20 Questions: A Quick-Start Assessment of Your Team’s Readiness Capability

Published on March 3, 2012 in Best Practices | No Comments

It can be helpful to occasionally stop and take inventory of your team’s readiness capability. A team achieves readiness when each individual member can do his or her job — correctly, on time, within budget, safely, and as expected. Achieving team readiness means that jobs get done in the right way and with the desired results. Team members must have the proper know-how and ability to perform their duties. And they must conduct themselves with the appropriate behavior.

The TeamReadiness® Capability Assessment Model is a self-diagnostic framework to help assess an organizations’ or teams’ ability to optimally carry-out its mission. The model examines seven factors that seem most correlated with readiness capability (based on TeamReadiness® implementations and benchmarking). Each factor is evaluated and assigned a score from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) to quantify Readiness Capability. The model can be used to help team’s understand where they are, and chart a course for where they want to go, to achieve team readiness.

readiness-thumb

(Click image to enlarge)

In an effort to design a “quick” assessment of the qualities and characteristics needed by teams to achieve readiness, we looked at different practices from our own experience as well as disciplines including:

  • Project Management
  • Team Building and Team Dynamics
  • Learning Organizations
  • Employee Engagement
  • Emergency and Risk Management

What follows are 20 questions that you can answer to assess the readiness capability of your team. For each question, consider how well your team meets the general criteria shown and give a score between 1 (poor) and 5 (excellent). You may need to modify the criteria to fit the specific needs of your team. For scores less than 5, consider what you might do to improve your team’s readiness capability.

