I’m not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask, but how does an engineering team usually monitor and oversee their work in a company with TPMs? I’ve observed that TPMs frequently conduct the standups and keep track of the task lists. Are Jira and similar tools used by teams as well? Which Jira metrics, if any, are truly practical? And how—if at all—do you connect those metrics to the accountability and performance of engineers?
At my previous job, we had TPMs. Jira was used by the engineers, TPM, and EM. TPM prioritized the backlog and assisted in answering inquiries regarding the purpose and scope of tickets, acting as a kind of product owner. The standup and sprint planning meetings were still conducted by the EM.
Which Jira metrics are helpful? I usually check the Sprint Report to see if the teams are meeting their sprint commitments. Although the Velocity Chart provides an alternative perspective, it is not very effective at conveying modifications to the sprint scope, such as the addition or removal of items from an ongoing sprint.
However, those metrics are team-level and only pertain to the efficacy of planning. If you’re looking for metrics for engineer performance and accountability, Pluralsight Flow is a good option. What an engineer’s manager and team members should already know about her performance can be verified by the metrics from a platform such as that.