The bigger the tech team, the more complex the projects it takes on -- and the harder it gets to assess how everything’s actually going. Visible progress is one thing, but are you taking too long to get there? What inefficiencies might be hidden in the huge stream of data an active team throws off?
There are some worthwhile insights into the problem here, but Future Infinitive partner Vaclav Vincalek cuts deepest when he indicates “productivity,” as traditionally understood, may be entirely the wrong metric to use.
Read Vaclav Vincalek on production and visibility.
“When they say, “We’re going to be finished” with a project, they better really finish, ideally with no bugs to be caught in production…
You don’t always have visibility into why someone works slowly or quickly—but at least you can control quality.”
Indeed. You’re always going to have a mix of work styles in a given team -- so balancing your Go-Getters with your Taskmasters can be a tricky process. Realistic deadlines and sensible productivity/ reliability metrics should maximize the useful output of your IT team as a whole.