How to Improve Team Productivity in Software Development?

Team Productivity

Maintaining a high level of team productivity in software development, especially as a remote developer working from home, can be extremely difficult. Not all the code you inscribe will be easy for you, and you will probably spend a lot of time thinking while looking for a solution to a problem. Distractions can be particularly problematic during these times.

What is Team Productivity in Software Development?

Productivity is a ratio of an activity’s input to its output. Therefore, productivity in software development is the connection between the software bent and the effort required to mature it. However, the productivity of a software development team is complicate to measure. Unlike other sectors, many intangible assets are involved in its analysis, and deciding what to consider output is challenging. Traditionally, the amount of code or necessities developed was chosen. But these approaches left many aspects out and were problematic since they put amount before code quality in their examination and did not consider the trouble of the task performed.

Tips to Improve the Team Productivity of Software Development

Verifying the productivity of a team and individually verifying the efficiency of each member are the purposes of managers who implement measures to demonstrate the potential of each collaborator who implements IT solutions. The definition of the measures also collaborates so that goals create, and some tasks are specifically for a specific professional profile.

•  The Team has to be Together

That the development team has to work together seems obvious, but it is surprising to see how something that should be habitual does not always happen. You find several development teams in the same room, and each group member is at one end of the same. This situation generates interruptions (for example, when we have to ask something and we get up and you run into another of your colleagues and a chat thought). It generates noise (when two people speak loudly from their places), creating communication problems (since it is challenging to do it efficiently). It does not allow knowledge to be shared correctly (physical distance means that not all people can access it) etc.

• Reduces Interference to the Team

Very important. Reduce interference. If you see any team members constantly interrupted, try by all means that this does not happen. What is the best way to appoint a team member as the spokesperson (or whatever you want to call it) of the same? Channel all these interruptions through him and let that person be the one in charge of managing them? If team members are developing part-time, try to close that time based on days. That is, it is better than this from Monday to Thursday at 100%, and Friday. They dedicate themselves to another project, and each day of the week, I dedicate an hour to that project.

• Create Habits

Create habits, try to hold the scrum meeting ALWAYS at the same time, and go to eat at the same time. Try to have coffee at the same time and also try to do all this with the whole Team. We all get together, we all have coffee, and we all eat together. These simple actions allow you to create that connection that I was talking about earlier and enable you to make that state of mind. Practically, we try to solve doubts about tasks when we drink coffee. We discuss problems we have encountered, and we help a colleague; so, when we’re in the scrum meeting, we talk about the project; when we have coffee, we talk about the project; and when we eat, we talk about the project; when we talk about the project. PROJECT, PROJECT, PROJECT.

• Share Goals, Dates and Deadlines

Share the objectives, dates and deadlines; what’s more,  involve the Team in planning these objectives, dates and deadlines and try to get everyone involved and follow these aspects. That the commitments come from the group will always help you to share the responsibility and that each one of the team members tries to achieve this objective since they are directly responsible.

• Fosters Good Team Relations

All team members must have a relationship of trust based on respect for their colleagues. The Team must be comfortable with their colleagues. That they enjoy working with them and that they know them well. How to promote these good relationships, because simply by creating habits you are already doing something important, you can also try to carry out an activity that goes along this line.

How to Measure the Team Productivity of a Programmer?

There is no single indicator to measure productivity in software development. Instead, we can use a set of metrics to get a more or less complete idea of ​​what is happening in our Team. Thus work towards continuous improvement. When calculating it, The goal is not just for our teams to build software that works quickly and effectively. But also to deliver value to the end-user. In this way, for measuring productivity, two areas must be consider: one internal, related to the production process of quality code, and an external one, which involves users. Likewise, it is convenient to assess two stages in software development, the creation of new regulations and maintenance. But beyond all of the above, the number of indicators available should not distract us from our ultimate goal.

Conclusion

Measuring team productivity in software development is a complex task. But it is advantageous if we want to improve our Team’s performance. And using agile metrics like the ones we’ve seen seems the best way to do it. We should use these metrics to identify problems and improve team performance, not quantify individual programmers’ performance.