Team Health: Moving Beyond Survival Mode

An Evolution in Leading Indicators for Resilience and Engagement

One of my most popular posts of all time is Agile Team Engagement, Health & Happiness Checks, last refreshed in 2022. Figured it was time for an update.

Much has changed in the last couple of years — poly-crisis pressures, AI disruption, “do more with less” mandates, and the slow death of meaningful social network connections. These have created a perfect storm for team dysfunction and lack of engagement, along with an urgent need to do something about it. (The data is sobering; if you have the appetite for it, see the Appendix.)

Yet the fundamental human needs for the world of work haven’t changed — purpose, creativity, autonomy, relationships, mastery, and psychological safety.

Perhaps most importantly, since 2022, our capacity to sense and respond to team health in near real-time has improved dramatically.

The Evolution: What’s Different Now

Three forces have fundamentally changed the team health landscape over the past couple of years.

Systemic Pressure Amplifiers

External pressures are hitting teams harder and faster than ever before.

• Poly-crisis Context: Multiple overlapping challenges (social, political, economic, and climate) are creating sustained stress on teams already operating at or over capacity. (1)

• AI Integration Anxiety: Research shows 53% of employees don’t trust leaders to implement AI effectively. (2) Teams face pressure to adopt new tools while core assurance deficits remain unaddressed.

• Resource Constraints: Teams are absorbing more responsibilities with fewer people, creating unsustainable workloads that traditional health checks miss until it’s too late. (3)

• Shallow Network Effects: Research confirms that collaboration networks have become more static and siloed, with fewer bridges between disparate parts of organizations. (4) The casual connections that build resilience have eroded — 60% of remote workers feel less connected to colleagues. (5) LinkedIn’s evolution into a performative “Instagram for business” platform reflects broader challenges where we interact with more people online but have fewer meaningful conversations. (6)

Measurement Revolution

Technology — specifically AI-driven capabilities — has transformed how we can sense and respond to health signals at every level and at any scale.

• From Quarterly to Continuous: Real-time sentiment analysis and predictive analytics now make daily pulse-taking practical.

• From Reactive to Proactive: Leading indicators are becoming truly predictive, identifying disengagement patterns before they manifest as performance problems or turnover.

• From Individual to Systems Perspective: Moving beyond individual wellness measures, it is possible to gather and analyze data on the entire organizational ecosystem.

(I’ll dive into more details in “The New Players.”)

Trust Imperative

What’s different isn’t that trust matters (it always has) — it’s that trust signals have become both more visible and more fragile. Without purposeful attention, remote work can easily eliminate the casual interactions that build trust organically, while economic pressures and AI anxiety have made employees hypersensitive to signals that leaders don’t truly care about their well-being.

This shift has real consequences: Employee turnover risk is at its highest point since 2015. (7) The research is clear: engaged employees stay. Disengaged ones leave — often for competitors who don’t treat them like fungible meat widgets. In a talent market where good people have options (yes, they are out there…), high levels of trust that “the organization truly cares about me” is a competitive advantage.

In this current landscape, organizations that create conditions for human flourishing will retain talent. Things like the AI implementation “gold rush” become a trust litmus test, revealing whether leaders truly value human agency.

Finding Your Starting Point

Where to start? If you were hoping for a one-size-fits-all all solution, sorry! Different contexts require different approaches. So, before diving into tools, surveys, etc, take a step back and honestly assess where your team is today on the trust and psychological safety scale.

Review the characteristics of the four levels below. Of course, there’s a continuum, with no hard boundaries… Just identify what’s closest to what you observe.

Then move on to “action” while being wary of the common pitfalls to avoid. Launch one or two experiments based on what will likely work in that particular context (YMMV!). And if any of this feels like “too much,” feel free to jump ahead to “Start Where You Are: Your Next Right Step.”

Level 1: Survival –“We Know Something’s Wrong”

Characteristics: Teams struggling, showing signs of defensiveness, blame-shifting, or information hoarding. Meetings feel tense or performative. No systematic measurement, flying blind in turbulent conditions. Reacting to problems after they escalate.

What Not to Do:

• Launch comprehensive surveys when trust is low

• Measure without commitment to action

• Compare teams against each other

What Works Here:

• Start with Safety: Run a Team Safety Check first. No other measurement matters if people can’t speak honestly.

• Single-Dimension Focus: Pick one aspect of team health to collect data on for 4 weeks. Usually, psychological safety or one element from the Happiness, Innovation, and Productivity (H.I.P.) survey

• Simple Pulse Tools: Daily mood tracking with tools like TeamMood or basic retrospective formats.

