Exactly this. If you devise an intrusive, visible system, people will game it to their advantage, that's a very fundamental rule of life. I would consider it p

Exactly this. If you devise an intrusive, visible system, people will game it to their advantage, that's a very fundamental rule of life. I would consider it part of a team lead and/or project manager's roles to be evaluating those points you posted and to be in regular dialogue with people so that they have a general picture of what people are up to at any given time. When you listen to what people say they're working on week after week and observe the quality of their outputs for a few releases, you tend to get a feel for how they work. What's the point of having middle management if not to be close to developers anyway?