Process Engagement x Task Visibility: An Agile Match Made in Heaven

1. We’ll look at how you can get your developers to execute your agile process framework like there’s no tomorrow.

2. Second, we’ll enable the exact same effect for the visibility of any of the tasks they need to track. You know, the ones you normally need to chase them for.‍

All in one sweet, clean sweep. Shall we?‍

Now, here’s the thing: we all enjoy a varying degree of structure in our lives. The process of our lives, if you will. Just that – not every step of the way is perceived as being of equal value.

Paying the utilities? No prime time entertainment for sure, but pretty useful to keep the lights on.
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Forcing yourself through the line item torment of your annual tax return? Important to not get a hefty fine or worse, no doubt, but…where was that card that friendly accountant gave you at Stella’s dinner party 6 months ago again when you need it?

Individual priorities aside, there’s just a point where such extrinsic factors alone won’t move the needle.

Let’s look at what does.

‍It’s the mix that matters. Also for the developers on your team. In concrete terms: extrinsic drivers need the support of intrinsic motivational factors for the big picture to function.

When these aren’t served, it comes as no surprise that your developers tend to not execute certain processes down to a T. That some tasks aren’t tracked with the same reliability as others.

As it does so often, science can aptly show us the way here:

With their mindset, software engineers love variety. They thrive on experimental challenges to solve. Therefore, quite naturally, when sequences become too much of a routine led by extrinsic drivers, there will be a weakest motivational link. This causes a break in the task visibility or process tracking chain. Virtually inevitably.

Unless…(yep, this is where the good news comes) – well, unless a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic factors keeps things flowing. In other words: your team enters the flow state with its strong combination of triggers and motivation sources.

Deadlines, for instance, are still present here as extrinsic focal points for one task or process. But now they get coupled with increasing self-worth and rewarding passion with outcomes that speak right to intrinsic factors. Enter: gamification. Eventually (like, very quickly eventually), this evolves into a self-sustaining system in its own right and substantial results.

We lead on with even more good news: there’s no need to spend precious time over building a system to drive this yourself: Yera is a SaaS offering that does it right out of the box. It offers several flexible types of gaming elements and rewards and allows integration and automation with tools like Jira, Jira Tempo, Slack, Trello, Wrike, and Azure.

For tasks and statuses to track and for process to hit home – your developers will connect and engage positively with both aspects all the way.

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References:

The graphics in this article - "Software Engineer Motivators" | "The Flow Cycle" | "Triggers of Flow State" | "Gamification" | - leverage and were created based on the following 3rd party research:

1) Sharp, Helen; Baddoo, Nathan; Beecham, Sarah; Hall, Tracy, and Robinson, Hugh (2009). Models of motivation in software engineering information and Software Technology", 51(1)pp. 219-233.

2) Kotler, Steven (2021). The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.