amber / Red voting cards or digital tool (Miro, EasyRetro)
→ 45 minutes; whole team present including SM and PO
→ Run every 6–8 weeks, not monthly or ad hoc

Session (45 min)
0–5 min  → Set context: "This is for us. Results stay in this room."
5–25 min → Dimension by dimension:
             - Facilitator reads the dimension
             - Everyone votes simultaneously (no influence)
             - Results revealed; if mixed → 2-min discussion only
             - Note: most positive / most concerning aspect
25–40 min → Focus on 2–3 Red/Amber dimensions with biggest gap or trend
             - What's behind the score?
             - What would move it one step in the right direction?
40–45 min → Agree 1–2 actions with owners; add to Sprint Backlog

Simultaneous voting is critical. If one person reveals their colour before others, it anchors the group. Use physical cards flipped face-down until "reveal."

Other Models

Team NPS

A simple pulse metric: "On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend this team as a great place to work?" Score monthly, anonymously.

Net Promoter Score calculation:
→ Promoters (9–10): enthusiastic advocates
→ Passives (7–8): satisfied but not enthusiastic
→ Detractors (0–6): unhappy team members

Team NPS = % Promoters − % Detractors

Interpretation:
> 50  → Exceptional team health
30–50 → Healthy; some friction worth addressing
0–30  → Neutral; improvement needed
< 0   → Significant health issues requiring urgent attention

Use alongside:
→ Open question: "What's one thing we could do to raise your score?"
→ Track monthly trend; a drop of 10+ points is a signal to investigate

Reference

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Problem	Fix
Results reported to management	Team stops being honest; all greens, nothing improves	Results are team-only; SM can summarise themes with permission
Sequential voting	First vote anchors the rest; false consensus	Simultaneous reveal always
No action from results	Team stops engaging; "just another meeting"	1–2 concrete actions every session; tracked to completion
Skipping Red dimensions	Painful topics avoided; nothing improves	Red = must discuss; skip ambers if time is short, never reds
Running too frequently	Score fatigue; answers become mechanical	Every 6–8 weeks maximum; allows real change between sessions

Reference

Health Check Cheat Sheet

11 Spotify dimensions
Easy to Release · Suitable Process · Tech Quality · Value
Speed · Mission · Fun · Learning · Collaboration · Support
Pawns or Players

Traffic lights
🟢 Green → working well, we're proud of this
🟡 Amber → some concerns, trend watching
🔴 Red   → significant problem, needs action now

Session format (45 min)
0–5    → Context setting (results stay in team)
5–25   → Dimension voting + brief discussions
25–40  → Deep dive on 2–3 red/amber dimensions
40–45  → 1–2 actions with owners → Sprint Backlog

Key rules
→ Simultaneous reveal (no anchoring)
→ Results are for the team, not management
→ Every session produces at least 1 committed action
→ Run every 6–8 weeks

Team NPS
Score: 0–10 "Recommend as great place to work?"
NPS = % Promoters (9–10) − % Detractors (0–6)
>50 = exceptional · 0–30 = needs work · <0 = urgent