[JamesBarney]

This is especially tough because one important development skill is the ability to solve complex problems with simple solutions. This can sometimes make them look less productive because they've made a hard problem look easy.

One technique I've found that helps a little is having everyone individually estimate tasks before hand. Over time you can notice who is completing tasks faster or slower than the average. Of course this is just one data point that needs to be weighed against a variety of others.

[januzis]

Measuring against estimates incentivizes over-estimating, especially if the team is small, and team members know roughly who will do what during the estimation process. Big complicated tasks also tend to be under-estimated, so they would be avoided, because they would usually influence the perceived productivity negatively.

I would like to find a feasible approach to productivity evaluation using the output only (PRs, reviews, basically all the data points the article mentions), because I feel that’s the only way of creating an environment, where team members can proactively take a bit more time when it benefits the end result, without fearing any negative repercussions.

[JamesBarney]

I don't think developers spend that much time gaming metrics unless they are objectively measured against them.

And you would notice if someone's estimates are always higher for the work they are assigned compared to others.