For orgs that are just beginning to measure developer productivity, where would you recommend they start? Is there a specific framework that’s easy to implement?
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CTO in Banking16 days ago
Organizations use various methods, like Blue Optima, which measures productivity and can lead to significant staffing decisions. My philosophy is to capture as much detail as possible and use intuition to identify useful metrics. I focus on quality over productivity initially, using tools like SonarQube to assess code health. If code quality improves—fewer violations, more test coverage, reduced technical debt—that indicates productivity to me. This approach removes impediments for the team and has a multiplier effect. Additionally, it’s important to remember the Amazon principle: when data and story disagree, believe the story. Human connections, such as developer one-on-ones and team meetings, provide invaluable insights into productivity.VP Software Engineering in Software16 days ago
We adopted the SPACE framework and focused on building dashboards and specific metrics. It’s crucial to measure what you want to improve, but be careful as the metrics you choose might not align with your improvement goals. We measure code check-ins, user stories, story points, and even time spent in meetings, as engineers often feel they waste time there. We also emphasize agile and scrum, ensuring our teams get certified. It’s a multidimensional approach, and while there’s no perfect method, you have to start somewhere and keep adjusting. We value retrospectives and feedback, continuously building and refining our approach based on what works and what doesn’t.VP of Engineering16 days ago
My recommendation would be a hybrid combination of DORA metrics and some custom frameworks we have implemented. It’s really about understanding the outcomes and requirements, especially in an agile environment where we estimate stories with story points. This aligns with how we measure developer productivity. Another aspect to consider is velocity—how a junior developer progresses to a senior role over time and how teams learn and improve. This ties into the number of successful releases, minimizing blackouts, and other issues. By combining story points, velocity, deployments, and outcomes, we can create a comprehensive measurement approach. Additionally, we’ve been developing an internal portal using Power BI and other web tools to create a program-level dashboard to identify bottlenecks and improve workflow.