Google Project Aristotle Team Assessment

Google's Project Aristotle found five dynamics behind its most effective teams, led by psychological safety. Rate your team on all five, anonymously, and see which one is holding the rest back.

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What makes a team effective? Google studied 180 of its teams to find out.

Google's People Analytics team studied 180 of its own teams to answer one question: what makes a team effective? The research, code-named Project Aristotle, found that how a team works together matters far more than who is on it. Five dynamics stood out: psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact, with psychological safety underpinning the other four. This check asks your team to rate all five, two statements each, so you can see which dynamic is holding the rest back and agree what to change. The statements are TeamRetro's own wording, based on the dynamics Google published through re:Work.

Dimensions

Psychological safety

Whether people feel safe to take interpersonal risks in front of each other: to admit a mistake, ask a question or offer an idea.

  • Owning mistakes

    When I get something wrong on this team, it isn't used against me.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

  • Speaking up

    I can raise a half-formed idea or an awkward question without worrying how it will look.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

Dependability

Whether teammates reliably deliver quality work on time, so people can count on each other.

  • Follow-through

    When someone on this team commits to something, it gets done.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

  • Reliable work

    I can rely on my teammates' work being good and on time.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

Structure and clarity

Whether roles, plans and goals are clear, and everyone knows how decisions get made.

  • Clear roles

    I know what is expected of me and what each of my teammates is responsible for.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

  • Clear goals

    Our goals are specific, and I know how they will be measured.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

Meaning

Whether the work matters personally to each person on the team.

  • Personal meaning

    I care about the work I do on this team, not just about getting it done.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

  • Motivation

    What I work on here connects to something I value.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

Impact

Whether people can see that the team's work makes a difference.

  • Contribution

    I can see where our team's work shows up in what the organization is trying to achieve.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

  • Difference made

    Our work makes a real difference to the people it is for.

    • Strongly disagree
    • Neutral
    • Strongly agree

When to use this health check

  • When a team is underperforming and you are not sure whether the cause is safety, clarity or something else.
  • When a new team forms, to set a baseline on all five dynamics early.
  • Quarterly, to see whether the actions you agreed are moving the weakest dynamic.

Tips & tricks

  • Keep it anonymous: psychological safety is the dynamic people are least likely to rate honestly with their name attached.
  • Work on the lowest dynamic first, and check safety before anything else, since Google found it underpins the other four.
  • Look at the spread as well as the average. A split team is a different conversation from a uniformly low score.
  • Share the combined result with the team and decide the actions together rather than handing them down.

Frequently asked questions

What is Project Aristotle?
Project Aristotle is Google's research into what makes a team effective. Its People Analytics team studied 180 teams, ran dozens of statistical models on hundreds of variables, and found that how a team works together mattered far more than who is on it. Google published the findings and the five dynamics through its re:Work site. The name is a nod to Aristotle's line that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
What are the five dynamics of effective teams?
In the order of importance Google found: psychological safety (people can take risks in front of each other without being embarrassed or punished), dependability (teammates deliver quality work on time), structure and clarity (roles, plans and goals are clear), meaning (the work matters personally to each person) and impact (people believe their work makes a difference). Psychological safety came out as the one that underpins the other four.
How do I run it with my team?
Send the check to everyone on the team and let them answer privately: two statements for each of the five dynamics, on a five-point agree scale. When it closes, look at the lowest dynamic and at where answers are most spread, and discuss that one first rather than all five. Agree one or two actions, then run it again in a quarter to see whether the score moved.
How is this different from a psychological safety check?
A psychological safety check goes deep on one dynamic, with seven statements based on Amy Edmondson's scale. This assessment covers all five Project Aristotle dynamics at a lighter depth, so you can see whether safety is really the problem or whether something like unclear goals or dependability is. Start here if you are not sure; switch to the psychological safety check when safety comes out lowest.
Is this Google's official Project Aristotle survey?
No. Google published the five dynamics and a few example survey items through re:Work. This health check is TeamRetro's own assessment built on those dynamics, in its own wording, and TeamRetro is not affiliated with Google.
How is this different from an engagement survey?
An engagement survey measures how individuals feel about their work and organization, while Project Aristotle focuses on how a team works together across five specific, research-backed dimensions. It surfaces the group dynamics that drive effectiveness and turns any gaps into shared actions the team can own.

Based on the five team dynamics from Google's Project Aristotle research, published by Google re:Work (Understand team effectiveness, 2015). Statement wording is TeamRetro's own. TeamRetro is not affiliated with Google.

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