Engineering leaders share their wins and challenges in evaluating team performance

Earlier this year, Swarmia and LeadDev collaborated with a research firm to investigate the metrics software engineering teams use and the challenges they encounter, coinciding with a McKinsey post asserting the measurability of developer productivity. Their research, involving engineering managers and leaders, highlighted a complex landscape where frameworks like SPACE and DORA are gaining traction for understanding productivity but uncertainty persists, with 67% of respondents struggling to select the right performance metrics. While cycle time emerged as a popular choice among metrics, no single metric dominated, reflecting the nuanced nature of measuring human-centric workspaces. Despite a significant portion of participants being unfamiliar with SPACE (55%) and DORA (29%), half of those acquainted with these frameworks found them effective. Key bottlenecks identified were unclear priorities and limited staffing, comprising 53% of responses, even as 88% claimed a good grasp of strategic business goals, pointing to a disconnect between understanding and clarity. Contrary to expectations, only 20% saw measurement as a significant challenge, with only 6% advocating for using performance metrics in promotion or termination decisions, indicating a focus on identifying process improvements over punitive measures. The report offers further insights into engineering team performance and is available for download without requiring an email.