# How Healthy Engineering Teams Invest Their Time | Dev Interrupted Powered by LinearB

> In a perfect world, leaders could show a direct line between engineering efforts and business impact. In reality, the nature of software engineering is complicated; whether you’re building new features, solving problems in the code base, or fighting fires.

_This is a markdown rendering of a live HTML page on linearb.io, generated for AI/LLM consumption — it is not a markdown-only site. To get the full HTML page instead, request this URL with an explicit `Accept: text/html` header (no wildcard, no markdown preference)._

[Blog](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog)

/

How Healthy Engineering Teams Invest Their Time

# How Healthy Engineering Teams Invest Their Time

![Photo of Conor Bronsdon](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/Conor_Bronsdon_605b9cf4c2?_a=BAVMn6ID0)

By Conor Bronsdon

|

September 28, 2023

![Untitled_design_23_f5da1f701d](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/Untitled_design_23_f5da1f701d?_a=BAVMn6ID0)

Successful engineering-led growth can only happen when the people leading dev orgs do two things:

1. Improve the efficiency of their engineering teams so that they focus as much time as possible on building, solving problems, and improving features.
2. Ensure that the work their teams spend their time on aligns with company goals.

For the first of these two mandates - improving workflow efficiency - engineering leaders already have a host of [metrics](https://linearb.io/platform/engineering-metrics), [tools](https://github.com/linear-b/gitstream), and [playbooks](https://linearb.io/resources) at their disposal.

The second of these two mandates – aligning engineering resources with company priorities – is often much more subjective. Leaders often rely on completing different sales-driven projects or epics to show their business impact.

What’s typically missing is a high-level breakdown of the types of work an engineering org engages in, how much time & how many resources are devoted to each type, and the ability to match/adjust these resources to company goals.

![CTOResponsibilities.png](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/v1720000000/CTO_Responsibilities_8673194fcb.png)

## Engineering Investment Metrics = The Business-Minded Benchmarks We’ve Needed

In a perfect world, leaders could show a direct line between engineering efforts and business impact. In reality, the nature of software engineering is complicated; whether you’re building new features, solving problems in the code base, or fighting fires.

Now armed with investment metrics – data on what types of work teams focus on — leaders can know what share of their team’s time and resources go toward different initiatives and benchmark themselves against other elite teams.

With visibility into how their team’s time is invested, engineering directors can more effectively strategize with other business leaders on how work should be prioritized to help the larger company.

## The 4 Types of Engineering Investment Categories

**1\. New Value**

The cutting edge of engineering, New Value covers work on developing new features. These innovations directly impact revenue growth, either through new customer acquisitions or expansion.

Whether launching an innovative feature, expanding capabilities, or supporting a novel platform, “New Value” is about driving forward momentum.

**2\. Feature Enhancements**

In tech’s ever-evolving landscape, staying static is not an option. The Feature Enhancements category highlights the tweaks, iterations, and improvements made to existing features, ensuring they continue to meet user expectations and offer sustained customer satisfaction.

![InvestmentMeme.png](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/v1720000000/Investment_Meme_67a2e2f2ac.png)

**3\. Developer Experience**

An often-overlooked but crucial segment, Developer Experience is all about making life easier for your engineers. Any initiative that boosts the productivity of development teams, streamlines their workflow, or simply enhances their work experience falls under this banner.

**4\. KTLO (Keep The Lights On)**

Some tasks and processes might not be glamorous but are often essential. KTLO efforts are the minimum tasks required to maintain stable operations, keep high service levels, and meet compliance & regulatory requirements.

It’s always worth examining your KTLO efforts. By identifying and rectifying inefficiencies, development teams can liberate more time, channeling it toward projects that drive impact. 

## Investment Benchmarks: Setting the Engineering North Star

It’s far too common to find yourself asking: is 8 in this category good? The truth is, you don’t know without context.

Without benchmarking your data, quantitative metrics only hold so much value. Benchmarking your engineering investment categories is pivotal in aligning development resources with overarching organizational objectives via context and a clear roadmap of best practices. 

Leveraging data gathered from more than 100,000 developers across 64 countries and incorporating 3.6 million code branches from 2,000+ development teams, the [2023 Engineering Benchmarks Report](https://linearb.io/resources/software-engineering-benchmarks-report) offers an in-depth view of the current state of engineering practices globally.

