Diagnostics: Team Learning Readiness

Using Hackman’s (2011) Group Design Checklist, science team leaders can assess each enabling condition on a simple readiness scale (Excellent → Poor). The table below maps each condition to key diagnostic questions focused specifically on team learning.

Enabling Conditions Diagnostic

Enabling Condition	Key Diagnostic Questions for Learning
Real Team	Is membership clear and stable? Do members have enough shared history to build cognitive common ground?
Compelling Purpose	Does the team’s mission create genuine motivation to learn? Does the team have autonomy over its methods?
Right People	Do members have both technical KSA and interpersonal learning skills? Is there functional diversity?
Clear Norms	Are learning norms explicit? Is it safe to discuss errors? Is feedback normalized?
Supportive Context	Does the organization recognize learning behaviors, not just outcomes? Are resources for learning available?
Available Coaching	Does the team have access to process-focused coaching? Do leaders model learning behaviors?

Team Learning Climate (TLC) Diagnostic

For the four emergent states of team learning climate (Harvey et al., 2019), the following questions provide a focused self-assessment:

Emergent State	Key Diagnostic Questions
Psychological Safety	Do team members feel safe to speak up, share incomplete ideas, and admit errors?
Goal Orientation	Is the team oriented toward mastery and improvement, or primarily toward performance evaluation?
Cohesion	Is there sufficient relational trust and commitment without groupthink pressure?
Efficacy	Does the team believe it is capable — not complacently certain, but confidently willing to try?