I agree in principle, but especially when I'm still getting up to speed on a complex code base (and when am I not?) I need something like a weekly summary to achieve a good balance between exploratory and goal-driven tasks. Not to say that every weekly summary is as useful – sometimes management turns it into Sisyphean labor.
For instance when I'm starting to learn a new language: I do a mix (whatever's comfortable) between exploring and goals. Explore: read some documentation, look at tutorials, make toy projects. Goals: figure out how hard it is to get "real work" done.
The weekly summary often is the catalyst for my mind to take the different small projects and find larger threads in them.
For instance when I'm starting to learn a new language: I do a mix (whatever's comfortable) between exploring and goals. Explore: read some documentation, look at tutorials, make toy projects. Goals: figure out how hard it is to get "real work" done.
The weekly summary often is the catalyst for my mind to take the different small projects and find larger threads in them.