I believe that what people try to determine is not a very precise measure of productivity, but the fact that productivity measurement doesn't matter so much.
The central message that I remember from Peopleware is that software teams are more about people than about numbers.
Performance is going to vary, often wildly (often for the same people at different times). I loved the anecdote of the woman that wasn't very productive herself, but was a "catalyst", maybe simply a fancy way to say she was fun and nice to work with.
Unless you are Google and have the right process to detect the best and resources to attract them, your best bet is to treat people well and apply common sense... as opposed to apply hard metrics and put pressure, demoralizing your people.
The central message that I remember from Peopleware is that software teams are more about people than about numbers.
Performance is going to vary, often wildly (often for the same people at different times). I loved the anecdote of the woman that wasn't very productive herself, but was a "catalyst", maybe simply a fancy way to say she was fun and nice to work with.
Unless you are Google and have the right process to detect the best and resources to attract them, your best bet is to treat people well and apply common sense... as opposed to apply hard metrics and put pressure, demoralizing your people.