In the fast-paced world of software development, productivity is key. A productive team can deliver quality software within the specified time and budget.
In this article, we will explore what team productivity is, how it can be measured, and strategies to improve it. We will also examine how to work effectively in a software team, how team productivity is measured in agile, how to scale a software development team, how a scrum master can improve team productivity, how a scrum team can improve productivity, and how to motivate a software development team.
Improving the performance of a complex production process is no easy task for any team. Still, it is especially challenging for software teams since processes tend to deviate too much, and one-offs are more frequent than we would like them to be. Collecting data, analysing it and acting on it becomes tricky in the face of inconsistency and the ever-changing environment. This is not the case, for example, in the workshop of an automotive industry.
The ideas presented in this article are based on the context of a software development team that has the following properties:
Mature processes — A software team in its infancy might still be self-organising and have not yet reached a stable state of equilibrium where its processes are mature enough. In such situations, the statistical interpretation of data gathered by measuring different key performance indicators (KPIs) will be inconsistent and inconclusive. Action plans based on past data will be outdated before it’s ready.
Low requirement volatility and uncertainty — This constraint means we operate in an ordered system where best practices can be effectively derived and applied. High uncertainty in business requirements requires a different, more Agile approach, where every feature implementation might be unique. Without a stable and modular design, monitoring and improving existing processes is more than a simple engineering problem to which we know the answer.
Mature technology stacks — In the same spirit as the above two points, novel technology adds complexity to the system making the proposed solutions ineffective.
A strong and technology-oriented organisational culture — A culture that embraces technology can easily accommodate changes in its tools and methods if these changes do not radically alter the identity and the shared group assumptions on which this culture was built. For example, it’s easier to introduce a new tool like Monday.com if the team is already familiar with JIRA; this, however, is not the same as moving from Agile to Waterfall.
An extensive continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) infrastructure — Without automation and all the other benefits that CI/CD tools offer, scaling productivity and optimising the delivery process and software development lifecycle is impossible.
It’s important to reiterate that some proposed solutions may not be applicable or must be adapted in different contexts.
For example, a software team working with emerging technology or having high requirement volatility may need to implement different strategies to improve productivity. However, in the context described, the ideas presented in this article can effectively improve software team productivity and delivery.
Team productivity refers to the level of efficiency and output of a team in achieving its goals.In software development, team productivity delivers quality software within the specified time and budget.
Productivity involves several aspects, including:
Process Efficiency — The effectiveness and efficiency of the processes used by the team to manage the software development lifecycle, including requirements gathering, development, testing, and deployment.
Resource Utilisation — The effective use of resources, including time, budget, and personnel, to achieve project goals, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and that team members utilise their time in the most productive way possible.
Quality of Deliverables — The quality of the software being developed, including its reliability, usability, and performance. A high-quality product meets customer expectations and delivers business value.
Communication — Communication effectiveness among team members, stakeholders, and customers ensures everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.
Team Cohesion — The strength of the team’s relationships, collaboration, and culture means that teams can work together effectively and support each other to achieve project goals.
Continuous Improvement — The team’s ability to continuously learn, improve processes, and adapt to changing circumstances. Continuous improvement is vital to any business strategy to cope with a changing environment where competition is always trying to catch up, and customer preferences continually evolve.
These aspects are interconnected, and improving one can positively impact others. A software development team can increase productivity, reduce time-to-market, and deliver high-quality software that meets customer expectations by focusing on these aspects.
3.2 How Do You Measure the Productivity of a Software Team?
There are several ways to measure the productivity of a software team. These include:
Customer value and quality deliveries — The business value and quality of the software deliverables completed within a given time frame is a good measure of a team’s productivity. This characteristic is emphasized when teams specialise in the product’s critical areas; a deeper knowledge of the product components where business value is heavily focused increases the team’s productivity.
Velocity — The rate of story points completed during a sprint or iteration is also a good measure of team productivity. Despite the inconsistency of the “story point” as a measuring stick across teams, a team’s velocity can be monitored over time to detect regressions in productivity.
Cycle time — Also referred to as time-to-market, the cycle time measures the time for a task or user story to move through the development process from start to finish.
Burndown chart — A burndown chart is a graphical representation of the team’s progress in completing the work that provides a realistic perspective on the expected time to resolution reflecting the team’s real velocity.
Lead time — The lead time represents the amount of time a feature waits on average in the backlog before implementation begins. This metric reflects the backlog maintenance quality and the team’s productivity.
Overruns — This metric represents the average deviation between the estimated story points and the actuals. Productive teams can consistently provide precise estimates (remember, requirements volatility, customer interaction, and uncertainty are low in our situation, so precision is not impractical).
The best metrics are those that combine high explanatory power with interpretability. A complex metric that perfectly correlates with productivity but does not tell how it can be managed is of little practical use.
