--- title: "Don't Do DORA Metrics First: Rethinking Team Performance Indicators | Team productivity audit" description: "What's the purpose of having expensive highly performing teams if they don't work on things that matter the most, having 60% off-roadmap contribution?" url: "https://www.marian.coach/blog/better-than-dora-metrics-team-productivity/" lang: "en" image: "https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-covers/better-than-dora-metrics-team-productivity.png" --- ![Don't Do DORA Metrics First: Rethinking Team Performance Indicators](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-covers/better-than-dora-metrics-team-productivity.png) DORA metrics have become the standard answer to measuring team performance. I’d start somewhere else. A team can look great on all four DORA numbers and still spend most of its energy on things that matter to nobody, and none of the four will warn you. The five metrics below will. ![beyond DORA metrics](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-archive/2023/12/dora-metrics-beyond.jpeg) ## **1\. Roadmap Contribution** The amount of time your team spends on key roadmap items is the first thing I check. My threshold: 50-80%, so that high performance stays [aligned with the overarching goals](https://www.marian.coach/blog/how-to-make-your-teams-beat-okrs/). A fast team building the wrong things is just expensive busy work. ![Marian Kamenistak on the main stage of the Engineering Leaders Conference, arm raised, co-host in the background.](https://www.marian.coach/_astro/talk-17.EHsoOj9U_1tWLHU.webp) Walking leaders through roadmap-contribution math at an engineering leadership event. > **?** What’s the purpose of having expensive highly performing teams if they don’t work on things that matter the most, having 60% off-roadmap contribution? ![2021 Q1 RnD objectives dashboard: completion bars per topic and a headline 77% of epics delivered](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-archive/2023/08/image-29.png) ## **2\. Sprint Completion** Sprint completion rates, ideally above 80%, reflect how well the team plans and executes. In my experience, a lower rate often [signals underlying trust issues](https://www.marian.coach/blog/how-to-build-trust-with-engineering-teams/), and trust issues bleed into productivity and morale. ![Engineering efficiency metric 1](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-archive/2023/08/image-8.png) ## **3\. Epic Cycle Time** Forget traditional task cycle times and Jira burndown charts. Focus on Epic Cycle Time, with a median target of 4-5 weeks. Epics are what your customers actually receive, as opposed to tasks, which is why this number tells you more about delivered value than any burndown chart ever will. ![Time to value epics cycle time](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-archive/2023/12/Time-to-value-epics-cycle-time.png) ## **4\. Team Satisfaction** Run a continuous survey on a 0-10 scale and aim for around 8. A sudden drop is a red flag, and the whole point is that you see it while you can still act. It’s a huge money-saver, preventing the team destabilisation. ![Officevibe pulse survey report showing an overall engagement score of 7.9 out of 10 at 100% participation](https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-archive/2023/12/ov-screenshot.png) ## **5\. Adoption RATE** Measure how many increments have been successfully accepted and adopted by your customer. Threshold: min 65%. ## Conclusion: A Broader Perspective on Team Metrics Start with these five. Add DORA later, if you still need it. Together they give you [a broader view of your team’s effectiveness](https://www.marian.coach/engineering-teams-productivity-audit/) than any code-centric metric can. ## **Closing** If you’re wondering where to start, there’s a free open-source Jira data extraction tool available, with all data required: [https://github.com/marian-kamenistak/jira-lead-cycle-time-duration-extractor](https://github.com/marian-kamenistak/jira-lead-cycle-time-duration-extractor) Team productivity audit ## Get sprint completion from 50% to 80%. In 3 months, or the money is on me. 3-month engagement, fixed scope, fixed price. Worth ~11M CZK/year for a 60-person org. [Request an audit brainstorm →](https://www.marian.coach/engineering-teams-productivity-audit/) ## Read next - [ ### Time to fire your Scrum Master? 10 questions to expose whether your Agile still delivers value. Discover how continuous improvement, value flow, and strategic alignment can transform your Agile practices and lead your teams to real results. 16 January 2025 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/agile-isnt-dead-unlock-more-value-from-scrum-masters/) - [ ### How to Make Your Teams Beat OKRs OKRs for engineering teams that ship: how to set them, wire them to delivery, and make your teams beat them quarter after quarter. 17 February 2021 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/how-to-make-your-teams-beat-okrs/) - [ ### Innovation Days: Helping Employee Creativity for Enhanced Company Operation How Innovatrics runs Innovation Days: giving staff room to pitch ideas beyond the roadmap that end up shaping how the company and product work. 21 August 2020 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/innovation-days-transforming-ideas-to-product/) ### New posts, straight to your inbox. Your emailSubscribe You're on it. Nothing hits your inbox today. First send goes out once the list is live, and you're already on it. [Connect on LinkedIn →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariankamenistak/)[See the free tools →](https://www.marian.coach/ai-coaching-tools/) ## Structured data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ProfessionalService","name":"Marian Kamenistak | Engineering Leadership Mentoring","url":"https://www.marian.coach/blog/better-than-dora-metrics-team-productivity/","image":"https://www.marian.coach/images/blog-covers/better-than-dora-metrics-team-productivity.png","description":"What's the purpose of having expensive highly performing teams if they don't work on things that matter the most, having 60% off-roadmap contribution?","serviceType":["Engineering leadership mentoring","Engineering manager coaching","CTO coaching","Fractional CTO","Leadership development for software engineers"],"hasOfferCatalog":{"@type":"OfferCatalog","name":"Engineering leadership mentoring and advisory","itemListElement":[{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"1:1 engineering 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