• Focus on manager behavior: Teams at this level need observable changes and to perceive positive intent from leadership

Tools to Consider: TeamMood, Parabol’s basic health check, custom safety check surveys

Progress Looks Like: Teams willing to share honest feedback, one small system change implemented based on input

Level 2: Stability –“We’re Building Rhythm”

Characteristics: Civility exists, but innovation is limited. People follow processes but don’t challenge or improve them. Basic measurement happening, some trust established, ready for a more structured approach.

What Not to Do:

• Pile on multiple measurement systems

• Skip the feedback loop from data to action

• Ignore patterns across multiple teams

What Works Here:

• Structured Health Checks: Quarterly Spotify-style assessments covering multiple dimensions

• AI-Enhanced Analysis: Platforms providing sentiment analysis and trend identification (More on this in “The New Players: AI-Enhanced Capabilities”)

• Dashboard Integration: Basic analytics showing patterns and progress over time

Tools to Consider: Echometer, Lattice, Culture Monkey, custom Spotify implementations

Progress Looks Like: Regular rhythm established, managers acting on insights to address systemic issue, teams see measurement value.

Level 3: Performance –“We’re Scaling Insights”

Characteristics: Teams can have difficult conversations and recover from conflict. Experimentation happens regularly. Multiple teams measuring, patterns emerging, ready for predictive capabilities.

What Not to Do:

• Over-engineer the solution

• Lose sight of the human element in data

• Create measurement fatigue through complexity

What Works Here:

• Predictive Analytics: Platforms identifying disengagement before it manifests as problems

• Cross-Team Pattern Recognition: Understanding systemic versus team-specific issues

• Business Metrics Integration: Connecting team health to delivery outcomes and business results

Tools to Consider: Qualtrics AI features, Microsoft Viva Insights, 15Five advanced analytics

Progress Looks Like: Proactive interventions, system-level improvements via cross-team collaboration, not management intervention, measurement as a natural workflow part.

Level 4: Adaptive Mastery –“We’re Groovin’ in Real-Time”

Characteristics: Teams continuously evolve their health practices without prompting. They proactively identify and address emerging dysfunction before it impacts performance. Measurement becomes self-directed experimentation rather than management oversight. Measurement embedded in culture, teams are antifragile, in a state of continuous adaptation.

What Not to Do:

• Become measurement-obsessed

• Lose focus on fundamental human needs

• Create a surveillance culture

What Works Here:

• Integrated Ecosystems: Health data flowing naturally into business rhythm meetings

• Self-Organizing Responses: Teams adjusting based on their own insights without external intervention

• Innovation in Measurement: Custom approaches developed for unique organizational contexts

Tools to Consider: Enterprise platforms with AI, custom integrations, advanced people analytics

Progress Looks Like: Teams stronger under pressure, measurement invisible but effective, continuous learning culture

The New Players: AI-Enhanced Capabilities

Many AI-driven capabilities are changing what’s possible in real-time team health monitoring. Note: These are appropriate for Levels 2 through 4. “Danger, Will Robinson,” if you try to introduce AI in Level 1.

Real-Time Sentiment Analysis

Natural language processing analyzes team communications for early warning signs. Platforms like Qualtrics now summarize thousands of comments in seconds, identifying themes and emotional patterns that human analysis would miss (or take longer to see than the cycle time of change.)

Predictive Disengagement Detection

Pattern recognition across multiple data sources — participation rates, communication tone, task completion patterns. Modern tools identify at-risk areas weeks before traditional surveys would catch problems.

Automated Action Recommendations

AI-generated suggestions based on team health patterns. Rather than just reporting problems, platforms like Lattice and Culture Monkey now recommend specific interventions based on successful patterns from similar teams.

The Non-Negotiables: What Remains Constant

Amid all the technological advancements, the fundamentals haven’t changed.

Psychological Safety as Foundation

No approach or tool works without trust. Before implementing any measurement system, ensure teams feel safe being honest. Consider running a Fear and Vulnerability Retrospective to surface and address underlying concerns.

Human-Centered Design

AI assists, humans decide. Research shows employees want to be helped by AI, not managed by it. The most successful implementations preserve human agency while amplifying insight.

Action Orientation

Measurement without response erodes trust faster than no measurement at all. Every data point must connect to potential action. Teams quickly learn whether leadership takes their input seriously.

Systems Thinking

Individual team health reflects organizational system design. If multiple teams show similar patterns, look to trust, ownership, and vision at the organizational level.

You might go further and shift the perspective to view the organization as living ecosystems to be nurtured. See my series of posts for a deep deep dive into how natural patterns of succession, resource flows, and biodiversity offer powerful models to help create conditions where healthy practices naturally emerge and thrive.

Start Where You Are: Your Next Right Step

If you’re feeling stuck, or overwhelmed you are not alone. Take one small step. Design one experiment. Below are suggestions to give you a kick start.

