Recommended Huddle Metric Set

Recommended Huddle Metric Set - Team Health & Effectiveness

What this metric set is designed to do?

Teamgage Huddle gives leaders timely, reliable insight into the team-level conditions that enable safe and effective work.  
It is designed to:
  1. Align with validated research on team effectiveness and survey design
  2. Surface early warning signals rather than lagging sentiment
  3. Remain fast and lightweight enough to sustain participation
  4. Enable early action on engagement, performance, and psychosocial risk 
Rather than measuring abstract attitudes, Huddle focuses on practical, observable team conditions leaders can act on.
In practice, Huddle functions as:
  1. A continuous team health radar
  2. A real-time support tool for leaders
  3. A practical way to close the feedback-to-action gap 
As a result, what Huddle measures and how it measures deliberately differ from traditional engagement or culture surveys, which are built for infrequent diagnostics and centralised action, not for tracking fast-moving team conditions or emerging risk.
Info
For more information about the design principles and research foundations used for this metric set, you can learn more here.

This recommended metric set is designed to surface early, actionable signals of team health. It focuses on leading indicators of team health and performance effectiveness rather than lagging outcomes, and balances operational effectiveness, ability to navigate change with psychosocial risk management. 

The metric set comprises of: 
  1. 5 Core Metrics - Asked every month to track key team health and performance indicators that can shift rapidly in modern work environments
  2. 6 Rotating Metrics - Two additional metrics rotate monthly on a quarterly cycle to explore wider drivers that shift less frequently. Rotation avoids survey overload while providing deeper diagnostic insight. 

Core Metrics

These five core metrics provide early visibility into whether people have clear direction, defined responsibilities, manageable demands, adequate support and effective collaboration.

Team Priorities
Question - How clear are your team’s current priorities? 
Anchor Points - Clear | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not clear 
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Drops following change or new initiatives
    2. Conflicting priorities raised in comments
    3. Good intent but visible rework or thrashing
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Reconfirm the top three priorities for this period
    3. Make trade-offs explicit (“what we are not doing”)
    4. Reinforce priorities consistently, not just once
  3. Avoid
    1. Assuming clarity without checking
    2. Adding “just one more thing” 

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Clear priorities reduce uncertainty, misalignment and wasted effort. When priorities are unclear, stress rises before performance drops. Research links goal clarity to higher productivity, faster decision-making and reduced role conflict. Low scores signal a need to reset focus and trade-offs. 

Role Clarity
Question - How clear are current expectations in your role?
Anchor Points - Clear | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not clear 
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Gradual decline during growth or restructure 
    2. Confusion around ownership or hand-offs 
    3. Tension between roles 
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well 
    2. Review and update role expectations as work evolves 
    3. Reset expectations explicitly after change 
  3. Avoid
    1. Assuming formal role descriptions reflect current work 
    2. Leaving expectations implicit 
    3. Letting “temporary” work become permanent without reset 
Info
Why we recommend this metric
Role ambiguity is a well-established psychosocial hazard. Unclear expectations increase conflict, workload strain and accountability gaps. This metric highlights where clarity needs to be restored to prevent hidden stress and inefficiency. 


Workload
Question - How manageable does your overall workload feel?
Anchor Points - Manageable | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not manageable
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Sudden drops in score
    2. Sustained low or “barely manageable” scores
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well 
    2. Remove or pause a low-value task 
    3. Reset expectations publicly
    4. Escalate resourcing concerns early
  3. Avoid
    1. Normalising overload 
    2. Rewarding pressure with more work 

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Sustained workload pressure is a leading driver of burnout, errors and turnover. Tracking overall workload provides early warning well before absenteeism or exits occur.


Supported
Question - How supported do you feel in managing your job demands? 
Anchor Points - Supported | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not supported
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Support declining while workload remains steady 
    2. Lower scores among newer or remote team members
    3. Silence rather than requests for help 
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well 
    2. Increase check-ins during peak pressure 
    3. Encourage peer support as well as manager support 
    4. Make asking for help safe and visible 
  3. Avoid
    1. Assuming strong performers don’t need support 
    2. Treating support as purely personal 
    3. Waiting for people to struggle before acting 

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Support buffers the impact of workload and change. Low support amplifies stress and risk even when demands are unchanged.

