If you're not measuring your team interactions, you're not measuring anything worth measuring.

Harnessing the Power of Surveys for Enterprise Agility means making sure you measure the interactions between 'things'; not just the things

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of enterprise agility, understanding team dynamics goes beyond evaluating individual performance. It’s about diving deep into how team members interact and collaborate.

The Heart of Effective Surveys

When we talk about team health checks, it's crucial to remember the primary goal: understanding and improving interactions within the team. Erik aptly introduced the topic, emphasizing the importance of measuring these interactions. This aligns with the fundamental principle that in a complex adaptive system, it’s not about the nodes (individuals) but the interaction between these nodes that drives success.

By focusing on interaction, we can better gauge the flow of communication, the efficiency of processes, and the overall work environment. This perspective shift from individual metrics to interaction metrics is pivotal for agile enterprises.

Designing Purposeful Surveys

1. Defining the Survey’s Purpose:
Ian highlighted the importance of clarity in the survey’s objective. Before crafting questions, ask: For whom is this survey, and what do we want to achieve with the results? This helps in aligning the survey’s focus, whether it’s for individual teams, inter-team dynamics, or the broader organizational environment.

2. Creating Focused Questions:
The questions should be structured to avoid turning the survey into a complaint mechanism. Instead, they should aim to uncover actionable insights. For example, rather than asking if leadership is effective (which can be subjective and sensitive), focus on how leadership interactions impact team performance.

Consistency and Adaptability

3. Consistency Across Teams:
Erik and Maria discussed the need for consistent questions across teams to ensure comparability. However, the interpretation of results should consider the context of each team’s maturity and environment. A newly formed team will naturally respond differently compared to a well-established one.

4. Timing is Everything:
Keeping surveys concise (ideally under 15 minutes) ensures higher participation and more honest feedback. Quick turnaround in sharing results fosters transparency and trust, reinforcing the survey’s value to the team.

Interpreting and Acting on Survey Results

5. Transparent and Collaborative Analysis:
Ian suggested that survey results should be shared transparently and quickly. This not only validates the effort of participants but also empowers teams to act on the feedback. Facilitating open discussions based on these results can lead to meaningful improvements.

Five Key Takeaways

1. Purpose-Driven Surveys:
   Surveys should have a clear objective. Define the purpose to ensure that the questions align with what you want to achieve, whether it’s improving team dynamics, inter-team collaboration, or the overall work environment.

2. Focus on Interactions:
   Measure interactions, not individuals. The strength of a team lies in how members work together. Survey questions should aim to uncover the quality of these interactions to drive effective improvements.

3. Consistency with Context:
   Use consistent questions across teams but interpret results with context in mind. A newly formed team’s feedback will differ from that of a seasoned team. Adapt your analysis accordingly.

4. Timely and Transparent Feedback:
   Keep surveys short and share results quickly. Timeliness in sharing results fosters transparency, trust, and a sense of urgency in addressing issues.

5. Collaborative Analysis:
   Facilitate open discussions on survey results. This collaborative approach ensures that teams feel heard and are actively involved in the improvement process, enhancing overall engagement and productivity.

Thanks for reading this. In addition to writing here, I co-host a podcast on leadership and enterprise agility. The latest episode which is a deep dive on the above topic is here - Beyond Metrics: How Interactions Define Team Success