The Low Performing Team

In the previous post we talked about the software team spectrum and the degree to which your position on the spectrum impacts your results. In this post we describe symptoms of low performing teams that we’ve seen. I’ve been fortunate enough to never have worked on a team that I’d put in this category but I have worked alongside a couple of them.

Many times a low performing team can be identified by those who depend on them. Whether you’re an end user or a high level manager/director, these are some of the symptoms you’ll notice when working with a low performing team: unreliable estimates; frequent bug reports; and unhappy end users / customers.

Unreliable Estimates

Are your teams consistently missing their estimates by large margins? Estimation itself is obviously not a guarantee but, in general, a software team should be able to predict small to mid-sized projects within a reasonable margin of error. If your team is estimating 2 weeks for a small project and it’s taking 2+ months then that’s a red flag. This can happen for any number of reasons but if it’s a regular occurrence then there’s clearly something amiss.

Frequent Bug Reports

Do you get nervous when the team releases new work because you’re preparing for the influx of bug reports? Do bug fixes frequently cause 2 new bugs? Is 25% of your iteration plan dedicated to fixing issues? These are definite signs that your team is underperforming significantly. Bugs do happen sometimes but they should be such a rare occurrence that we’re surprised when we discover one.

Unhappy End Users

We build software to solve problems for specific people. If those people are frequently commenting about how difficult it is to get certain things done or that the product is unreliable then there’s a problem. Another indicator is if the team is regularly building features that don’t actually match the end user’s expectation. These are product symptoms of a low performing team.

Can you relate to these frustrations? If so, then there’s definitely room for improvement. Whether your team is truly low performing or just on the lower end of the average range, consider looking into ways to help the team improve. The payoff in reduced frustration alone is worth the effort.