From Gut Feel to Data: Using Teamwork Self‑Assessments to Build Stronger Teams

In this episode of The Science of Leading, Claire and Edwin unpack how team managers can use a simple, well-designed teamwork self‑assessment questionnaire to see what’s really happening inside their teams—and then actually do something about it. They explore what great teamwork questionnaires measure (communication, listening, collaboration, flexibility, decision making, leadership, and problem solving), how to design and run them without creating a culture of blame, and why clarity around anonymity and data use is non‑negotiable for honest responses. Then they walk through how to interpret the results and turn them into behavior change: reading patterns in subscale scores, linking them to real performance issues like missed handoffs or stalled decisions, and translating the findings into 2–3 focused team experiments over a 4–6 week period rather than overwhelming people with initiatives. Throughout the conversation, Claire brings the questions and concerns of frontline managers—How do I introduce this without spooking people? What if scores are bad?—while Edwin connects the dots to research on team effectiveness, psychological safety, and leadership behavior. Together, they show how moving from gut feel to structured data can help managers coach more fairly, improve collaboration, and keep teams moving in the same direction without turning assessment into bureaucracy.