A Step-by-Step Guide to Measure Your Augmented Tech Teams' Productivity

As technology moves quickly, more businesses are turning to augmented teams to scale up and tap into specialized skills. The numbers show this trend: the U.S. IT staffing market is projected to hit $52.21 billion by 2029, growing at 5.49% each year. Still, many companies find it hard to measure how productive their augmented tech teams really are.

Many companies work with remote teams spread across different locations to fill skill gaps. This raises an important question: how can you make sure your augmented team is delivering the results your business needs?

In this blog post, well look at the best ways to measure your augmented tech teams productivity. Well discuss which metrics matter and which tools can help you track progress.

Why businesses should measure the augmented team's success?

Have remote staff? Then you must measure the success of your augmented team. Why? Because it offers concrete metrics to evaluate performance, efficiency, and alignment with your project goals.

On another note, establishing performance metrics can ensure that your remote teams contribute to your overall project goals, no matter whether its:

• Improving the user experience,

• Enhancing system functionality, or

• Meeting deadlines

Productivity assessment for remote teams isnt only critical to allow ongoing success but also facilitates effective communication among team members, demonstrating the value added by their contributions.

What challenges teams face when measuring productivity in their augmented team?

Before you set productivity metrics for your remote teams, lets recognize the unique yet common challenges businesses often face in managing their augmented teams:

1. Cultural and time zone differences

Remote teams, especially those spread across multiple time zones, often struggle with communication and coordination, leading to misunderstandings and delays.

2. Lack of in-person interactions

Without face-to-face communication, team members often struggle to collaborate efficiently, affecting both speed and quality of work.

3. Diverse skillsets and expertise

Augmented teams often consist of specialists with varying skillsets, making it challenging to track their productivity uniformly.

4. Unclear expectations

If roles, responsibilities, and goals arent clearly defined, team members often experience confusion, leading to misaligned efforts with decreased productivity.

5. Limited access to real-time feedback

Remote teams often dont have immediate access to managers for feedback, which further delays corrections and reduces overall productivity.

6. Lack of visibility into daily operations

Remote teams primarily operate in silos, making it difficult for organizations to have a clear view of their day-to-day tasks and progress without proper tracking systems.

7. Technology and tool compatibility issues

Your augmented teams might be using different tools or software that dont integrate well with the ones your in-house teams use, creating friction and inefficiencies in tracking productivity.

8. Varying communication styles

With different team members coming from diverse backgrounds, their communication styles can significantly vary, potentially leading to misunderstandings and inefficiencies.

What are the KPIs for augmented tech teams to measure success?

When it comes to measuring the success of your augmented team, theres no one-size-fits-all solution. The key is to focus on the right performance metrics that align with your teams objectives and business goals. The following are the most important metrics to consider:

1. Project delivery KPIs

• On-time delivery rate: Percentage of tasks completed on or before the deadlines.

• Budget adherence: How well the team sticks to the projects budget.

• Completed milestones: Percentage of project milestones achieved within the set timeline.

• Quality standard adherence: Assessing deliverables against predefined quality benchmarks.

2. Team performance metrics

• Utilization rates: Measuring how efficiently the augmented teams capacity is being used.

• Employee satisfaction and retention: Reflecting team engagement and morale.

• Attrition rates: Tracking the frequency at which team members leave the project.

• Training and skill development: Engaging team members in skill-building programs.

3. Client satisfaction indicators

• Net promoter score (NPS): Guaging client likelihood to recommend your services.

• Issue resolution time: Measuring how quickly the team resolves client-reported issues.

• Client feedback and testimonials: Insights into the clients experience with your team.

4. Business impact metrics

• Return on investment (ROI): Comparing the cost of the project to its financial benefits.

• Productivity gains: Tracking improvements in productivity after augmenting the IT talent.

• Cost per hire: Measuring the cost-effectiveness of hiring augmented staff members.

• Long-term business outcomes: Assessing how the project impacts overall business success, including revenue and cost savings.

5. Collaboration metrics

• Communication frequency: How often do your remote team members check in and provide updates on their tasks?

• Task dependencies and collaboration: How well do your augmented team members collaborate on tasks that require inputs from multiple people?

What are the top productivity tools for augmented teams?

Having the right tools and technologies in place can significantly improve how effectively you measure and track the productivity of your augmented team members. The following are some essential augmented team productivity tools organizations like yours should consider:

1. Project management tools

Common examples include Jira, Trello, Asana, and Monday.com.

How it helps organizations:

• Track real-time task progress and ensure alignment with deadlines.

• Ensure fair task distribution for optimal productivity.

• Monitor completed tasks vs. ongoing tasks to evaluate efficiency.

• Measure how effectively deadlines and milestones are met.

2. Time tracking tools

Common examples include Harvest, Toggl, Clockify, etc.

How it helps organizations:

• Track where time is spent and identify inefficiencies.

• Ensure time is being spent on critical tasks.

• Accurately track billable hours for client projects.

3. Code review platforms

Examples include GitLab, GitHub, Butbucket, etc.

How it helps organizations:

• Assess the code quality to ensure standards are met.

• Encourage teamwork and efficiency through regular reviews.

• Spot delays in code reviews or deployments.

4. Communication tools

Examples include Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, etc.

How it helps organizations:

• Facilitate quick decision-making and progress.

• Foster regular communication to keep the team engaged and aligned.

• Reduce misunderstandings to improve task completion.

How to measure the success and productivity of your augmented tech team?

The following is a step-by-step guide for managing team output in augmented teams:

STEP 1: Set clear expectations and objectives

• Define SMART goals to align team efforts.

• Establish KPIs to track success.

STEP 2: Choose the right metrics to track

• Select relevant metrics, like project delivery, client satisfaction, and team performance.

• Balance both quantitative and qualitative metrics for a complete view.

STEP 3: Use the right tools to track your remote IT team

• Implement project management tools (Jira, Trello, etc.) for task tracking.

• Use time tracking and code review tools (Toggl, GitHub, etc.) to monitor productivity.

STEP 4: Monitor progress and communicate updates regularly

• Schedule regular check-ins to assess progress and address roadblocks.

• Ensure constant communication through tools like Teams or Slack.

STEP 5: Analyze data and identify areas for improvement

• Review performance data to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

• Adjust strategies or procedures based on insights.

STEP 6: Provide feedback and foster continuous improvement

• Provide constructive feedback based on the tracked metrics.

• Encourage skill development through training and learning opportunities.

Managing productivity in your augmented team can be really complex, especially when trying to coordinate across various time zones, skills, and expectations. This is where working with a professional IT staffing partner can make the difference. Unified Infotech is one such partner. With over fifteen years of experience, they can help you implement best practices to track your augmented teams success.

Final thoughts on measuring the success of augmented IT teams

Measuring the augmented tech teams productivity is essential to ensure that theyre aligned with business goals and delivering high-quality results. Focusing on the right metrics, leveraging the right tools, and adopting best practices are a must for organizations to foster an environment that drives success. We hope this blog post will give an insight into this and help you set the right criteria to measure the success of your augmented IT team.