Team Performance Management Part II
Having set the stage in part 1 of this post, I will now describe specifically how we’ve set it up. I should note that template we have come up with applies to all team members, no matter what their specific roles (QA, BA, or developer).
Team Performance
This is the focus of our performance management document. We using a scoring system (built into the software we use) which can be weighted, so this portion represents 50% of the score. As must as possible, we’ve included quantifiable criteria for evaluation. Some examples of the things we measure:
- the consistence of sprint velocities
- the number of sprint commitments met
- code coverage
- code ‘quality index’ (a sum of several code quality measures)
There are also some more qualitative criteria (positive and negative) which we look at, such as:
- Stakeholders recognize consistent, feasible innovation in providing useful software products
- Software products are recognized by stakeholders as meeting the needs of the business
- Customers regularly raise concerns about team performance, product quality
Individual Contribution to the Team
This section represents 25% of the scoring. Here we found quantifiable criteria hard to come by. Instead we look for certain behaviours our actions (again, positive and negative), such as:
- Contribute to team knowledge by conducting at least one learning session (lunch and learn or otherwise) on a relevant topic in the last six months
- Seek to gain and demonstrate new skills and knowledge to make yourself more useful to the team
- Clearly support the team in achieving its goals; take personal responsibility for and understanding of the team’s goals
- Provide feedback to others in a constructive and insightful manner
- Demonstrate an unwillingness to listen to others’ ideas
- Fail to share ideas and information on your work
Individual Goals
The final 25% of the performance score is reserve for individual goals. Here is an opportunity to set out specific goals and individual may wish to accomplish, or otherwise perhaps goals related specifically to their roles on the team.
And that’s it. We set this up in the summer, and we’re still actually in discussions around what some of the numbers should be, but the structure is there. It’s a little early to tell how it will work, but the concept and approach appear to have been accepted by the team, so far.
