Productivity in the Workplace for Product Development Teams

Abstract

Productivity is a measure of the value generated for every hour worked. In a product development team, productivity can be affected by endogenous and exogenous factors, such as biological rhythms, work style, availability, work interruptions, team size, location, and the management strategies taken in a project. These factors will have an effect on the amount of effective work value generated in a workweek.

A mathematical model and a Monte Carlo simulation were used to quantitatively assess the impact of these factors on the estimated cost and duration of a product development project. Based on the model results, we determined that workweek capacity and interruptions in the workplace are central to productivity. In addition, we demonstrated that combining different management strategies could be used to bring the project back on schedule and within budget to reduce the effects of these inefficiencies due to diverse endogenous and exogenous factors.

For these reasons, this case study on a product development project will provide insight to engineering managers and project leaders about the effects of these inefficiencies in the workplace. The findings will help pave the way toward a more accurate project estimation and better modeling of project dynamics to reduce the amount of uncertainty in product development teams.