the book
Team Mastery
From Good to Great Agile Teamwork
Great teams aren’t an accident.
They are consciously nurtured into SQUADs.
Team Mastery introduces the SQUAD framework and 50 tangible milestones that help teams grow deliberately — building the habits, behaviours, and mindset that turn good teams into truly great ones.
More than the sum of its parts
Tap into and unleash the true potential of your people
Redefine high performance
Redefine what great teamwork looks like and replicate it
Create real impact
Great teams deliver exponentially better than mediocre teams
the book
Great agile teams are a game changer
If you have ever been part of a great team you will know it is exponentially better than being part of a mediocre team. Teams are at the heart of working in complex domains and are essential to the success of agile approaches yet relatively few teams achieve greatness.
But great teams don’t just happen by throwing a bunch of people together and calling them a team. They are built – and nurtured – deliberately.
In Team Mastery I identify the SQUAD framework — a practical lens for understanding what team greatness looks like in action:
- Self-Improvement — a commitment to learning and evolving
- Quality — pride in the work and attention to standards
- Unity — trust, alignment, and shared purpose
- Audacity — courage to challenge, experiment, and stretch
- Delivery — the ability to turn intent into results
But this isn’t just a model to admire. Team Mastery outlines 50 concrete milestones: observable behaviours, practices, and achievements that teams can work toward, measure, and celebrate.
Whether you’re building a new team or refining a high-performing one, these milestones provide a structured, step-by-step roadmap.
Create a culture of continuous self-improvement
Establish a high quality bar within the team
Build a sense of unity that binds the team together
Develop the courage to challege, experiment and stretch
Enhance the delivery capacity of the team
50 milestone cards for teams to aim for and celebrate
Who is this for?
This book is for teams — and the leaders who support them — who want to move beyond “working well enough.”
It’s ideal for Scrum teams, product teams, leadership teams, and any group working in complex, collaborative environments.
If you believe teams are the engine of meaningful work — and you want yours to grow stronger, deeper, and more capable over time — Team Mastery will guide the journey.
It’s for you if:
- You want a shared language for what great teamwork looks like
- Your team performs inconsistently and you’re not sure why
- You want practical steps rather than abstract theory
- You care about culture and performance equally
- You want to build momentum through visible progress
Scrum Masters
Help your teams grow and succeed
Team Leads
Build high-performing teams that deliver
Team Members
Contribute more and work better together
Managers
Create the right environment for great teams to thrive
reviews
What Readers Are Saying
The next "must have" book for anyone working on/with a team, wanting to help make a good team a great team. It is a book that you will go back to again and again.
R J Hackshall Coach and Delivery Lead
Great mix of theory and real-life examples. I'm feeling energized and motivated after getting great input from this book.
Stine N. Olesen
SAFe Team Coach
I had the pleasure of recently hearing Geoff Watts speak live at a company event and was engaged enough to jump at the chance to read his supporting book. Geoff got the balance between valuable tips, applied examples and clear summaries just right. Plus, (I don't care how old you are or the book's purpose, everyone loves pictures and) the illustrations are fantastic.
Yonni
Get Your Copy
Available in paperback, hardback, Kindle and audiobook
Bulk orders for teams and organisations available.
