BS: Productivity

Subject: Productivity
From: DMcG
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 07:08 AM

This is precious little to do with music, but bear with me!

I recently gave a talk to about 50 people on a computer system we were developing and gave the figure of about 20 lines of code a day as a typical productivity figure bandied about the industry. When I was preparing the talk I decided to try to work out what the similar figures would be for other jobs. The main criteria was these must be essentially requiring intellectual rigour - so I would consider eg textbooks but not Barbara Cartland novels

I looked at the authorship of the American Declaration of Independence, how long Tom Paine took to right 'The Rights of Man' and how long the UK Parliament took to pass - if indeed it ever does - the 'Hunting with Dogs' act.

Apart from the Parliament, they all took round about the 20 lines per day, as far as we can tell, although people working on their own tend to be a lot more productive (TP was, I think, about 50 lpd).

The UK Parliament is running slightly below one letter a day on that Act.

Now back to music. Obviously, there will be huge variations, but has anyone any suggestions of the productivity rates for music for us run-of-the-mill musicians? Did Tin-Pan_alley set a productivity rate, for example?

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: CarolC
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 07:19 AM

What a concept! Productivity rates for music! Makes my teeth itch. (Mommy, make the bad man go away!)

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: DMcG
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 07:22 AM

*BG* I'm not that bad really *BG*

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 12:31 PM

In a former lifetime, I worked "under the thumb" of the General Accounting Office (GAO), and was required to submit detailed "Cost Estimate Worksheets" and updates in support of engineering programs for the US Air Force, Navy, and to lesser extent the Army.

Each contractor is required to "establish from experience records" a "Basis" for their estimates. This is done by keeping fairly detailed records of time required to accomplish specific "tasks" on each program - almost as much for use in estimating the next task as for actual billing on the one being recorded.

We were permitted not too long ago to "estimate" 8 hours per "A-Size" (8.5 x 11 inch) page. (It used to be "MH" for manhours, but I suppose by now it's PH for "personhours.) Since a typical page is about 20 to 24 lines, this fits well with your 20 lines per day.

Accuracy of the estimates could be improved by an allowance for "complex pages," at 16 hr per page. For a "typical component design specification" of about 120 pages, up to 30 percent might be "complex."

It should be noted that the 8 hr per page is the time required by the person who "prepares" the document. A "Burden Rate" is applied to this estimate that factors in something like - for example - 3 hours for a drafter, 1.5 hours for a secretary, 0.6 hours for "managers", etc, for each 8 hours required by the preparer. The "technical preparer's" $25 per hour "wage" might well be bid at something around $125 or higher per hour in "total burden rate."

Properly used, these "factors" permitted very accurate task analysis - if, but only if, they are conscientiously and frequently audited and maintained during development of a program.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 01:17 PM

This song says it all. "Keep that wheel a-turning"

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: DMcG
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 02:13 PM

Alex Glasgow wrote a song called, I think, Sammy Bell:

A little tale I'll tell of a chap called Sammy Bell
Who lived down our street
He laboured night and day In his way
Making sausages for you to eat
But unlike you and me he was always full of glee
As he worked away
something something you could hear Sam's song

Oh, I love my work and I love my wages
Love my Boss, and he loves me to
Oh my lovely line of sauages
I'll surely die for the love of you

A strike is called by the workers, but Sam refuses to join in - in fact he goes in and tries to run the production line himself. The factory noise ..

... rose to a high-pitched groan
On a sausage skin Sam slipped
By the mincer he was gripped
And it didn't take long ...
before the sauages were coming out the other end
and they were singing Sam's song!

Oh, I love my work and I love my wages
Love my Boss, and he loves me to
Oh my lovely line of sauages
I'll surely die for the love of you

Back to the thread. I can imagine how Tin Pan Alley would be run now ("You've only produced three outputs this week and one of them did not mean our quality standard for a 'song' - if this doesn't improve we'll have to let you go"). Obviously, they didn't just leave the songwriters in a room for months and hope something came out. So how did they run it?

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Mar 02 - 07:00 PM

Not to be cynical, but I suspect songwriting is a little like diamond mining.

There are far more diamonds in the mine, waiting to be "produced," than the market will bear. The producers "take" a sufficient quantity to keep the market churning at a profitable rate, but the rest of them just sort of lay there in the ground.

Production rates and efficiency have little to do with it.

???????????

John

Subject: RE: BS: Productivity
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Mar 02 - 12:45 AM

Sort of like "mother-hood" too.......you just keep doing the Stuff and waiting for the Gem........at least Mother-hood" doesnt' (at this point) require an anylsis of productivity although I suppose it should--LOL!