10 Ways To Enhance Web Development Team Productivity

Like any working group, a web development team needs to be productive. Otherwise, it’s just a gang of coding enthusiasts hanging out. Fun for them, but not so great for the company paying the wages.

But how does a project manager keep their team focused? How can you keep everyone on track to meet their business goals? How can you ensure the team is self-motivated? 

Nobody likes to micromanage. So the good news is there are ways you can optimize your team’s productivity without micromanaging.

This article will guide you. Let's start with what it means to be productive. After all, we need to know what we’re trying to improve.

Measuring Web Development Team Productivity

On the one hand, productivity is easy to measure. No matter the activity, you can look at the quantity of output in a given period, right? Yes and no. Work volume is essential. But remember that as a task becomes more complex, the output quality is as crucial. 

Plus, the more factors like remoteness are at play, the more complex the task can get. For example, the development team may be working on a .ca domain. But members could spread from Calistoga to Catalonia. When you add complications like this, the need for quality assurance becomes vital. 

Let's take the example of a carton maker in a high-volume packaging factory. You might focus on the number of cartons they produce in an hour. Yes, managers will make the odd check on strength and shape. But generally, this is a basic task thought of almost only in terms of units produced.

The more complex the process, the more we must build quality into its measurement. So, when we look at web developer productivity, we need to factor in how much debugging or editing developers need to do before the code works as planned. As well as the amount of functioning code produced. 

This is true regardless of the primary task. And whether they're front-end developers, back-end developers, or full-stack developers. 

So, productivity is not about inspiring a team to produce more. It’s about producing better. Being more productive means streamlining workflows, optimizing communication, and improving people’s skills. The result? A team that collaborates towards the same goal, producing high-quality work with efficiency.

Additionally, utilizing a proxy server can enhance web development team productivity by providing secure and efficient access to external resources during the development process.

10 Ways to Boost Web Development Team Productivity

Keeping in mind your desired outcome, let’s explore ways to get your team working smarter.

1. Reduce Distractions

The more difficult the operation, the higher the distraction potential. As we all know, web development projects can be intense and demanding. Errors can creep in because of distractions. 

Environmental distractions could include internet browsing, social media, and general office noise. So, it’s a good idea for a team leader to impose a ‘workspace is for work’ kind of rule. Keep internet browsing to work-related tasks only. And limit social media usage to break times.

That said, it’s important not to go too far with this stance. Be over-draconian and watch your team’s spirit flag. 

It’s good project management to allow and encourage a team to communicate. This doesn’t have to be on a work theme all the time. So, nurture a climate of trust. Allow banter and chat, but ensure everyone realizes that this isn’t in place of work. It’s alongside it. 

2. Use the Best Tools

Your team’s output will only be as good as the tools you’ve given them to use. Spend time researching what user interface equipment you need. 

At the same time, try to focus on what your priorities are. For example, let's say you have a far-flung team. Think about how they can collaborate with each other virtually, such as with an online whiteboard or a file sharing system. Other digital collaboration tools include group chat platforms such as Slack, task management software, and video conferencing.

Expense can sometimes be an issue with the best and latest tools. But bear in mind how much unsuitable or obsolete tools can cost your business. And if your competitors are equipping themselves with the best gear, you don’t want to lag behind.

3. Think Remote

It’s important to encourage communication if you have a remote team. Distance can isolate and demoralize team members. That’s when distractions can really strike. 

Keep them involved by having regular team sessions online. Even social media can do wonders to enhance your team’s engagement. They can be about the project requirements, business goals, or something completely different. Just use this as a time to get everyone together and foster a team mentality.

4. Multi-Tasking

Another key area for potential distraction is multi-tasking. Some people can multitask. Some can’t. It’s commonly bandied about that women are better at it than men. But, in truth, everyone can benefit from applying themselves to a single task rather than stretching themselves across several projects.

It’s worth keeping your team aware of this. Conduct regular discussion sessions about best work practices and people’s workload. Ensure team members aren’t stretched too thin or focusing too much on any one project.

