I am trying to get some feedback on a methodology I would like to try with my team. Two problem areas I want to try and adapt this process to addess are:
- A mix of time-critical (contracted deliverable) features mixed with other features
- Measuring the relative value of effort by different team members and developing incentives
Currently we have been using a basic Scrum style process. I like the idea of Kanban but I think in a development environment the WIP and team organization should be a lot more flexible. So I have been thinking about what I'm tentatively calling Reverse Auction Kanban.
In the basic summary form the Product Owner would basically put forward items that they think are ready or needed to be developed as if they were a standalone project. Engineers and QA could then bid on the work. The lowest bidding engineer or engineering group would then get the work assigned to them and would then need to deliver the work. Part of the ongoing incentive is that MBO/bonuses could be given based on the total points of work delivered by an individual.
So some examples:
Say I need a new screen developed. Maybe a senior web developer thinks it is worth 100 points. But perhaps a but maybe a junior developer wants more experience with web development. So he can bid 80 points to get the work. Because we release monthly I do not really care if the senior developer could do the feature in two days compared to the junior guy's three.
Same situation but now say the customer needs this page in 1 week. Now the Senior developer raises his price to 200 points and the junior doesn't think he can get the work done in time. But the junior developer talks to the senior developer to place a joint price of 150 (The senior would take care of some of the tricky things and let the junior fill in the rest)
Features that have a high value to the business could be given a higher starting bid price. So in the above examples perhaps the Product Owner looks at past point values for page development and sets the starting price at 200 points. But in the second example the page would start at 500 points.
The Product Owner and other managers would be the arbitrators of the delivered product and accept the work at which point the points bid would be credited to the engineers. Over the course of a project or year the managers can keep track of the total points spent by the individuals and then award bonuses or other incentives to people who have done the most points of work.
What are people's thought on this model and what are some of the challenges or benefits you could see with such a model? Where does QA fit into a model like this? Would they be involved with every item as a team member or perhaps as the acceptance committee?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Jason
