9 Main Factors Make A Great Dedicated Software Team

Technology is an essential component in today’s world economy. For effective delivery of services to customers, firms need to have innovative software solutions in order to maintain their market share. It is, therefore, important to have the right technical staff. Based on our experience, Kyanon Digital has chosen 9 main factors that make a great dedicated software team, and described these below.

1. High level of professionalism

Professionalism is a critical attribute that every dedicated team member should have. Simply put, It is the bare minimum that you should pay attention to. Without a professional work ethic, even highly skilled individuals are useless to a business. Professionalism can be seen as a mix of hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are the skills that a person needs to perform their job. It is their expertise like coding or knowledge of specific technologies. Basically, anything that can be quantified or measured is a hard skill. On the other hand, soft skills are the skills a person needs to work with others. It is the social aspect that is arguably crucial in a team setting because, without it, it would be impossible to work with that person.

2. Technical expertise

Technical skills should not be forgotten. A shortage of IT-literate staff can be limiting to any organization, but this is even more important when a piece of software is the center of the entire operation. It is good to consider not only programming languages and platforms, but also areas of technical expertise as well as specific methodologies. Other things to look out for in outsourcing partners will be certifications in various technologies, and partnerships. As an example, before embarking on a project in-house, you may want to assess whether your team includes experts in Java, PHP or Microsoft, in desktop, mobile or embedded platforms, in the area of security, cloud or automation, and possess knowledge of Agile and Scrum.

3. Communication

Communication skill plays a vital role to a great dedicated software developer. It is because effective communication within a project team is key to the success of the project for or both in-house and outsourced teams. The complexity of projects nowadays is reaching an enormous level, so keeping the whole communication unambiguous and easy to comprehend for all the people involved is a critical element of ensuring work effectiveness. Throughout the whole software development lifecycle, countless points of interaction with different stakeholders happen. These people usually have different backgrounds, specializations and some of them might even have very low technological knowledge (like business representatives, or end-users whose feedback is being gathered to improve the system). This is why great software engineers have the ability to not only use a technical language understandable for their teammates, but also can get outside this bubble, share complex technical matters in simple ways, and translate the business requirement into technological language.

4. Responsibility

Great software engineers feel responsible for the outcome and ready to adapt when necessary. Since they know where “the true north” is, they keep their hands on the pulse of the progress and quality of teams’ work and take corrective actions if the project is starting to drift. At the same, they are aware that the IT-world, especially when it comes to innovative start-ups, is a fast-paced environment with constant pivots. This is why if some changes need to be implemented to either reach business goals or simply refine the product, they are willing to adapt.

5. Attitude to technology and level of expertise

Another thing to consider is the level of expertise and attitude – are the team members proficient in a given methodology or language? Are they excited and passionate about technology? Finally, you may also like to consider your team’s willingness to work in the specific programming language or within a given framework. After all, an unhappy team means a demotivated team, which can be detrimental to the success of your project. According to McKinsey & Company, mastering technology and project content by securing critical internal and external talent is one of their four key dimensions for delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget and on value.

6. Clear roles within the team

In order to function properly, the team needs to know all the aspects of the process, together with their duties, and responsibilities. It is key to building a healthy team for custom software development. The members of the team should also understand how their roles and responsibilities relate to the goals of the project. Ideally, you should have individual team members dedicated to one and only one role in any of the above. For instance, it is best not to give developers project management or UX design duties. One important reason this makes sense is perspective and bias. Some roles simply do not mix well in an individual. For example, if one person does coding and testing, they might be unable to test the app thoroughly because they are too close to the code, or they might be reluctant to revise their work.

7. Well-balanced team member skills

The most effective teams are all cross-functional. That means they are composed of members with various complementary skills and backgrounds. Cross-functional teams are much more effective and faster at solving problems since they can tackle anything that comes their way. However, effective cross-functional teams are also highly specialized. That means the skills they have depends on the nature and scope of your app. You should also consult your technical team to determine the technologies and platforms you will need. If that is not possible, a good vendor or app agency can do that for you.

8. Clear goals

To set clear and achievable goals is critical for any team. Before making long and short-term plans and giving the tasks to the team, ensure that everyone knows what they are aiming for at the end of the project. Great dedicated software teams always have clients that provide complete software requirements. That way, the team can pivot their daily tasks toward achieving that. Everyone on your team has to be committed. Ensuring that all members share in rewards for success is another key in a good team. It gives the team members a sense of responsibility and enjoyment of their work. Your team will feel a lot better about their work and work even harder for the goal.

9. Team scalability

An ideal project team would, for many executives, be one that is easily scalable allowing them to add more team members as project requirements grow. With a general shortage of IT resources in the market, coupled with slow speed and high costs of recruitment and training, the situation is far from ideal, especially when you need to adjust team size dynamically. An alternative option would be to go with an outsourcing partner who will help support team size and provide an opportunity for adding additional team members, especially if they have a buffer. Each engineer in a software development team places importance on the success of the software project, and Kyanon Digital hopes this article brings you useful information to make the best hiring decisions. Contact us and have consultation with our experts to build a potential dedicated software team for your software development outsourcing.