A squad health check is a regular survey of critical areas that make a team efficient, proficient, and happy. By creating an opportunity for members of the squad to safely reflect on those critical areas and provide their feedback, the health checks support their continuous improvement. They identify areas in need of development, and track the success of the treatments that are applied.
Moneybox is a UK-based fintech company offering an award-winning app designed to help people achieve their financial goals. To date, their app has over a million users who have the option to invest, save or plan for their retirement.
When Moneybox implemented a system of squads to optimize their value delivery to users, they also introduced a way to optimize their health and performance. They did this with squad health checks.
Moneybox needed a way to deliver their customized squad health checks simply, efficiently and effectively; they chose TeamRetro.
Head of iOS, Valerio Bettini, shares their TeamRetro story.
Who we are
At Moneybox, we value our company culture. We strive to ensure that our team members enjoy their work and that they have the necessary tools and processes to deliver the best features.
We recently reorganized our cross-functional teams into Squads. These are dedicated delivery teams focused on specific feature areas.
It became apparent that we needed a tool to monitor and assess the health of each Squad. One that would evaluate the different aspects that make the team happy, efficient, and proficient.
Our TeamRetro experience
To address this need, we developed customized templates that cover a range of areas critical to Squad health.
We quickly realized that using TeamRetro would provide the ideal platform to conduct health checks and assess the success of each squad.
“We found that organizing health checks was easy.”
TeamRetro allowed us to customize the assessment to monitor the aspects that were most important to our company.
These areas include:
- Mission
- Ownership
- Velocity
- Delivering value
- Suitable processes
- Communication
- Team roles
- Support and resources
- Work in harmony
- Technology
Team health radar using random data created for illustration purposes only
After just one iteration of the squad health checks, we began to see positive results.
We recognized the need to revisit some of the processes in use and better define the roles within the Squads.
Specifically, we noticed a lower score on two particular dimensions identified by using TeamRetro. This then allowed us to then take proactive action and support the team.
We now hold a health check every two months. We organize an interactive session to discuss the anonymous feedback received.
This provides an opportunity to create action points that can be assigned to people directly using the interface provided by TeamRetro.
Overall, using TeamRetro to conduct Squad health checks have been a game-changer for us at Moneybox.
Using health checks to support our squads
The history of health checks is also valuable. We can make comparisons with past assessments and understand if our actions and changes brought an improvement in scores.
The reports allow us to compare the different squads with one another, identifying similarities and differences.
“By using this platform, we have been able to identify areas where improvements are needed and take the necessary steps to ensure that each Squad is performing at its best.”
We now have a system in place that allows us to regularly assess the health of each Squad and take action to improve any areas that need attention.
By doing so, we are creating a culture of continuous improvement that ensures that our team members enjoy their work and that our customers receive the best features and products possible.
Thanks to our writer – Valerio Bettini, An iOS developer since 2009, Valerio is a product-minded, user-focused accomplished team leader with a vast portfolio of published iOS apps. He is currently the Head of iOS Moneybox, the company that has delivered a multi-award winning app of the same name.