Teamwork
Question - How effectively does your team work together to achieve shared outcomes?
Anchor Points - Effective | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not effective
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Drops after team changes or workload spikes 
    2. Rework or handover issues 
    3. “Busy but disconnected” signals
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well 
    2. Review handovers and dependencies 
    3. Clarify shared goals and success measures 
    4. Address friction early 
  3. Avoid
    1. Over-indexing on individual performance 
    2. Ignoring coordination issues 
    3. Assuming conflict equals poor teamwork 

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Teamwork captures coordination and collaboration that underpin execution. Poor teamwork drives rework, frustration and hidden workload.

Rotating Metrics

Rotating metrics explore wider drivers of psychosocial risk and wellbeing and help explain why core scores may be changing and where leaders should focus next. They provide deeper insight without increasing survey burden.

Month 1 - Candour & Reliability

Psychological Safety
Question - How safe does it feel to raise concerns or suggest ideas? 
Anchor Points - Safe | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not safe
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Sudden drops after conflict or leadership change
    2. Flat scores with limited qualitative input
    3. One or two voices dominating discussion
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Invite dissent explicitly (“What am I missing?”)
    3. Thank people for raising issues
    4. Model openness and fallibility
  3. Avoid
    1. Defensiveness
    2. Explaining away feedback
    3. Only rewarding “positive” input

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Psychological safety enables learning, early risk identification and continuous improvement. Low safety is a precursor to silence, unresolved conflict and psychosocial harm.

Accountability
Question - How accountable is your team for following through on its commitments?
Anchor Points - Accountable | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not accountable
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Gaps between commitments and delivery
    2. Frustration in comments about follow-through
    3. Over-commitment without consequences
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Make commitments visible and specific
    3. Follow up consistently and calmly
    4. Address missed commitments early
  3. Avoid
    1. Public blame
    2. Letting commitments drift
    3. Confusing accountability with punishment

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Accountability reflects clarity, trust and ownership. Low accountability increases rework, frustration and hidden workload. High accountability supports reliable execution and reduces stress caused by uncertainty. 

Month 2 - Execution & Change

Change Communication
Question - How effective is communication about changes that affect your work? 
Anchor Points - Effective | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not effective 
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Drops during transformation or reprioritisation 
    2. Confusion or rumours filling information gaps 
    3. “We found out late” feedback 
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well 
    2. Communicate early, even when detail is limited 
    3. Clarify what’s changing, why and when 
    4. Close loops once decisions are made 
  3. Avoid
    1. Overloading with information 
    2. Assuming one message is enough 
    3. Waiting for certainty before communicating 

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Poor change communication increases uncertainty, resistance and stress. Research shows breakdowns in communication often precede declines in performance and psychosocial risk.


Healthy Conflict
Question - How effectively does your team handle different views or disagreements?
Anchor Points - Effective | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not effective 
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Avoidance of disagreement
    2. Decisions made outside meetings
    3. Passive agreement followed by resistance
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Encourage respectful challenge
    3. Address tension directly
  3. Avoid
    1. Mistaking harmony for alignment
    2. Shutting down debate to move faster
    3. Letting conflict go underground

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Healthy conflict enables better decisions, innovation and mutual trust. Avoided or poorly handled conflict leads to groupthink, resentment and disengagement. 

Month 3 - Sustainability & Capability

Connected
Question - How connected do you feel to your team right now? 
Anchor Points - Connected | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not connected
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Declines in distributed teams
    2. New starters lagging behind
    3. High performance alongside low belonging
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Create regular moments for connection
    3. Strengthen team rituals and identity
    4. Check in on inclusion, not just output
  3. Avoid
    1. Assuming connection happens naturally
    2. Equating socialising with inclusion
    3. Leaving connection to informal channels

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Connectedness reflects belonging and cohesion. It is strongly linked to retention, resilience and discretionary effort. Teams may perform operationally while individuals feel disconnected, which increases longer-term attrition and wellbeing risk.