• Level 1: Survival — Run a Team Safety Check. If safety scores are low, address trust conditions before measuring anything else. If safety is adequate, pick ONE dimension of team health for 4 weeks. Make ONE small change based on what you learn.

• Level 2: Stability — Add AI-enhanced sentiment analysis to your existing rhythm. Look for patterns across teams. Connect health data to one business metric you care about.

• Level 3: Performance — Integrate team health data into business metrics dashboards. Start predicting rather than just measuring. Develop playbooks for common patterns.

• Level 4: Adaptive Mastery — Celebrate. Innovate. Experiment with new approaches for your unique context. Share what you’re learning. Help others. Do a little dance.

The Resilience Imperative

We’re not trying to create “happy” teams — we’re building antifragile ones. Teams that get stronger under pressure, learn faster from feedback, and adapt to change without breaking.

In an age of AI disruption and poly-crisis challenges, this isn’t just good people practice. It’s survival.

The question isn’t whether to measure team health — it’s how quickly you can start, and how systematically you can improve the environment.

“We’re trying to create systems which learn, and ‘happy’ systems don’t learn, they’re complacent.” — Dave Snowden

The tools exist. The research is clear. The competitive advantage is real.

Your teams are already giving you signals about their health. The question is: are you listening with sufficient resolution to respond before crisis hits?

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Your future resilient organization depends on it.

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References:

1. World Economic Forum, “Global Risks Report 2023,” defines polycrisis as “a cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part.” https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/01/polycrisis-global-risks-report-cost-of-living/

2. Qualtrics, “Employees and Leaders Not Seeing Eye to Eye on AI,” January 2025. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/employees-and-leaders-not-seeing-eye-to-eye-on-ai/

3. Mental Health America, “2024 Work Health Survey,” found that 75% of employees report work stress affects their sleep, with studies showing workload is the primary cause of workplace stress (44% of cases). https://mhanational.org/2024-workplace-wellness-research/

4. Yang, L., Holtz, D., Jaffe, S., et al. “The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers.” Nature Human Behaviour, 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01196-4

5. Pew Research Center, “COVID-19 Pandemic Continues To Reshape Work in America,” February 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/02/16/covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-reshape-work-in-america/

6. CCS Insight, “Employee Workplace Technology Survey,” 2021. Found that 33% of employees cite lack of social interaction as biggest remote work challenge. https://www.reworked.co/employee-experience/lack-of-social-interaction-tops-remote-work-challenges/

7. Multiple studies confirm engaged employees are 3.4 times less likely to seek new jobs, while organizations with high engagement experience 65% lower turnover rates (Gallup, Harvard Review). https://www.gallup.com/workplace/646538/employee-turnover-preventable-often-ignored.aspx

Tools Mentioned:

• TeamMood — Simple daily mood tracking with analytics dashboard

• Parabol — Retrospective and team health check platform

• Echometer — Agile team health checks with psychological insights

• Lattice — Performance management with AI-driven people analytics

• Culture Monkey — Employee engagement platform with sentiment analysis

• Qualtrics — Experience management platform with AI-powered analytics

• Microsoft Viva Insights — Workplace analytics and employee experience platform

• 15Five — Continuous performance management with advanced analytics

Appendix: Gallup’s 2024 Global Employee Engagement Findings

The data is sobering…

Global Numbers

• Global employee engagement declined to 21% in 2024 (down from 23% in previous years)

• This marks only the second decline in engagement in the past 12 years

• 62% of employees are not engaged (“quiet quitting”)

• 15% are actively disengaged (“loud quitting”)Key Regional Differences:

• US/Canada: 33% engaged (down from peak of 36% in 2020)

• Europe: Only 13% engaged (France lowest at just 7%)

Manager Engagement Crisis

• Manager engagement fell from 30% to 27% in 2024

• Young managers and female managers experienced the largest declines

• This is critical since managers account for 70% of team engagement variance

Economic Impact

• Lost productivity costs the global economy $8.9 trillion annually (9% of global GDP)

• In the US alone: approximately $1.9 trillion in lost productivity

Wellbeing Connection

• 58% of workers globally are “struggling” in life

• Only 34% are thriving

• 41% report high daily stress

Data Sources

• Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 Report: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

• HR Policy analysis of Gallup findings: https://www.hrpolicy.org/insight-and-research/resources/2024/hr_workforce/public/01/gallup-survey-reveals-declining-employee-engagemen/

• Lindauer summary of 2024 Gallup report: https://www.lindauerglobal.com/insight/employee-engagement-gallup-global-workplace-report/

• Sociabble breakdown of key findings: https://www.sociabble.com/blog/employee-engagement/gallup-state-global-workplace-report/