{"id":168,"date":"2020-04-13T12:16:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/"},"modified":"2020-04-13T12:17:52","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:17:52","slug":"uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Setting the stage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uplevel, a Seattle-based people analytics and productivity startup, emerged from stealth mode in January 2020 and announced a $7.5M seed financing from Madrona Venture Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital (link to article<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The main problem that Uplevel aims to solve is that software engineers are often distracted and unable to focus on what matters to them and the company.<\/p>\n

The novel solution that Uplevel has developed is in using data collected from the calendar, messaging apps, code repositories, and project management tools to provide a wholistic view of the software engineers\u2019 productivity. Both the individual software engineer and the engineering team manager have access to the data.<\/p>\n

The research<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, wrote an entire book about the value of \u201cDeep Work\u201d. By Newport\u2019s definition, deep work refers to:<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2009, Sophie Leroy, an assistant professor at the UW Bothell School of Business, conducted a research study to show that \u201cpeople need to stop thinking about one task in order to fully transition their attention and perform well on another\u201d. This means that context switching makes it difficult for people to perform well in subsequent tasks if there is an unfinished task at hand (link to research<\/a>).<\/p>\n

According to Steven Rogelberg\u2019s \u201cThe Surprising Science of Meetings\u201d book (link to book<\/a>), US employees attend an estimated 55M meetings each year. This means that the average worker attends 15 meetings per week. \u00a0On top of that, 73% of meeting attendees admit to doing other work during meetings and 65% say that meetings prevent deep work. Clearly, most meetings are not productive and that ultimately harms the individual employee and the company.<\/p>\n

My perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am bullish on the company and the enterprise productivity space. I see a lot of use cases for both individual software engineers and team managers.<\/p>\n

By using the rich, never-before-seen, people analytics data, both software engineers and team managers are able to get a better sense of how the team is performing. This data helps both sides come prepared with the same information (i.e., get on the same page) instead of only relying on anecdotal information.<\/p>\n

If I were a software engineer, I would feel empowered with this new set of people analytics and productivity data. I can finally use the data to show that I am being pulled in multiple directions and that the endless multitasking is making me less productive.<\/p>\n

I liken the Uplevel use case to my using the \u201cscreen time\u201d function on my phone (example below). By understanding how I am spending my time, I am able to use that data to inform the behavior I want to change in order to be more productive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if I were a team manager, I can use the data to help identify tailored recommendations to help my team members be more productive. That could be removing barriers like reducing the number of cross-team meetings, making code reviews more efficient, and providing longer stretches of uninterrupted time for engineers to write code.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, I believe that the actionable insights from Uplevel needs to be coupled with human judgement to be effective.<\/p>\n

Where I see the company going<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the next 5 years, I see Uplevel continuing to plug into more data sets and expanding to other job functions. My hope is that the software will continue to help employees reclaim their precious time and focus on problems that matter to employees and the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uplevel, a Seattle-based people analytics and productivity startup, emerged from stealth mode in January 2020 and announced a $7.5M seed financing from Madrona Venture Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11436,"featured_media":169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[435,427,431,451],"class_list":["post-168","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artifical-intelligence","category-data-analytics","category-people-analytics","category-productivity","hck-taxonomy-organization-uplevel","hck-taxonomy-industry-technology","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/assignment\/lpa-blog-assignment\/","yoast_head":"\nUplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Uplevel, a Seattle-based people analytics and productivity startup, emerged from stealth mode in January 2020 and announced a $7.5M seed financing from Madrona Venture Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leading with People Analytics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-13T16:17:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/04\/lpa25_1-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/\",\"name\":\"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/lpa25_1-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-13T16:16:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-13T16:17:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/lpa25_1-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/lpa25_1-1.png\",\"width\":1560,\"height\":760},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leading with People Analytics\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-peopleanalytics\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics","og_description":"Uplevel, a Seattle-based people analytics and productivity startup, emerged from stealth mode in January 2020 and announced a $7.5M seed financing from Madrona Venture Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/","og_site_name":"Leading with People Analytics","article_modified_time":"2020-04-13T16:17:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1560,"height":760,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/04\/lpa25_1-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/","name":"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World - Leading with People Analytics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/04\/lpa25_1-1.png","datePublished":"2020-04-13T16:16:06+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-13T16:17:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/04\/lpa25_1-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/04\/lpa25_1-1.png","width":1560,"height":760},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/uplevel-quantifying-productivity-in-a-distracted-world\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/","name":"Leading with People Analytics","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11436"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-peopleanalytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}