In the dynamic world of software development, effective team performance measurement is crucial. While DORA metrics have become a standard, my experience suggests a different starting point might yield more meaningful insights.
1. Roadmap Contribution: Aligning Efforts with Objectives
The amount of time your team spends on key roadmap items is critical. A 50-80% threshold ensures efforts align with overarching goals. This balance ensures that high performance contributes directly to success, rather than just busy work.
💡What’s the purpose of having expensive highly performing teams if they don’t work on things that matter the most, having 60% off-roadmap contribution?
2. Sprint Completion: A Measure of Trust and Efficiency
Sprint completion rates, ideally above 80%, reflect how well the team plans and executes. A lower rate often signals underlying trust issues, impacting overall productivity and morale.
3. Epic Cycle Time: The Real Value Indicator
Forget traditional task cycle times and Jira burndown charts. Focus on Epic Cycle Time, with a median target of 4-5 weeks. This metric is a truer representation of the team’s ability to deliver tangible value to customers.
4. Team Satisfaction: The Heartbeat of Your Team
A continuous survey with a scale of 0-10, aiming for around 8, reveals the team’s health. A sudden drop is a red flag, allowing leaders to proactively address potential issues.
It’s a huge money-saver, preventing the team destabilisation.
5. Adoption RATE
Measure how many increments have been successfully accepted and adopted by your customer. Threshold: min 65%.
Conclusion: A Broader Perspective on Team Metrics
Starting with these metrics provides a broader view of your team’s effectiveness. It shifts the focus from code-centric metrics to a more holistic view of team dynamics, output, and satisfaction.
Closing
if you’re wondering where to start, there’s a free open-source Jira data extraction tool available, with all data required: https://github.com/marian-kamenistak/jira-lead-cycle-time-duration-extractor
Mission
The more we help to raise first-time engineering managers in our 🇨🇿 territory, the faster we elevate local companies and the talent 🚀, getting us on par with software citadels like Berlin 🇩🇪 or London 🇬🇧.
About Marian Kamenistak
Marian provides coaching and mentoring to engineering managers and leaders across various levels, helping organisations to succeed in building products.
Stay tuned for the next post! 💪
