Service team health monitor template

Before you can get honest about how your team is performing, you’ll record your high-level information in the top table of the template. This includes the name of your service team, your sponsor, and your cadence (i.e., how often you plan to run health monitors). Keep in mind that health monitors work the best when they’re done on a frequent basis, so you should run one at least monthly with your team.

The health monitor exists to see how your whole team is performing – not just you as an individual. That means your team needs to be in on this together. Gather everyone who is on the front lines of your service team to discuss what’s working well and what isn’t. If this is your first time running a health monitor, plan for at least an hour. That should give you adequate time to have a candid discussion without feeling rushed.

The bulk of the template is dedicated to the Team health assessment table, and this is where you’ll get real about how your team is performing. 

Each row of the table lists an attribute of a healthy, high-performing service team (such as team leadership or customer centricity). Read the first attribute aloud to your group. On the count of three, ask everybody to rate how they think your team is doing compared with that definition using this system: thumbs-up (green), thumbs-sideways (yellow), and thumbs-down (red). 

Agree on an official rating together, record that in the table along with some notes about your reasoning, and then assign the appropriate color to that cell. Repeat that same process for every attribute in the table. 

Each time you run a service team health monitor in the future, record the date at the top of the next column and add your new ratings there. You’ll be glad to have that historical record of how you’ve progressed because those improvements are worth celebrating!

The whole point of running the health monitor is not just to pat yourselves on the back for what you’re doing well, but also to pinpoint some areas for improvement.

Look at the attributes that are marked with red or yellow. Your goal is to eventually move those to green, but you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew right away. Ask your team to agree on one area that you should focus on first and then brainstorm the specific and actionable ways you can boost your performance in that area. 

Use the Focus areas section of the template to list the date and the attribute you’ve agreed to work on. Underneath that, add action items with due dates and team member assignments so that you can take steps toward improving.