Team Vital Signs (TVS)

TVS is a survey of team members evaluating the team experience. It measures the drivers of team effectiveness, offering insight into the workplace climate and team dynamics. Sharing the same key Vital Signs drivers with the LVS and OVS, the TVS adds the team-specific outcomes of Satisfaction, Results, Agility, and Sustainability. Quick and easy to administer, the TVS provides the data needed to have a transformational dialogue about team dynamics and performance.

TVS Model

All the Vital Signs tools use the same core model of performance drivers. In addition, each VS tool includes a second questionnaire about performance outcomes. These outcomes are different for each tool.

The TVS outcomes are shown in the following graphic;

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TVS Outcomes Defined

As you can see visually, above, there is one outcome per dimension. For example, Satisfaction is an outcome tied to People, which is a mix of Motivation + Teamwork (and a baseline of Trust which is part of all dimensions).

TVS Results

The TVS report includes:

• TVS Highlights: One page summary which includes all the key points presented later in the report

• The Vital Signs Model: Introduction to the framework

• Team Orientation: Style that the team is currently using

• Engagement: View on how people feel about the team

• Distribution of Scores: Comparison of strength vs cohesion of the team’s scores

• Combined Snapshot: Graph and numerical table of scores of drivers and outcomes

• Drivers: One page for each of the drivers and their 3 pulse points

• Outcomes: One page for each outcome and the drivers connected to it

• Pulse Points: Graph and numerical table of scores of the pulse points

• Comparison: Demographic comparison and additional questions

This is a sample of the Engagement index from the Executive Summary. It shows the relative level of deep commitment needed for superior performance. In the norm sample for both TVS and OVS, 25% of the population falls in Engaged, 50% in Neutral, and 25% in Disengaged.

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In the “Combined Scores” section, this graph provides a summary of the findings. The grey zones, on the left and right, represent the bottom and top score quartiles. The median score is marked at 100 (scores below 100 are potential obstacles).

Note: The first four drivers are the key elements of team climate. Trust is a cross section, a fulcrum that balances the four other drivers. In this model, our definition of “performance” is captured in the two dimensions (people-organization, strategy- operations) which are measured through four outcomes shown in the grey bars. In all of the VS tools there are actually two questionnaires: The drivers and the outcomes. Statistically and empirically we know that the drivers are a major contributor to success in the outcomes, but they are measured independently (sometimes there could be higher scores in the outcomes, for example, if a team is achieving highly productive results, but in a difficult climate; perhaps this is not sustainable). 


This sample from the Outcome Scores shows a numerical table of the scores and the variation of scores:

Standard Deviation is a measure of how spread out the responses are from the average. Low SD is indicative of consistency. On this tool, the normal Standard Deviation is 15. As a general benchmark:

SD is less than 12 indicates alignment.
SD is around 15 is typical.
SD is over 18 suggests low alignment (ie, disagreement)

This Critical Items sample provides deeper insight into some of the specific challenges and opportunities for team performance.