Any project’s success is dependent on the crew. So it’s vital to be able to quickly enlist qualified experts in the process. Finding a dedicated software development team is not always easy. This is a challenging duty for any leader.
You may either hire a dedicated development team (Dedicated Team) or supplement your own team with external professionals (Team Extension).
What needs particular attention?
- Begin with the Exploration Stage.
Remember the Discovery Phase. This stage takes 20-40 hours for medium-sized projects and 1–2 months for major ones. This is a fantastic chance to see whether the seller matches your expectations.
- Know all dangers.
The service provider frequently paints a realistic and positive image of the project. Ask him for a detailed list of dangers, as well as his most gloomy assessment.
Risk ignorance may result in:
- budget overruns,
- development time delays,
- employee losses,
- and wasteful labor.
- The difference in time zones is critical
We recommend that you choose a vendor that allows you to cross time zones with developers at least four hours a day. But let’s be realistic: full interaction takes much more time.
If you have extensive experience in managing a distributed team, the difference in time zones can be large. It is important to have a manager on the team of outside specialists who will be in charge of the communication planning if you are not used to working this way.
- Make sure you get to know the vendor better and start by going to a service station.
Arrange to meet the service provider’s CTO. One at a time, the CTO is the person who makes the decisions. If you can speak the same language as him, you’ll be able to better understand how the person you work with grows.
- Distribution of responsibilities in management
Before starting work, you should talk with the manager who will lead your project and discuss the details of management with them. You may simply not need some work within the framework of project activities, some work can be carried out independently, and you did not even suspect the existence of some. Project manager responsibilities may or may not include:
- work with requirements;
- planning the scope of work;
- organizing and holding meetings;
- control over the timing of work;
- team building and stimulation of developers;
- provision of work results;
- control over labor costs and their write-off;
- grading in task trackers, etc.
- Fair grading
Before starting cooperation, it is important to understand how vendor grades are built. After all, everyone has their own ideas about Junior-, Middle- and Senior-developers. In one company, certain requirements are put forward for Senior, and in another, completely different ones. At the same time, remember that there is a very big difference between the “grades” and the “roles” of the project participants. For example, a team leader can be a Middle-specialist with good managerial skills.
- Free access to developers
This point is relevant for the Dedicated Team model. You should be wary of companies that do not provide direct communication with developers. Communication with a dedicated team or individuals through third parties can slow down the development process and result in misunderstandings that can harm the project.
- Personal meetings with the team
When it comes to long-term projects (12+ months), we recommend organizing a development trip to your company. Communication becomes more effective when engineers visit the customer’s premises and immerse themselves in business processes on-site. In addition, this will significantly speed up the onboarding process. Be sure to check with your vendor if he practices business trips.
- Adaptation of remote developers
Client-side onboarding should have a clear structure with must-dos, accessible sources of information, and mentors to help new developers get onboard faster. If you do not attach importance to this, in the end, you can face serious problems.
What you need to do when you hire outside IT experts:
- They will learn more about your business and how it works.
- They will also learn about the project they will be working on and the culture of the company.
- They will be shown to the team inside the company.
- Effective Communication
The project’s success depends heavily on effective communication. After each sprint, we urge our clients to meet with the team to go through the outcomes of the work that has been done. You should also conduct regular retrospectives to see the full picture of what is happening and optimize the development process. Do not forget about interpersonal communication and team-building activities.