The Spotify Squad Health Check model is a powerful and comprehensive team-assessment tool that has gained significant traction within the tech industry since it was first launched in 2012. The health check model is an evolution of what was once called the autonomous quads quarterly survey, first introduced in this Spotify article - Scaling Agile at Spotify.
The Spotify Squad Health Check model was introduced to the world in this now infamous blog post. It was created by Henrik Kniberg and Kristian Lindwall in 2014 and updated in 2023.
But what exactly is the Spotify Squad Health Check and how do you run one? We'll dive into it in this article.
At it's core the Spotify Squad Health Check is a form of retrospective or live team assessment questionnaire that differentiates itself by focusing on long-term and systemic issues. The magic of this model is that it uncovers issues that don't typically get addressed during traditional sprint retrospectives. The team gains valuable insights and awareness of what it's strengths and weaknesses are across a range of topics.
The way it works is simple - a host or facilitator walks team members through a set of pre-defined questions related to how the team works together. The Spotify Squad Health Check template has 10 questions ranging from team morale, to work life balance, to quality of the code.
Taken question by question, the facilitator first reads the topic and the examples of good and bad. Team members are asked to reflect on how the team is doing in that area and then place a vote for either good, bad, or just ok (green, red, or yellow).
Votes are kept secret until the host reveals them. This helps participants feel comfortable, reduces group think and bias, and encourages more honest feedback from team members. For a robust guide on how to perform the Spotify Squad Health Check, check out our team health check ultimate guide.
Here are the 10 Spotify Squad Health Check team assessment questions:
The ease with which the team can push out new stuff
How much impact your team’s work has on users and the company
Gauges the quality of the team’s code, design, and architecture
The availability of resources, tools, and assistance provided to the team
Whether your team’s way of working actually helps get things done
Measures the level of learning, professional growth, and knowledge sharing
How fast your team can crank out results and wrap up tasks
Whether or not your team enjoys working together
How clear your team is on their purpose and how they fit in the big picture
Do team members feel empowered and engaged in decision-making
Due to the guided question-by-question approach, participants are forced to think and share perspectives on aspects of the team that they would normally not think about or wouldn't bring up during sprint retrospectives, pulse surveys, or other team assessment surveys. It forces to team to go deep and uncover deeper-rooted challenges that are impacting how well they work together.
Team leaders can use the learnings from the Spotify Squad Health Check to know exactly where to focus their attention and resources in order to help the team improve.
By conducting Squad Health Checks every month or two, teams can spot trends and leaders can see if their interventions are having the desired impact on the team's performance, collaboration, and overall happiness and satisfaction.
RetroWave has created a number of Team Health Check survey templates that work for any team.
If you're looking to build a company culture of trust, transparency, and continuous improvement, you should consider introducing regular team health checks into your team's routine.
RetroWave has created an online tool for conducting Squad Health Checks with both remote and in-person teams.
