Are Improvements Tracked Over Time to Assess Their Impact on Team Performance?

In the fast-paced world of scaling startups and SMEs, where every decision can have long-lasting ramifications, tracking improvements and assessing their impact on team performance is essential. Without a structured approach to measuring progress, businesses risk losing alignment with their goals, underestimating the benefits of their investments, or, worst of all, missing the opportunity to refine and optimise their operations.

However, tracking improvements isn't just about creating charts or spreadsheets. It involves building a culture of continuous improvement, understanding the nuances of team dynamics, and aligning technological progress with business goals. In this article, I’ll explore why tracking improvements is essential for assessing team performance, how to approach it effectively, and the tangible outcomes it can generate.

Why Tracking Matters: Learning from the Past to Shape the Future

One of the biggest challenges scaling companies face is the misalignment between their business objectives and technology development. Teams often become so caught up in delivering immediate results that they lose sight of the broader strategic goals​. In such cases, the result is often wasted resources, inefficiencies, and frustration.

By tracking improvements over time, you create a clear feedback loop that not only ensures alignment with overarching business goals but also enables the team to assess what’s working and what’s not. It provides an evidence-based approach to decision-making, ensuring resources are directed towards initiatives that deliver real value. For instance, if a tech upgrade is introduced to reduce response times, tracking performance can reveal whether it’s delivering the expected outcomes.

The Process of Tracking Improvements

1. Set Clear and Measurable Objectives

The first step in tracking any improvement is establishing what success looks like. Without clear, measurable objectives, it's impossible to gauge whether any change has had a positive impact. In technology-driven environments, this could mean establishing performance benchmarks, setting key performance indicators (KPIs), or utilising agile methodologies that focus on iterative progress.

For example, if you’ve integrated a new feature into your product, it’s vital to determine the KPIs beforehand. Are you looking to improve customer satisfaction? Increase product usage? Boost internal team efficiency? Defining the right metrics early on sets the stage for proper analysis later.

2. Use a Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative Metrics

In fast-growing businesses, it's easy to fall into the trap of only using quantitative metrics to track progress. While numbers are valuable, they don’t tell the whole story. For instance, a drop in bug reports could indicate that a team has improved the software’s quality, but it might also signify that customers are frustrated and no longer engaging with the product.

A balanced approach that includes qualitative feedback from teams, customers, and stakeholders is crucial. Surveys, team retrospectives, and open forums can help uncover hidden insights that numbers alone can’t capture. Combining these with data analytics provides a more complete picture of your improvements and their impact on team performance.

3. Utilise Tools for Continuous Monitoring

Technological innovation offers numerous tools to help track improvements in real time. From project management software like Jira to customer feedback platforms like Zendesk, there are solutions to help track performance metrics and gain real-time insights. Automation tools, in particular, can be immensely useful in tracking various processes, such as productivity levels, customer engagement, and time spent on tasks.

But remember, the key isn't just implementing these tools—it's ensuring they are effectively integrated with your workflows. Make sure your team uses them consistently and that there’s a process for reviewing the data collected. Otherwise, improvements might go unnoticed or be misinterpreted.

The Role of Leadership in Tracking Improvements

1. Establishing a Culture of Continuous Improvement

One common pitfall in scaling businesses is the tendency to implement improvements without following up. A new process or tool might be introduced with great fanfare, only to fade into the background as the team moves on to the next big thing. This results in what I like to call ‘improvement fatigue’—where a continuous stream of new initiatives becomes overwhelming, and nothing is effectively tracked or assessed for its real impact.

To counter this, leaders need to instil a culture of continuous improvement within their teams. This involves creating an environment where changes are introduced with purpose, assessed systematically, and refined over time. A continuous improvement mindset encourages teams to embrace the iterative process, learn from past experiences, and adapt.

2. Providing Transparency and Clear Communication

Another critical leadership function is providing transparency around improvements and their progress. In my experience, I’ve seen how a lack of visibility can lead to frustration, anxiety, and, ultimately, disengagement from team members​. Employees need to understand how their contributions are moving the needle, and they need to see the tangible outcomes of their efforts.

Creating regular check-ins, sharing progress reports, and celebrating wins—no matter how small—can help keep morale high and ensure that teams remain focused. Moreover, this transparency fosters trust and encourages collaboration, as everyone is aligned on the goals and understands the direction of progress.

3. Mentorship and Skill Development

Leaders must also focus on nurturing their teams throughout the tracking process. Assessing impact should not just be about reviewing performance but also about identifying areas for skill development. For instance, if a new tool is introduced to improve productivity, the team’s performance should be measured, but alongside this, training and development should be offered to ensure they’re equipped to use the tool effectively.

Tracking performance over time offers a roadmap for developing competencies and ensuring that your tech team continues to evolve alongside the demands of the business.

Addressing the Fears: What If Improvements Don’t Work?

As leaders of scaling businesses, we can often become paralysed by the fear of failure, particularly when it comes to technological investments and changes. What if the improvement doesn’t deliver the ROI? What if it derails other key priorities?

These fears are valid but manageable. First, recognise that not all improvements will deliver the expected outcomes immediately. Tracking performance over time allows you to identify when things aren't working and gives you the opportunity to course-correct before too many resources are wasted.

Moreover, by adopting an iterative approach, where improvements are tested on a smaller scale before being rolled out company-wide, you reduce the risks of failure. It’s also critical to create an environment where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. This helps the team to feel empowered and reduces the anxiety around tracking performance.

Real-World Impact of Tracking Improvements

To illustrate, let’s consider a real-world example. A scaling SaaS company I worked with was experiencing sluggish development cycles, with features taking longer to ship as the team grew. Despite hiring more engineers, productivity was decreasing—a textbook case of Brooks's Law​.

By introducing a series of iterative process improvements—refining sprint cycles, implementing automated testing, and improving communication flows between product and development teams—the company began tracking specific metrics like lead time, cycle time, and the number of open bugs. Over a six-month period, the improvements were monitored closely.

The results? Lead times dropped by 20%, bug reports decreased by 30%, and overall team morale improved as communication became clearer and more efficient. Importantly, these improvements were not just implemented and forgotten—they were assessed at every step, with adjustments made where necessary. Without tracking these improvements over time, the company would likely have continued to hire more engineers in the hope of resolving its productivity issues, wasting both time and resources.

Key Takeaways and Actionable Steps

Set Clear Metrics: Without defined KPIs and performance benchmarks, tracking improvements will be meaningless. Ensure you know what success looks like from the outset.

Balance Quantitative and Qualitative Data: Numbers don’t tell the whole story. Ensure you’re capturing qualitative insights through team feedback, customer input, and stakeholder conversations.

Utilise Tools: Take advantage of modern tools to track performance metrics in real-time. Project management and feedback platforms offer invaluable data that can help you assess improvements efficiently.

Lead with Transparency: Communicate regularly with your team about the impact of improvements. Share progress and celebrate wins to keep the team motivated and aligned.

Nurture Your Team: Use tracking as a means to identify gaps in skills and provide mentorship and development opportunities for team members.

In conclusion, tracking improvements over time isn’t a one-off exercise—it’s a continuous journey. It’s about learning from each step, iterating on the process, and creating an environment where performance isn’t just about hitting targets but about growing, evolving, and aligning your tech strategy with your business’s broader goals. By making this a core part of your leadership strategy, you’ll not only assess the impact of your improvements but also pave the way for sustained success and innovation in the future.