Forming and building a successful software development team means the success of your business, and the reverse is true. As such, getting the best people and moving them into working with your business goals and objectives isn’t about just taking anyone and everyone on board; it’s some thorough work of scrutiny. Sadly, studies show that many software teams fail in development jobs, not because they are not skilled but because they lack confidence in their skillsets. As such, more than 75% of software teams commit to jobs but flop terribly in them. Consequently, you may wonder how to form and build a team that will not just be good but will rise beyond the normal and help your business excel. Here are tips that have worked for other teams and businesses and should equally work for you, especially if you follow them to the latter.
Table of Contents
Focus on domain expertise and professional background
Everyone knows that software development is all about writing code, and that’s right. However, is that all there is? Of course, not; there is so much involved, and writing codes is like the skeleton of the entire thing. Since you know your business’s special needs, focus on the domain expertise and the professional background of the team you want to work with. Examine your project scopes, goals, objects, and roadmaps, and see if the team you want to work with ticks your box for this aspect. Remember, you will pay the team, so you must make your every penny count.
Technologies matter a lot. If your project for example, requires using the Python Django framework, then a veteran should provide Django development services on a professional level.
Look at the previous work done
Focus on the team’s portfolio to understand the kind of previous jobs it has handled. Because you are researching them for the first time, you likely haven’t interacted with them on the ground to know what they can and cannot offer. As such, you will rely on the team’s website and portfolio to know the previous jobs they have done and use that to judge the success rate of your jobs. Go beyond the obvious and find out the unique challenges the team has had to deal with and what exactly it has done to overcome the challenges. This piece of information is crucial because it helps you know how well the team is placed to manage your unique challenges.
Prioritize critical thinkers
You need a software development team that can get beyond the obvious. As such, pay more attention to critical thinking than anything else because different challenges will surface as you handle the project. As such, you need to learn to appreciate members who can disagree to some ideas and say ‘no’ than people who confer to everything. Software development job calls for critical thinking since new challenges arise every day, and only critical thinkers can stand the test of time.
Be at the center of the hiring process
Building a good team also means taking an active role in the hiring process instead of sitting on the fence and being a watchdog. As such, define the project and its goals, objectives, scope, challenges, etc. Besides, be present during the hiring process and actively participate. Doing so helps you choose a team you know well and will give you an easy time working on the project.
Go for passion
People give their best when they love their work, which is true while building a successful team for developing software. As such, pay attention to passion while trying to form a working team. For instance, while researching individuals forming a team, establish whether they have personal projects. Of course, a person might have had considerable success working with a team, but this does not necessarily mean that he is passionate about his job. Has he had success in his personal gigs? He might not have much to offer, but then he should show some attempts, which, to the very least, should be visible on his portfolio.
Prioritize soft skills and cultural fitness
While technical skills are key in the success of any project, soft skills speak a lot about what direction the tasks will take, and true cohesion will exist among the team members to foster relatability. Actually, missing out on these qualities means communication will be compromised, automatically digging a grave for your project. Therefore, as you choose a team that you will work with on your project, scrutinize the members and establish how well they fit in the context. Do they communicate openly and honestly? What is their initial attitude? The answers to this question should give you a hint of how every other thing will be as time unfolds.
Provide the needed tools and a comfortable environment
How well your team will bring out the best out of its technical and soft skills largely depends on how comfortable the work environment is. You want to see productivity, but this has to start with the provision of the needed equipment, both soft and hard ones. Besides, make the work environment peaceful since we all need serenity to excel.
Build communication from the word go
Although a team might comprise skilled members, communication might always be an issue since some people are naturally shy and might need to be pushed occasionally. While this might seem like a red flag, you can help break the ice and see how things go before committing yourself. As such, you need to define your expectations from the team and the role of each member. Having things clear from the word go will help lessen unsettled issues.
Listen, and listen well
Listening is caring, and this we know. However, in the context of software development, listening does not only mean caring but informs the success of your software development team. Some people are not loud in how they express themselves and how they articulate issues, but this does not mean they are out of context. In fact, such people may play a pivotal role in working the team’s way up to success. Therefore, listening will help you as the business manager understand a person with a unique personality, ultimately contributing to the team’s success.
Avoid creating burnout unnecessarily
Some projects fail, not because the team is unskilled, but because the business manager took this too fast and too far. It’s true you want results, but unnecessarily pressuring the members will bring more harm than good to the project. In fact, too much stress sends the members into burnout, so who will work on the project. Be patient and allow room for mistakes but remain firm.
Conclusion
The success of a project depends on how to fit a software development team is fit for the project. As such, the business manager has a huger responsibility of building a team that will turn the company’s vision into life. This blog discusses 10 tips to successfully forming a team and building it; you only need to peer into it and know how to work your way up to success.
