Ask HN: KPIs for a Development Team?

2 points

7 years ago

I was tasked this week by executive management to come up with annual KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for our development team by the end of the month. They also want individual developers to establish their own personal KPIs.

Do you have any suggestions for sound useful KPIs for a team of web application developers?

I'm thinking about things like the code quality metrics you see on Github repos. At the same time, I have some reservations. Our team has worked successfully to really sharpen our development process and improve the delivery and quality of our products. I worry that this is going to interfere with that and (to cite a new term I recently came across) run into Goodhart's Law:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law

I also have this recent discussion fresh in my mind:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19035438

I'm prepared to push back against the initiative. But I thought I should give the idea a fair hearing. Links, suggestions, arguments against the whole idea are welcome. Thanks!

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