Improvement
Question - How effectively does your team take action to improve when challenges arise?
Anchor Points - Effective | Mostly | Somewhat | Not very | Not effective 
Manager Prompts:
  1. What to watch for
    1. Repeated issues raised with no resolution
    2. Learned helplessness (“nothing changes”)
    3. Good ideas without visible follow-through
  2. Suggested actions
    1. Highlight and reinforce what’s worked well
    2. Act visibly on one issue at a time
    3. Involve the team in fixing friction
    4. Close the loop on actions taken
  3. Avoid
    1. Collecting feedback without action
    2. Over-engineering solutions
    3. Treating improvement as a one-off project

Info
Why we recommend this metric
Improvement capability reflects job control and system health. Teams that can identify and resolve issues locally experience lower sustained strain and stronger performance over time. 

Why This Approach Works

  1. Focused on the team experience – teams shape day-to-day work far more than the organisation as a whole
  2. Actionable insights – leaders can act locally on what is measured
  3. Early warning signs – leading indicators surface risk before it appears in annual surveys
  4. Sustained participation – rotation avoids fatigue while expanding insight
  5. Evidence-based – grounded in validated research and applied experience

Here’s the recommended metric rotation visualised across a 12-month period:

FAQ's

Why only 7 metrics per submission cycle? 
Research consistently shows that shorter surveys maintain participation, reduce cognitive load, and produce more reliable data when used regularly. Seven metrics balances insight depth with sustainability for continuous pulse use.

Why not include overall engagement or satisfaction questions? 
Broad engagement and satisfaction items shift slowly and provide limited guidance for local action. Huddle focuses on fast-moving, observable team conditions that leaders can influence in real time. 

Is this metric set suitable for regulated or high-risk environments? 
Yes. The core metrics align strongly with psychosocial hazard identification and control principles, including Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) research, ISO 45003, and Australian WHS Managing Psychosocial Hazards Codes of Practice.

What if scores are consistently high? 
High scores are valuable. They help leaders:
  1. Reinforce effective behaviours
  2. Identify practices worth sustaining or scaling
  3. Avoid unnecessary change where things are working 
Do these metrics replace engagement or culture surveys? 
No. Huddle is designed to sit between larger periodic diagnostics and day-to-day leadership action. Teamgage also offers broader validated diagnostic surveys to help establish and baseline and identify focus areas for improvement. Learn more here. 

Can we change which metrics are rotated each month or add our own metrics? 
Yes. This recommended metric set can be used as published or adapted to suit your organisation’s context. Teamgage supports multiple approaches, including:
  1. Selecting alternative metrics from the Teamgage metric library to better reflect your priorities
  2. Designing a tailored metric set in consultation with a Teamgage expert 
All approaches follow the same evidence-based design principles to ensure metrics remain valid, reliable, and suitable for regular pulse use. 


  1. Defining Huddle Metrics
  2. Creating a Huddle Metric
  3. Creating a Huddle Metric Set
  4. Apply A Huddle Metric Set

    • Related Articles

    • Defining Huddle Metrics

      This article outlines the best practice for defining Teamgage Huddle pulse metrics. It explains: How Huddle differs from traditional engagement and culture surveys The options available for defining your Huddle metrics The modern research principles ...

    • Huddle Metric Library

      About the Metric library The Teamgage metric library provides a curated set of validated Huddle metrics. These have been grounded in best-practice survey science and proven research on team effectiveness, psychosocial safety and risk management, and ...

    • Creating a Huddle Metric Set

      After you’ve created your metrics you'll need to add them to a Metric set. A Metric Set is the actual group of metrics your team will consider during their Teamgage Huddle submission. You can assigned a single metric set for all the whole ...

    • Clone your Huddle Metric Set

      You will need to have an Admin profile to access Tools & Setup in Teamgage. If you can't see that section, speak to your Teamgage Admin or contact our Support Team (support@teamgage.com). How to clone a Metric Set Select Huddle > Metrics from the ...

    • Tailoring Your Huddle Metrics With A Teamgage Expert

      This article explains how to tailor your Teamgage Huddle metrics in consultation with a Teamgage expert, and why organisations choose this option when they want their Huddle pulse to closely reflect their strategy, operating context and risk profile, ...