In the following article, we’ll provide a brief overview of why we include the Standard Deviation in the reports and what this value – in addition to the Mean – tells us about our data.

Why do we include the Standard Deviation and what value does it provide?

Standard Deviation is included because it provides us with an indication of the level of agreement within the team. Specifically, it tells us how far the individual responses to a given question deviate from the mean. If responses are highly concentrated around the mean (a low standard deviation), it tells us that respondents tend to agree with each other on this question. If the responses are spread out (a high standard deviation), it tells us that team members disagree with each other. It is not, however, necessarily a “bad” or “good” thing – it simply describes the degree to which respondents feel the same (or not) about a given question.

Why worry about Mean and Standard Deviation together?

Standard Deviation is a very useful metric when considered together with the mean. Most people tend to understand the Mean, it’s one of those concepts we’re taught from early on in school. But a mean score can be quite misleading if considered in isolation. Two teams can have the same mean score – but perceive a very different reality. Consider this simple example: Let’s say you have 6 team members for each of two teams. In team A, everyone answers “3” to a given question, giving them a mean score of 3. In Team B, 3 team members answers “5”, while 3 team members answer “1”, which indicates extreme differences, but also gives a mean of “3”. The same score, but very different realities.

The standard deviation for Team A is “0”; it illustrates that there is no difference in the responses. The Standard Deviation for Team B, however, is “2”, indicating a wide variance within the results. Having these two measures will therefore provide a more accurate perspective of the “voice of the team” and help coaches take appropriate action.

Conclusion:

Taken together, the Mean and Standard Deviation enable us as change leaders to identify the areas of opportunity and strengths within a given sample set and ask more meaningful questions to our team members.

Any score between 1-2 is considered high score.