Atlassian Leadership Team Health Monitor

Check whether your leadership group works as one team.

Try this health check live

Is your leadership team actually a team?

The Leadership Team Health Monitor is Atlassian's version of its Health Monitor for leadership groups. On a leadership team, the problems are more often trust, candor and pulling in the same direction than delivery. So this version rates eight attributes that matter at the top, including team cohesion, encouraging difference, suitable ways of working and continuous improvement. Everyone rates each one red, amber or green, and the reds set the agenda for the conversation.

Dimensions

Eight attributes

The eight attributes that distinguish a high-performing leadership team, from cohesion and candor through to continuous improvement.

  • Team cohesion

    We have the trust, respect and connection to work as one leadership team, not a group of individuals.

    • We operate as individuals with little trust
    • Some trust, but not yet one team
    • We work as one cohesive leadership team

  • Balanced team

    We have the right people, skills and clearly defined roles around this table.

    • Wrong mix and unclear roles
    • Some gaps in people or roles
    • Right people, skills and clear roles

  • Encouraging difference

    We actively seek different viewpoints and work through disagreements with respect.

    • Difference is avoided or shut down
    • We tolerate difference inconsistently
    • We seek difference and debate with respect

  • Shared understanding

    We're aligned on our mission, priorities and the milestones that matter.

    • We're pulling in different directions
    • Partial alignment on priorities
    • Fully aligned on mission and milestones

  • Value and metrics

    We're clear on the value we're accountable for and use metrics to make decisions.

    • Unclear value, decisions by gut
    • Some clarity, metrics used unevenly
    • Clear value and metrics drive decisions

  • Suitable ways of working

    Our meetings, decisions and tools help us lead well rather than get in the way.

    • Ways of working get in the way
    • Some good habits, some friction
    • Our ways of working help us lead

  • Engagement and support

    We're engaged and present, and we back each other and our teams.

    • Disengaged and unsupportive
    • Engagement and support are uneven
    • Fully engaged and backing each other

  • Continuous improvement

    We regularly step back to reflect on and improve how we lead together.

    • We rarely reflect or improve
    • We reflect occasionally
    • We routinely reflect and improve

When to use this health check

  • A new or reshaped leadership team finding its feet
  • A quarterly leadership offsite or strategy day
  • When the executive team feels like silos rather than a single team

Tips & tricks

  • Pay most attention to low scores on encouraging difference or team cohesion. Without candor, the other attributes are hard to fix.
  • Senior leaders should go first on the tough topics, so others can see it's safe to be candid.
  • Have everyone rate on their own, then look at the combined result together and start with the reds.
  • Run it periodically so you can track whether cohesion and candor are genuinely improving.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Leadership Team Health Monitor?
It's Atlassian's health check for leadership and executive teams. Instead of project delivery, it covers eight attributes of a leadership group that works as one team, from cohesion to encouraging difference and continuous improvement, each rated red, amber or green.
How is it different from the project version?
The project Health Monitor is about shipping a piece of work, with attributes such as having a full-time owner. The leadership version keeps some attributes, like balanced team and shared understanding, and adds ones that matter at the top of an organization, like team cohesion and encouraging difference.
Who should be in the room?
The intact leadership team that shares a mandate, usually an executive or senior leadership group. Keep it to the people who genuinely need to work as one team.
What are the eight attributes of a healthy leadership team?
Team cohesion, balanced team, encouraging difference, shared understanding, value and metrics, suitable ways of working, engagement and support, and continuous improvement. This check rates each of the eight in TeamRetro's own wording.
How do you run a leadership team health monitor session?
Everyone rates the eight attributes privately as red, amber or green, then the group looks at the combined result together. Start with the attribute that has the most reds or the widest disagreement, and agree one action for it. Run it again in a quarter and compare, because the value is in the movement.
How often should a leadership team run this?
Quarterly works for most leadership teams. Run it again whenever the group changes shape: a new member, a merged function, a new mandate. More often than monthly doesn't give an action time to show up in the scores.
Is this Atlassian's official assessment?
No. Atlassian publishes the Health Monitor plays in its Team Playbook. This is TeamRetro's own version of the leadership monitor, run asynchronously with trend tracking. TeamRetro isn't affiliated with Atlassian.

Adapted from Atlassian's Team Playbook (Leadership Team Health Monitor), licensed under CC BY-NC-SA. Wording is TeamRetro's own.

Related health checks