Productivity Initiative

Software quality is certainly impacted by team-based processes, practices and tools. Even so, each line of source is produced by a person. The Productivity++ checklist is meant as a reminder to each person on the team to confirm that the work to be started right now is the right thing to do and is being done right.

Personal Productivity Checklist:

When you start a work session, ask the question, Is my work [Traceable, In Progress, Sustainable, Improved]?

1. Traceable:

• Task is planned and recorded in the Trilinos GitHub issues database.
• Task is traceable back to core requirements.
• Stretch: There are specification and design artifacts for this task.

2. In Progress:

• In the context of a Kanban workflow [Minibook][YouTube], this task is the most effective use of my time.
• This task is listed in the “In Progress” column of the Trilinos Kanban board.
• My “In Progress” queue size is within personal or small group limit.
• Stretch: Backlog has been recently scanned and refined (groomed).

3. Sustainable:

• Output is high quality work, usable until the end of its expected life.
• Testing is sufficient for confident refactoring in the future.
• Stretch: Code, including test suite and associated documentation, is good enough for someone else to support after I move on to other work.

4. Improved:

• The quality of my work better than six months ago:
  • More consistent programming discipline.
  • Learned new skills.
  • Read literature, took on-demand or in-person training courses.

Want a shelf magnet of the Productivity++ checklist?

Contact Mike Heroux [email protected]

Helpful Links:

Kanban and Scrum -- Making the Most of Both, by Henrik Kniberg and Mattias Skarin