## Benchmarking the Investment Practices of Leading Teams

_Important: These healthy investment levels are a starting point across the engineering orgs in our data set. They should change based on each company's time-sensitive needs and individual characteristics._

![InvestmentBenchmarks.png](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/v1720000000/Investment_Benchmarks_f4d885d67f.png)

Based on the more than 2,000 engineering teams we studied, healthy, productive engineering teams seem to have a typical resource investment pattern:

**New Value:** 55%

**Feature enhancement:** 20%

**Developer Experience:** 15%

**KTLO:** 10%

Are these percentages right for your team? Maybe, maybe not: adjusting these proportions is not just about tweaking numbers but is driven by a company's objectives, the context of how your team works, and the need to remain agile in a changing landscape.

Typically, such adjustments aim to increase investments in the “New Value” category. This might involve reducing the “KTLO” proportion through targeted quality improvements and more efficient tooling. Alternatively, teams might consider focusing on code quality in initial feature delivery, reducing the need for refactoring and cutting down on “Feature Enhancement” allocation to direct more resources toward net-new.

## Code With Your Company’s Confidence

Understanding how to allocate your team’s resources is a non-negotiable for engineering managers. LinearB’s [2023 Engineering Benchmarks](https://linearb.io/resources/software-engineering-benchmarks-report) provide a much-needed compass as technology and business landscapes continue to [chart a path forwar](https://devinterrupted.substack.com/p/are-you-leading-your-dev-team-in)d.

When leveraged effectively, benchmarks can illuminate the path forward, ensuring teams remain efficient, innovative, and aligned with broader business goals. Staying updated with these insights isn't just beneficial; it's essential for sustained growth and success.

## Real conversations with top engineering leaders

Find us on

[](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dev-interrupted/)
[](https://devinterrupted.substack.com/)

## Your next read

[![Cover image for Why Engineering Efficiency Should Win the Dev Productivity Debate](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/Untitled_design_28_8426f08c75?_a=BAVMn6ID0)](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/why-engineering-efficiency-should-win-the-dev-productivity-debate-1)

Dev Interrupted

[Why Engineering Efficiency Should Win the Dev Productivity Debate](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/why-engineering-efficiency-should-win-the-dev-productivity-debate-1)

It's time to settle the McKinsey productivity debate.

[![Cover image for 6 Proven Strategies For Being A Great Platform Engineer](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/ed18598c_47e3_4396_85a6_e7aa6a65e827_1428x842_152822c90f?_a=BAVMn6ID0)](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/6-proven-strategies-for-being-a-great-platform-engineer)

Dev Interrupted

[6 Proven Strategies For Being A Great Platform Engineer](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/6-proven-strategies-for-being-a-great-platform-engineer)

Despite being a relatively new profession, platform engineers already have some tried and true wisdom to rely on.

[![Cover image for 4 Rules for Leading Dev Teams in Tough Economic Times](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/DI_Blog_4_Rules_for_Leading_Dev_Teams_in_Tough_Economic_Times_d8631bd245?_a=BAVMn6ID0)](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/4-rules-for-leading-dev-teams-in-tough-economic-times)

Dev Interrupted

[4 Rules for Leading Dev Teams in Tough Economic Times](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/blog/4-rules-for-leading-dev-teams-in-tough-economic-times)

There are real, positive things you can do when business isn't business-as-usual. Here are 4 from the best engineers in the industry.

## Structured data

_Machine-readable metadata (JSON-LD) embedded in the page for search/AI context — not content rendered on the page itself._