In Agile, team productivity is measured using metrics like velocity, cycle time, burndown chart, and retrospective feedback. These metrics are used to identify areas for improvement and track the team’s progress over time.
4.1 How Can a Software Development Team Improve Productivity?
As a software team, continuous improvement is crucial to success in today’s competitive market.
One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by borrowing concepts from Toyota, the giant car manufacturer, Lean, and Six Sigma. Executives at the firm created The Toyota Way, a set of principles that underpin Toyota’s success in the automotive industry, including their focus on continuous improvement, teamwork, and quality.
The five steps to improve productivity in a software team. The improvement process cannot thrive without an early quality monitoring and detection mechanism.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how software teams can make continuous improvements by borrowing concepts from the Toyota Way, Lean, and Six Sigma:
See for yourself — The Japanese term for “See for yourself” in the Toyota Way is “Genchi Genbutsu”. It means going to the source to observe the process and understand the situation firsthand, allowing experienced and trained eyes to watch the process in action rather than relying solely on assumptions or second-hand information from reports. By going to the source, managers can determine whether, for example, employees are forced to deviate from the processes to get the job done. One of the most effective ways was for team leaders to develop a few user stories or contribute to a couple of testing tasks to get an appreciation of the effort invested.
Use advanced tools to collect data and measure KPIs — Data-gathering tools are essential for tracking project progress, which is critical for making informed decisions. Using these tools, managers can gather data to analyse and make objective decisions based on facts rather than assumptions or opinions. For example, JIRA offers a wealth of customisations that offer managers a broad array of metrics to measure.
Gather narratives from the developers — It’s vital to gather stories from the developers to understand their perspectives on the work being done and their perceptions of the team’s objectives and rules. For example, outliers are significant because they see what others do not. Does the process make sense to the developer? Do they have the right tools? Do the skills match their task requirements? Another example is post-mortems, where developers examine a user story and analyse the activities, issues, delays, and efforts invested. Conducting post-mortems on user story implementations is a treasure trove of data that can be tremendously facilitated with the right tools.
Allow developers to interpret the data — The collected data should be available to analyse and interpret, empowering them to take ownership of their improvement and identify areas of change.
Identify areas of improvement and process re-engineering — Once the data has been analysed, software teams should be able to apply improvement measures like eliminating bottlenecks, parallelising sequential tasks, minimising rework, detecting issues early on, or allocating resources more efficiently.
Create a system where quality issues surface immediately — The team should create a system where quality issues are identified and addressed immediately and are not allowed to be hidden under layers of complexity or postponed until retrospectives.
Address issues immediately — When problems are identified, they should be addressed immediately. Early detection of design, architectural, or implementation flaws prevent developers from building features around them and reduces the rework effort. Dealing with problems is a source of delay and will always adversely impact project schedules and costs.
4.2 How Do You Work Effectively in a Software Team?
To work effectively in a software team, you should:
Communicate effectively — Use clear and concise language when communicating with team members, stakeholders, and customers. Write down your ideas (an outline should be enough) to avoid having to improvise during critical discussions.
Collaborate — Work together as a team to share knowledge and ideas.
Follow standard processes — Document, socialise and adhere to established processes to ensure consistency and quality in the software development cycle. Use your expertise and common sense to identify processes needing re-examining.
Be proactive — Take initiative and be proactive in identifying and solving problems. Avoid unnecessary escalations and overdependence on leadership. Every developer must manage, and every manager must lead.
Stay organized — Keep track of tasks and deadlines to ensure the timely completion of work. Peter Drucker’s article in the Harvard Business Review is a classic on self-management (not the same as self-help!). Identify your values, strengths, weaknesses, duties and responsibilities. Learn how to “manage” upwards.
Relentless self-eduction — Quality information and knowledge has never been more accessible, all due to online social platforms. Books are also abundant and (luckily for book lovers) did not get out of fashion, as the early internet days (mistakenly) predicted.
4.4 How Do You Motivate a Software Development Team?
To motivate a software development team, you should:
Set clear goals and boundaries — Establish clear and measurable goals for the project. Set boundaries that guide the team’s actions and engagement with their peers.
Provide regular feedback to team members to recognize their accomplishments and encourage them to keep improving.
Encourage learning — Encourage team members to continuously learn by providing the necessary environment, framework, and processes to learn from past mistakes and incorporate learned lessons in their processes.
Foster a positive team culture — Foster a positive team culture by encouraging open communication, collaboration, and teamwork.
Provide autonomy — Provide team members with autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Autonomy and self-organisation are powerful double-edged swords that teams must learn to wield.
Software team productivity is critical for the success of any software development project. Software teams can achieve outstanding results by measuring productivity, implementing effective processes, encouraging collaboration and teamwork, and providing motivation and support.
With the right strategies, software development teams can improve their productivity, scale their team, and deliver quality software on time and within budget.
