Engineering Advice You Didn't Ask For S02E03 - Are there useful metrics to Measure Productivity of Engineering Teams?
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Nov 6, 2024 Explore the intriguing factors of engineering team productivity through a range of essential metrics. Discover how onboarding speed signals effectiveness and the caveats of measuring velocity. The hosts debate the pitfalls of gaming metrics tied to incentives and advocate for focusing on weekly goals over raw velocity. Delve into the importance of cycle time, PR size, and collaboration signals, along with the value of informal recognition in boosting team dynamics. Each metric offers unique insights into improving workflow and team engagement.
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Time To First Ship
- Measure onboarding speed by timing how long it takes a new developer to ship their first code to production.
- Use this as a signal of how good your onboarding and dev environment setup are.
Velocity Is Contextual
- Velocity can indicate team consistency but is full of caveats and easy to misinterpret.
- It only works as a stable internal gauge when team composition and context remain constant.
Don't Weaponize Story Points
- Avoid using story points or velocity for cross-team comparisons or compensation decisions.
- Keep those metrics within a team as a self-inspection tool to prevent gaming and perverse incentives.
