Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide (JTOG®)

Overview

The Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide (JTOG)  is a real-time, competency-based teamwork observation instrument for educational and clinical settings that captures perspectives on a team’s collective performance using behaviorally anchored statements and reflective prompts. It measures observable teamwork behaviors aligned with core interprofessional competencies, including leadership, roles and responsibilities, communication, teamwork, and values/ethics (Lyons et al., 2016). It is typically completed by an observer during a live team encounter, but it can also be used as a 360-degree tool to gather input from multiple team members. The instrument includes 17 items total (14 Likert-scale statements and 3 open-ended questions) and can be repeated across experiences to track team development. In BuckIPE, we use a modified version of the tool to assess team functioning using 9 Likert-scale items and 2 open-ended questions. Results help learners and teams identify strengths and improvement areas to guide debriefing, while faculty, preceptors, and leaders can use the data to support feedback, document teamwork behaviors, and evaluate team-based programming. 

Questions (subset used in BuckIPE Teams Advancing Health Outcomes module):  

Facilitators use the following Likert scale to respond to each statement: Strongly Disagree / Disagree / Agree / Strongly Agree / N/A 

Key Competencies: V=Values and ethics, R=Roles and responsibilities, C=Communication 

  • Members of the team who were involved in the case/situation contributed to the discussion (C) 
  • Discussion was distributed among all team members (C) 
  • Members of the team appeared to understand the roles and responsibilities of other members of the team (R) 
  • Team members appeared to have respect, confidence, and trust in one another (V) 
  • Team members listened and paid attention to each other (C) 
  • Team members listened to and considered the input of others before pressing their own ideas (C) 
  • Team members added other supporting pieces of information from their profession specific perspective regarding the case/situation (R) 
  • The opinions of team members were valued by other members (V) 
  • Team members appeared to feel free to disagree openly with each other’s ideas (V) 

Modified open-ended questions:  

  • Describe one strength of this team that you observed today 
  • Describe one opportunity for improvement for this team that you observed today 

Source references: 

  • Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice & Education. (n.d.). Resources: Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide® (JTOG®). Thomas Jefferson University. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/academic-centers/interprofessional-education/resources.html 
  • Lyons, K. J., Giordano, C., Speakman, E., Smith, K., & Horowitz, J. A. (2016). Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide (JTOG): An instrument to observe teamwork behaviors. Journal of Allied Health, 45(1), 49–53.