Engineering Team Health Check Template: Assess & Improve

By Fernando March 8, 2025 7 min read

You cannot improve what you do not measure. But most engineering teams only measure output — velocity, story points, deployment frequency. They never systematically assess the team itself: how people feel about the codebase, whether they trust each other, or if they are growing in their roles.

A team health check is a structured conversation about how the team is doing across multiple dimensions. Inspired by Spotify's Squad Health Check model and refined through my own experience leading teams across four companies, this template gives you a practical framework to run quarterly assessments that surface real issues before they become crises.

How the Health Check Works

The health check measures 10 dimensions of team health. For each dimension, every team member rates the team using a simple traffic light system: Green (awesome), Yellow (some concerns), Red (serious problems). The power is not in the scores themselves but in the conversation they trigger.

Run this exercise quarterly. It takes 60-90 minutes and produces specific improvement actions. Over time, you build a trend that shows where the team is improving and where persistent problems exist.

The health check is not a performance review. It is a team self-assessment. Make sure everyone understands that individual ratings are anonymous and the goal is team improvement, not blame.

ENGINEERING TEAM HEALTH CHECK TEMPLATE

Setup Instructions

Schedule 90 minutes with the whole team (in-person or video)
Prepare a shared board with the 10 dimensions below
Each person gets green, yellow, and red cards (physical or digital)
Voting is simultaneous — everyone reveals at the same time to prevent anchoring
Facilitator (rotate this role) leads the discussion

The 10 Health Dimensions

Dimension	Green Looks Like	Red Looks Like
1. Delivery Pace	We ship features at a sustainable, predictable pace.	We are constantly behind, firefighting, or rushing to meet deadlines.
2. Code Quality	We are proud of our codebase. It is clean and well-tested.	Our code is fragile, poorly tested, and painful to change.
3. Technical Debt	We manage tech debt proactively. It does not slow us down.	Tech debt is out of control and getting worse every sprint.
4. Learning & Growth	We are learning new things and growing our skills regularly.	We are stagnant. No time or support for professional development.
5. Teamwork	We collaborate well, help each other, and communicate openly.	We work in silos. There is tension or poor communication.
6. Psychological Safety	Anyone can raise concerns, admit mistakes, or disagree without fear.	People are afraid to speak up. Mistakes are punished, not learned from.
7. Clarity of Mission	We understand why our work matters and how it connects to the business.	We do not know why we are building what we are building.
8. Support from Leadership	Our tech lead and management support us, remove blockers, and listen.	We feel unsupported. Decisions are made without our input.
9. Work-Life Balance	We work sustainable hours. On-call is fair. People take vacations.	We are burned out. After-hours work is expected. Vacations feel impossible.
10. Fun	We enjoy working together. There is energy and enthusiasm.	Work feels like a grind. People are disengaged or looking elsewhere.

Facilitation Guide

Introduction (5 min): Remind the team this is about team improvement, not individual performance. All votes are anonymous in spirit — no one will be asked to justify their red card.
Voting Round (15 min): Go through each dimension. Read the description. Everyone votes simultaneously. Record the results.
Discussion (45 min): Focus on dimensions with the most red/yellow votes. Ask: "What would it take to move this to green?" Aim for specific, concrete ideas.
Action Planning (20 min): Select the top 2-3 dimensions to improve. Define one action item per dimension with an owner and timeline.
Wrap-up (5 min): Thank the team. Share the results and actions in a visible location.

Results Tracker

Dimension	Q1 Score	Q2 Score	Q3 Score	Q4 Score	Trend
Delivery Pace	___	___	___	___	___
Code Quality	___	___	___	___	___
Technical Debt	___	___	___	___	___
Learning & Growth	___	___	___	___	___
Teamwork	___	___	___	___	___
Psychological Safety	___	___	___	___	___
Clarity of Mission	___	___	___	___	___
Support from Leadership	___	___	___	___	___
Work-Life Balance	___	___	___	___	___
Fun	___	___	___	___	___

Improvement Action Items

Dimension	Action	Owner	Deadline	Status
___	___	___	___	___
___	___	___	___	___
___	___	___	___	___

Tips for Getting Honest Results

As the tech lead, vote last or simultaneously. If you vote first, you anchor the team. Your green card on "Support from Leadership" will suppress honest feedback on that exact dimension.
Do not get defensive. If the team rates "Support from Leadership" as red, that is valuable data. Thank them for the honesty and ask what would help.
Follow through on actions. If the team sees no improvement after a health check, they will stop being honest in the next one. Completing even one action item maintains trust in the process.
Share results transparently. Post the summary (without individual attribution) in the team channel. This demonstrates accountability. For more on trust-building, see our guide on building trust as a new tech lead.

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