TeamReadiness

A. Command & Communicate
# Question Criteria Score
1. Does the Team have a good leader?
  • Understands the mission
  • Works well with others
  • Shares organization values
  • Gets results
  • Respects and respected by others
  • Inspires others
  • Delegates appropriately
  • Listens & communicates effectively
  • Fair & balanced
    		•  1 to 5
    2. Does the team have a good workplan?
  • Deliverables
  • Responsible team members
  • Due dates
  • Realistic & achievable
    		•  1 to 5
    3. Does each team member know what is expected of them and why it needs to be done?
  • Deliverables, specifications, and due dates
  • Roles & responsibilities
  • Metrics
  • Impact on other people
  • Behavior & conduct
    		•  1 to 5
    4. Does each team member know how to do their jobs?
  • Processes
  • Procedures
  • Policies
  • Plans
  • Best Practices
  • Tools & Techniques
    		•  1 to 5
    5. Does the team have a good process for decision making?
  • Appropriate people involved
  • Criteria
  • Data required
  • Assessment of pros & cons
  • Communications & implementation
    		•  1 to 5
    6. Does the team do a good job of communicating information?
  • Appropriate information
  • Timely
  • Interactive
  • Open & honest
  • Reaches the right people
  • Respectful
  • Secure & confidential
    		•  1 to 5
    7. Does the team have a good process of empowerment & accountability?
  • Agreement on what is to be done
  • Resources allocated
  • Clear guidelines & policies
  • Authority is granted
  • Timely feedback & progress reviews
  • Clear consequences
    		•  1 to 5
    8. Does the team meet regularly to review and discuss progress?
  • Work plan: status of deliverables
  • Discuss issues
  • Communicate updates and changes
    		•  1 to 5
    B. Document & Share
    # Question Criteria Score
    9. Do team members readily and openly share their knowledge and experience with other team members?
  • Helpful
  • Cooperative
  • Collaborative
  • Inclusive; no one is shunned
  • Respectful
    		•  1 to 5
    10. Do team members document their knowledge using computer or online tools so it can be preserved and referenced by others?
  • Demonstration videos
  • Procedures and checklists
  • Best practices & case studies
    		•  1 to 5
    C. Tools & Techniques
    # Question Criteria Score
    11. Does the Team use formal, proven, and agreed upon methods for problem solving and accomplishing tasks?
  • Proven methods (e.g, six sigma, lean)
  • Computer applications (e.g., AutoCAD)
  • Machines & fixtures
    		•  1 to 5
    12. Do team members know how to use the tools & techniques they need to do their jobs?
  • What tools?
  • When are they used?
  • Why are they used?
  • Where are they used?
  • Who uses them?
  • How are they used?
    		•  1 to 5
    13. Are tools & techniques in place to give team members situational awareness during a mission, while performing a procedure, or while conducting an operation?
  • What happened in the past?
  • What is happening right now?
  • What could happen going forward?
    		•  1 to 5
    D. Internal Resources
    # Question Criteria Score
    14. Are there sufficient internal resources available to assist team members with their job?
  • Capable people
  • Equipment & machines
  • Technology
  • Money & time
    		•  1 to 5
    E. External Resources
    # Question Criteria Score
    15. Would your suppliers say that your team members work well with them to get the job done?
  • Knowledgeable & capable
  • Cooperative
  • Communicate appropriately
  • Meet commitments on-time
  • Engaged – regularly ask for and offer input
  • Have the information they need
    		•  1 to 5
    16. Would your team members say that your suppliers work well with them to get the job done?
  • Knowledgeable & capable
  • Cooperative
  • Communicate appropriately
  • Meet commitments on-time
  • Engaged – regularly ask for and offer input
  • Have the information they need
    		•  1 to 5
    F. Train & Drill
    # Question Criteria Score
    17. Are there online, always accessible, and easy-to-understand training materials focused on the specific jobs that team members perform?
  • Training directly applicable to job
  • Equips people with appropriate skills
  • Covers necessary topics
  • Team members actively involved in content creation
  • Easy-to-use & understand
    		•  1 to 5
    18. Is your training program easy to administer and automated, ensuring that team members get the specific training they need, when they need it, with minimum overhead and hassle?
  • Easy-to-access & use
  • Tracks progress of participants
  • Automatically reminds users of courses to take
  • Delivers training content anytime, anywhere
    		•  1 to 5
    G. Risk Management
    # Question Criteria Score
    19. Has the team adequately mitigated, but also prepared for, likely failures associated with process and procedure execution (e.g., machine breaks down, a key person quits, etc.)?
  • Steps taken to mitigate risk
  • Steps taken to prepare for likely risks
  • Team trains to respond to likely risks
  • Recovery steps are in place
    		•  1 to 5
    20. Has the team adequately mitigated, but also prepared for, likely man-made attacks (e.g., theft, fire, computer hacker, etc.) and also likely natural disasters (e.g., flood, tornado, etc.)?
  • Steps taken to mitigate risk
  • Steps taken to prepare for likely risks
  • Team trains to respond to likely risks
  • Recovery steps are in place
    		•  1 to 5

    DMW by line3

    How Can TeamReadiness Help Your Team Achieve Readiness Capability?

    • 1. We document your plans, procedures, processes, policies, best practices, and training courses.

    • 2. TeamReadiness documentation is highly visual, easy-to-use, and easy-to-understand.

    • 3. TeamReadiness documentation provides powerful knowledge that team members, suppliers, and customers need.

    • 4. Our TRM On Demand™ software provides easy and secure online access to your documentation, training, and records.

    • 5. Easily create online tests and course completion certificates that reinforce learning and build esprit de corps.

    • 6. Easily communicate and collaborate with your team to optimize knowledge and learning.

    • 7. TeamReadiness gets people involved and engaged in ways that promote “buy-in,” sharing, collaboration, and cooperation.

    • 8. TeamReadiness documentation breaks learning down into small, quick, easily understood videos or other formats.

    Let TeamReadiness help. We can assist with the entire process to quickly and cost effectively help team members grow their capabilities and achieve team readiness!

    DMW

    TeamReadiness® can help!

    Copyright © 2007-2012 TeamReadiness, Inc.

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