5. Box Clever

It’s an excellent idea to box the business day into productive chunks of time. This is particularly beneficial for web developers whose tasks can be time-consuming. 

Set out what activities need to be completed by the day’s end. Then give each task, such as an aspect of website design, a time frame.

Obviously, there needs to be a degree of flexibility. However, if all team members keep to the box approach, they can meet more goals by the end of the day. As a result, the project plan will benefit.

6. Automate

If your team is engaged in repetitive coding tasks, think about ways to automate the process. Higher output, fewer errors, and happier team members will result. 

With the rise of AI, there are excellent automation tools that take the drudge out of coding. So these are well worth exploring. 

This can extend to automated testing routines too. These will assist quality assurance engineers no end. 

7. The Rule of 80/20

This one’s an interesting one. Work engineers and business analysts have argued that our overall output is not directly proportionate to the effort we put in. 

It’s generally considered true that some of our efforts produce alarmingly little in the way of useful output. Conversely, it’s reckoned that 20% of our inputs are especially productive, being responsible for 80% of our results.

That’s all well and good. The tricky bit is to find out which of these efforts really dish out the project deliverables. Then identify which ones we might as well not put in. To do this, you might use digital monitoring tools to track productivity and correlate it with results. You could use project management software to oversee tasks and make sure deadlines are met. Customer surveys are also a good indicator of whether a strategy is working well.

Of course, each team member will have different skill sets. What is a high-result effort for one person will be low-result for another. 

For project managers, that means allocating team roles and project tasks intelligently. Get members doing what they do best. The result will be a strong team with higher overall productivity. Doing what they're good at also tends to make people happier. So it’s a win-win.

8. Don’t Duck

We’ve all been guilty of putting off a tricky or tedious activity. This is where cognitive dissonance comes into play. We know that the task won’t go away, but we hope it might if we ignore it long enough.

The key is to make a start. You don’t have to deal with it all at once. Break it down and get on with it. You may find that it wasn’t so bad after all. Plus, you may benefit from turning an uninviting challenge into a career triumph.

This has particular significance for web development teams. There is often a good deal of co-dependency when it comes to getting the entire project completed. If one member of the team refuses to get on with surmounting a challenge, this can slow the whole team down, and project goals can suffer. As much as possible, you want your team to be motivated.

9. Reuse and Recycle

Productive teams reduce unnecessary work. With that in mind, consider previous projects and avoid doubling up. For example, you can often reuse code and save time by using templates and the same key components for building every webpage.

Let’s say your team is working on a series of domain names and has worked on a similar project before. Review previous tasks and see if you can repurpose components for the current project. It makes sense to get as much value as you can out of previous efforts. Tools like AzureDevOps and AzureBoards are useful here, as you can easily search for previous work based on keywords or field values.

10. Keep Learning

Continuous learning is a great way to enhance productivity, from improving existing skills to picking up new ones. As well as staying up to date with the latest technological advancements and tools, it’s also worth making sure that nobody has skipped over the fundamentals like JavaScript or CSS. 

Put together a training development plan for all team members and take feedback on which skills people are keen to polish up. But don’t forget about the small improvements that can make a big difference to productivity.

For example, the keyboard is still the most common input method for developers, so check that everyone knows how to use common keyboard shortcuts. You could also introduce text-to-speech software, which can assist developers in proofreading and editing their code more efficiently.

Unlock Your Team’s Potential

We’ve only just begun to list ways to enhance web development team productivity. Some of the best techniques are good for any team. Meanwhile, some are specific to those who work in computing and coding. 

The most important thing to remember is to pay attention to all of your team members. Consider everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. How can junior team members learn from more experienced developers? Can you gather feedback from your team to further improve their productivity? Do they need further training in specific areas?

Your team is likely bursting with potential. It’s all about tapping into their needs. Find ways to keep them engaged, ensure strong communication, and equip them with the tools they need to succeed.