Team survey questions: 54 questions that tell you something

A team survey is only as good as its weakest question. One vague item ("communication is good") produces a number nobody can act on. One double question ("I have the tools and the support I need") produces a number nobody can interpret. This guide gives you 54 questions, three for each of the 18 KPIs PEAKTEAMS uses to describe team performance, written so that each one points at a single thing the team can change.

Every question is a statement rated on a five-point agreement scale: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree. The KPI score is the average of its items across the team. If you want the reasoning behind the 18 KPIs and how they combine into one score, read the team performance metrics guide first. If you want the questions, keep going.

Before you write or copy a single question

Scale

Use one scale for the whole survey. A five-point agreement scale is enough: finer scales do not make people more precise, they make them slower. Keep the direction constant (agreement means good) except for deliberately reversed items, and tell people when a block is reversed. Avoid mixing in frequency scales ("often", "sometimes") and satisfaction scales; every change of scale costs attention and introduces errors.

Length

Two to three items per KPI, 40 to 60 items in total, about 10 to 12 minutes. The PEAKTEAMS team survey sits at roughly 12 minutes per member. Beyond that, the last third of the survey gets answered on autopilot and the scores for whichever KPIs happen to come last are worth less. If you need more depth on one KPI, run a short follow-up on that KPI alone rather than lengthening the main survey.

Anonymity and minimum responses

Collect no names and no demographic fields that could identify someone in a small team. Show results only once a minimum number of responses is in, three by default, and only as aggregates. Say so before the survey opens. A team that doubts its anonymity gives you polite answers, and polite answers all look like 4.

Who answers

Every member, including the lead, each counted once. The gap between how the lead sees the team and how the team sees itself is one of the more useful outputs, but you only get it if everyone answers the same questions.

The question bank: 54 team survey questions

Grouped by KPI, in the input, process, output and friction order used in the PEAKTEAMS model. Each KPI has three items that cover different angles of it; use all three for a reliable score, or the first two for a shorter survey. Items are written in the first person where the KPI is about the member's own experience and about "this team" where it is about the group.

Input: Purpose & Objectives

1. I can explain in one sentence what this team exists to achieve.
2. We know which of our goals matter most this quarter.
3. I know who our work is for and what they expect from it.

Input: Values & Vision

1. This team agrees on where it wants to be in two years.
2. When we face a trade-off, we apply the same principles.
3. The things this team says it values show up in the decisions it makes.

Input: Environment & Resources

1. We have the tools and access we need to do our work well.
2. This team has enough time and budget for what is expected of it.
3. When we need support from the wider organisation, we get it.

Input: Team Organization

1. It is clear who is responsible for what on this team.
2. The skills on this team match the work we are asked to do.
3. Work is spread fairly across the team.

Input: Leadership Principles

1. Decisions that affect this team are made in good time.
2. I understand why decisions are made, even when I disagree with them.
3. Good work on this team gets noticed.

Process: Social Cohesion

1. I feel that I belong on this team.
2. People here notice when a colleague is struggling and step in.
3. I would choose to work with these people again.

Process: Innovation & Growth

1. New ideas get a fair hearing here, whoever suggests them.
2. We try things that might not work.
3. When something changes around us, this team adjusts quickly.

Process: Delivery Methodology

1. Our way of planning work helps us deliver rather than getting in the way.
2. I can find out the status of any piece of our work without asking around.
3. Handovers between people on this team go smoothly.

Process: Inner Drive

1. I do what I said I would do, without being reminded.
2. When something falls between roles, someone on this team picks it up.
3. I care how this team's work turns out, not just my own part of it.

Process: Identification & Engagement

1. I am proud to tell people which team I work on.
2. What this team is trying to achieve matters to me personally.
3. I expect to still be on this team in a year.

Process: Feedback & Development

1. I receive feedback on my work often enough to improve.
2. When something goes wrong, we look at what to change, not whom to blame.
3. I have learned something new on this team in the last three months.

Process: Motivation & Focus

1. Most of my working time goes to the things that matter most.
2. This team keeps its energy up over a long piece of work.
3. We finish things before starting new ones.

Process: Trust & Safety

1. I can admit a mistake on this team without it being used against me.
2. I can disagree with the most senior person in the room and be heard.
3. I can ask anyone on this team for help without feeling I am imposing.

Process: Communication Culture

1. Information I need reaches me before I have to go looking for it.
2. When I speak in team discussions, people listen to understand rather than to reply.
3. Concerns are raised openly here, not in side conversations afterwards.

Process: Conflict Navigation

1. Disagreements on this team get addressed rather than left to fester.
2. We can argue hard about the work and still respect each other afterwards.
3. When two people on this team disagree, the team usually ends up with a better answer.

Output: Team Output

1. This team delivers what it commits to, when it said it would.
2. The quality of our work is something I would put my name to.
3. The people we deliver to are satisfied with what they get from us.

Output: Organizational Impact

1. The work of this team makes a visible difference to the organisation.
2. Other teams find it easy to work with us.
3. What we do lines up with where the organisation is heading.

Friction & Consumption (reverse scored)

Agreement on these items means more friction, so the KPI is read in the opposite direction from all the others. Tell respondents this in the survey, and keep the three items together.

1. A large part of my week goes to approvals, reporting and administration that add nothing to the work.
2. Decisions this team has made get reopened by people outside it.
3. People joining or leaving this team has disrupted our work in the last six months.

What to drop

Most team surveys are improved more by deleting questions than by adding them. Drop any item that fits one of these patterns:

• Double-barrelled items. "I have the tools and the support I need." A 3 could mean either half. Split it or cut it.
• Items about things the team cannot change. "I am satisfied with my pay." Real, important, and not a team KPI. Put it in an organisation-wide survey where someone can act on it.
• Abstract nouns. "There is good synergy on this team." Nobody knows what they are rating. Replace with a concrete behaviour: "When two people on this team disagree, the team usually ends up with a better answer."
• Leading items. "Our excellent planning process helps us deliver." The adjective has answered the question.
• Items that measure the lead's mood. "My manager cares about me." Keep leadership items about observable practice: timing of decisions, clarity of reasons, recognition of work.
• Duplicates across KPIs. If an item could belong to two KPIs, it will muddy both. Each item should have one home.
• Open-text questions in the middle. One optional open question at the end ("What is the one thing that would most improve how this team works?") is worth more than five scattered through the survey.

Using the results

Score each KPI as the team average of its items, and look at two things for each: the average and the spread. A low average with low spread is a shared problem; everyone sees it, so the team can usually name it in the first five minutes of discussion. A middling average with high spread is a split team, and the first question is why people experience the same team so differently. PEAKTEAMS reports this spread as team cohesion so that it is never hidden behind the average.

Pick the one or two lowest KPIs, agree one change for each, and measure again in a quarter with the same items. Do not rewrite questions between rounds unless one is clearly broken; a trend is only a trend if the instrument stays still. Between surveys, a 30-minute team health check keeps the conversation going without survey fatigue.

• One scale, 1 to 5 agreement, used throughout
• Two to three items per KPI, under 60 items in total
• Reverse-scored items grouped and labelled
• No identifying fields; results hidden below three responses
• Every member including the lead answers once
• Results discussed within two weeks; one or two actions agreed
• Same items repeated next quarter