Recently, Abi Noda and I talked about our Book chapter in the ‘Rethinking Productivity in Software Engineering‘ book on our research to better understand software developers’ perceptions of productivity, and how these insights might be applied by managers and team leads in software teams.
FlowLight: How a Traffic-Light Reduces Interruptions at Work
Update 2022: The new modern hybrid workplace scenarios show that finding a balance between deep work and collaboration is more important than ever. Since we are still receiving strong interest from companies and individuals for using the FlowLight, we revived the project. Learn more here! Original post from 2017: I am extremely happy to announce […]
Cultivating a Team Mindset about Productivity with a Nudge: A Field Study in Hybrid Development Teams
Publication presented at the Conference for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW’2023). Authors: Thomas Fritz, Alexander Lill, André N. Meyer, Gail C. Murphy, Lauren Howe.Access Publication How does your team help you to be productive? – Answering this question can help workers rethink productivity to embrace the idea that their team contributes to their productivity, rather […]
Sensing Interruptibility in the Office: A Field Study on the Use of Biometric and Computer Interaction Sensors
Knowledge workers experience many interruptions during their work day. Especially when they happen at inopportune moments, interruptions can incur high costs, cause time loss and frustration. Knowing a person’s interruptibility allows optimizing the timing of interruptions and minimize disruption. Recent advances in technology provide the opportunity to collect a wide variety of data on knowledge […]
Why we Dislike Meetings, and Why Agendas make them Better
One topic that many software developers in our productivity studies are very vocal about are meetings. For example, in an online survey with 379 developers, 58% described meetings as a waste of time – one of the main reasons for feeling unproductive. In this blogpost, I explore reasons why meetings are so unpopular, especially for […]
Why you need to know your priorities to reach a work-life balance
I am often thinking and talking to other people about how to reach a balance in work-life; a balance that I sometimes reach, but often cannot hold for long. The reason is that I often lose track of what really matters, what brings me forward, and what I enjoy doing. I start to say ‘yes’ […]
Characterizing Software Developers by Perceptions of Productivity
This work has been conducted by André Meyer (UZH), Thomas Zimmermann (Microsoft Research) and Thomas Fritz (UBC). This research has been published to the industrial papers track at the ESEM’17 in Toronto. Thomas Zimmermann will present it on Thursday, November 9th, 2017 at 1pm in Session 4B: Qualitative Research. Studying Developers’ Perceptions of Productivity instead […]
How you can become more Productive at Work with Walk Meetings
Are you often feeling stressed during your work days? Do you never really find the time to do sports and train your body? You are not alone, but there are many easy things to be more active and healthy at work. Walk-Meetings Meetings don’t have to be held in a dark and boring meeting room. […]
Spending time in the mountains makes you happy
According to an Austrian Psychologist, people who regularly go for hikes in the mountains are happier. The positive effect already starts after 3+ hours and reduces negative feelings such as fear of failing or lack of energy.
Screencast: Fostering Software Developers’ Productivity at Work
Screencast of my talk that I recently gave at Tasktop. I talked about how we aim to improve developer productivity by increasing their awareness about their work, interruptions, habits and goals.