4 ms·

For fuck’s sake, can we just stop trying to measure developer productivity like we’re an assembly line?

• ok123456 4y ago
  But then how will non-technical managers justify their salary?
  • ethanwillis 4y ago
    I know the question is probably sarcastic. But being serious: Simply by being good at their jobs of helping the people they manage and having those people want them to be part of the team. And then on the flipside as well where higher ups trust them to help be a good translation layer that enables teams to meet organizational objectives.
    • hinkley 4y ago
      If you have to chose between two managers based on metrics, then you're already fucked one way or another. Either because you can't actually afford to lose either of them, or their both so awful that just asking people doesn't get you a good answer. I've said it before and I'll say it again: finding ways to characterize people as bad at their jobs is about keeping salaries down, whether by accident or on purpose. Because those are metrics your boss's skip level manager looks at. And they 'work' until they don't, by which point the manager can move up or out and get a reset on the numbers being used against them.
• brazzy 4y ago
  So how do we measure it?
  • shakezula 4y ago
    Why do we need to? No, seriously, why? I have yet to see any meaningful increase in a team’s productivity after they start tracking “developer productivity”. Each time it results in a blow to developer morale and a pretty dashboard that management uses to retroactively justify their decisions.
    • mdoms 4y ago
      Because as a business we seek efficiency. And how can we know if we're efficient if we can't measure output? It's only natural to want to get the most out of your dollar from expensive resources like developers.
    • closedloop129 4y ago
      Have they just started tracking “developer productivity” or do they also spend time on identifying good developers and enabling them to teach their skills? If you want some form of rational decision when you develop a team, how else but with metrics do you make decisions?
    • hinkley 4y ago
      Illusion of Control. It's a terrible answer, in no small part because it's true. How do you manage people when you're bad at managing people and can't/won't look at it? You manage safe, crisp, numbers instead.
  • cbozeman 4y ago
    The same way you accurately measure anything... with a lot of hard work and attention to detail. The best physics professor I ever had assigned a fuckload of homework every single day of class and graded it all himself. He probably worked 65+ hours a week, minimum. But you got feedback on all homework and that gave you an understanding of how well you were grasping concepts and on what you needed to work.
    • closedloop129 4y ago
      Your professor grades the homework against the solution that he knows. How can a manager do code review when he doesn't even have the capacity to know the details of the tasks?
  • xyzzy4747 4y ago
    Imagine you own a small company (I actually do) and the company's money is basically your money. Now imagine who you want to pay to do stuff and how to measure them. The best way is to see their actual performance unfold before your eyes and use your own intuition. See who gets things done and who doesn't. Who needs more handholding and who can work more independently. Some workers are much better "deals" than others from a company perspective.
    • brazzy 4y ago
      "intuition"? Seriously? You're completely failing to answer the question.