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "LinearB",
  "url": "https://linearb.io",
  "logo": "https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/v1715628027/logo-mark-lg.svg",
  "description": "LinearB is the engineering productivity platform that helps engineering leaders prove AI is improving throughput without sacrificing delivery confidence, flow efficiency, or developer experience.",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/linearb"
  ],
  "award": [
    {
      "@type": "Award",
      "name": "LinearB is a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Developer Productivity Insight Platforms",
      "dateAwarded": "2026",
      "awardedBy": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "Gartner®"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Award",
      "name": "Great Place to Work Certification",
      "dateAwarded": "2025-2027",
      "awardedBy": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "Great Place to Work"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Award",
      "name": "America's Best Startup Employers 2025",
      "dateAwarded": "2025",
      "awardedBy": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "Forbes Magazine"
      }
    }
  ],
  "hasCertification": [
    {
      "@type": "Certification",
      "name": "SOC 1 Type 2"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Certification",
      "name": "SOC 2 Type 2"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Certification",
      "name": "GDPR Compliance certification"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Certification",
      "name": "ISO 27001"
    }
  ]
}
```

## More on linearb.io

### Top navigation

- [Book a Demo](https://linearb.io/book-a-demo)
- [AI Code Reviews — Catch security risks, bugs, and spec mismatches](https://linearb.io/platform/ai-code-reviews)
- [AI & Productivity Insights — See how AI tools affect cycle time and delivery speed](https://linearb.io/platform/ai-developer-productivity-insights)
- [Measure AI Impact — Track AI adoption and tie it to delivery outcomes](https://linearb.io/use-case/measure-ai-impact)
- [MCP Server — Chat with your data to spot patterns and boost output](https://linearb.io/platform/mcp-server)
- [Resource Allocation — Cost initiatives and shape your investment strategy](https://linearb.io/platform/resource-allocation)
- [Cost Capitalization — Capitalize engineering costs with audit-ready reports](https://linearb.io/platform/cost-capitalization)
- [Dev Team Management — Set targets and tie throughput to business outcomes](https://linearb.io/platform/goals-and-reporting)
- [DevOps Workflow Automation — Policy-based PR routing, approvals, and tests](https://linearb.io/platform/ai-workflow-governance)
- [AI Powered Support — Unify AI and human code delivery in one clear view](https://linearb.io/use-case/ai-powered-support)
- [Optimization — Surface friction with feedback and MCP insights](https://linearb.io/platform/developer-experience)
- [Reporting — Spot what's working and what needs attention](https://linearb.io/use-case/measuring-developer-experience)
- [Surveys — Turn developer feedback into actionable signals](https://linearb.io/platform/developer-surveys)
- [Platform overview](https://linearb.io/platform/overview)
- [Register now](https://linearb.io/event/engineering-productivity-gap)
- [Customers](https://linearb.io/customers)
- [Pricing](https://linearb.io/pricing)
- [Why choose LinearB — Explore your data. Measure performance. Act to improve it.](https://linearb.io/why-linearb)
- [APEX framework — The operating model for AI-era engineering teams](https://linearb.io/resources/apex-framework)
- [Anti-FAQ — The questions other vendors won't answer](https://linearb.io/why-linearb/anti-faq)
- [Security — Enterprise-grade compliance and zero code access](https://linearb.io/security)
- [Build vs. buy — The hidden cost of building it yourself](https://linearb.io/resources/build-vs-buy)
- [Dev Interrupted Podcast — Conversations with engineering leaders](https://linearb.io/dev-interrupted/podcasts)
- [Reports & Guides — Deep dives on productivity and delivery](https://linearb.io/resources)
- [Webinars — Expert sessions on productivity and AI](https://linearb.io/resources?category=workshops)
- [Metrics Benchmarks — See how your engineering org stacks up](https://linearb.io/resources/software-engineering-benchmarks-report)
- [Blog — Product updates and practical insights](https://linearb.io/blog)
- [Help Center — Documentation, setup, and support](https://linearb.helpdocs.io)
- [API Docs](https://docs.linearb.io/api-overview)
- [Status](https://www.linearbstatus.com/)
- [Integrations](https://linearb.io/integrations)
- [LinearB is a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Developer Productivity Insight Platforms](https://linearb.io/resources/gartner-magic-quadrant-dpi-platforms-2026)
- [Sign in](https://app.linearb.io/login)
- [Enterprise](https://linearb.io/solutions/enterprise)
- [Contact](https://linearb.io/contact-us)
- [About us](https://linearb.io/about-us)
- [Careers](https://linearb.io/careers)
- [Service agreement](https://linearb.io/services-agreement)
- [Privacy policy](https://linearb.io/privacy-policy)
- [DPA](https://linearb.io/data-processing-agreement)
- [Security FAQ](https://linearb.io/security-faq)
- [Substack](https://devinterrupted.substack.com/)

### Footer

_Additional links from the site footer, not repeated from the top navigation above._

- [GitHub](https://github.com/linear-b)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/linearb)
- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LinearB_Inc)