7 problems to avoid when building a software team

 

For the development of a functional software. You need to build a high performing team. Hiring the best individuals out there, and incorporating them in your team will help you in building the best software team for your company.

Building and maintaining a software team from the scratch can be hectic.

In a pool full of competition, skills, ideas, perceptions and technology it gets harder to pick just a few. You find yourself in a state of dilemma, too many queries pondering in your head. What to pick and what to drop? One wrong step and you are down the lane, washing off all your efforts.

We will help you go through some major mistakes people usually make while building a software team. And give you some golden tips and tricks for how to avoid them.

 

Problems to avoid when building a software team

Less empowerment

Give your team the authority they deserve.

Choosing the right team is a task on its own. But once that task is off your shoulder. You should be able to breathe some air. And that is only possible if your team is capable enough to manage the work on their own. Your team should take full-ownership, from the planning, maintaining to tracking down the process.

Avoid too much spoon feeding. Explaining your vision and  idea should be done in the beginning in order to give your team a clear vision of the product functionality. But besides that, if possible you should leave your team to grow, learn, and develop on their own. Keeping check and balance and interrupting every now and then is different.

You hired high performing developers who know their work for a reason. Your software team should be able to make tech decisions whenever and however required.

For a team to own authority, its important for you to bring all the required individuals on board. Along with that giving the team the responsibility to adjust the team according to the future needs.

Once you build a software team, your job is to give a brief idea and then give a free hand in the implementation process, where possible.

Developing features Vs technical debt

Whether building your software team or incorporating features in your developing software, everything requires BALANCE.

Almost all teams struggle with technical debt, but what is important is how you repay that debt. Every software building team tries to minimise the debt. Some succeed in analysing the adverse effect this can put on productivity. And some don’t.

But as a responsible team your team should keep in mind all the shortcomings. Technical debt can hinder functionality.

While working with a software team you should notice how your team addresses technical debt. Whether they are turning a blind eye to it or they do realise that the debt can bring down the development. And make code harder to build.

Repaying technical debt and constantly developing features should go hand in hand. Your team definitely won’t want it to effect the user experience and development process.

Some teams are better at addressing technical debt, they foresee the possible impacts, and draw out a resolution plan. It usually requires changing some code or refactoring. However repaying technical debt does not have one size fit all solution, individual team need to tackle with their debt according to the requirement.

Team members in software team

Usually the 4 major components that are look for while building a software team are:

• owner
• developer
• manager(optional)
• designer

The product manager or owner is the most important component in the team. He lays down the foundation by coming up with the product vision. The product manager analyse every aspect of the product, see around the market and figure out what are the common problems faced by the costumers and how can those be fixed.

A good Product manager should have adequate knowledge about his product. He should be ready to take risks and face failures. Along with that his foremost responsibility is to bring all the skills on board.

The developer plays the technical part, he must have all the technical experience required. Good developers adapt themselves with new technology and know how to figure out the best resources for the challenges.

Similarly good programmer should have the idea that all the work should be done before the deadlines.

A designer brings the vision into life. The amazing visuals that you see are done by the designers. They coordinate with developer and product manager in bringing the vision to life. All the visual assets are added by the designer. From creating wire frames, storyboards, sitemaps to design ideas.

A manager basically keeps a check on everything, checks the budget, deadlines, allocates task.

But small sized teams can be easily managed without a manger using different communication tools.

Remoteness from stakeholders

For a project to be completely functional and successful you need to analyse, communicate and validate. If you are not able to do one of the above, you can face obstacles in the process. Communication and validation is very important for your software to get the final thumbs up.

To understand the software’s problem, establishment of a relation between the customer and development team is essential. If your team isolate themselves from the stakeholders, they might face complications.

Selecting the right stakeholders also has an impact on the quality. First you need to identify potential stakeholders, then categorise and prioritise and finally communicate.

For communication you can arrange meetings and also use communication tools like Fleep Workzone Slake Google hangouts to fasten the communication process between the stakeholders and development team.

Time management and Quality solutions

No compromise on the quality yet being on time should be the goal. Missing deadlines, delaying launch dates, are pretty common obstacles you can face during the development process. But the solution to such mishaps is to be able to prepared before hand.

Red signs on the way are normally due to unforeseen problems. But you can overcome them if your team brainstorm the shortcomings in the beginning. Calculate the approximate time required for each step, time management is very important.

See what can go wrong in the future. Which features might need adjustment and which component requires improvement. Calculate and time all these elements with your team. So the team members are aware of all the aspects that needs to be tracked down. Your team members should do all this work before hand.

The other common obstacle that is faced while building a software team is quality issues. And to fix that, the worse solution that is implemented is  introducing dedicated jobs, and testing.

However this can be solved by handing the quality responsibility to the team. Along with that also adopting automated testing techniques and encouraging practices like peer review.

Lack of sufficient investment in building a team

No doubt providing your team with the right set of tech facilities is important for building a software team. But along with that for your team to be productive and active you need to take care of things outside work too. You should facilitate social activities. and group activities for your team to mingle with one another. and have a healthy atmosphere to work in.

Too much pressure and unnecessary work load can lead to compromised quality. Balance is important for healthy and productive development. Encourage individual growth. allow different team members to share their ideas and vision. Encourage group discussions, meetings and one on one meetings.

For a high performance software delivery you need to invest not only in skill but also in the integrity, communication and and productivity of the team. After hiring the right talent, invest in providing the right atmosphere, which will bring out the best of each individual.

Integration issues

While building a software team, select a team that is eligible enough to keep in mind all the aspects. that are connected to software development. With the advancement in the tech world the It experts and development teams are always wrestling with the existing and new applications.

Your team should be able to modernise their IT environment with the digital advancement. And should be able to tackle any tech obstacles. like integration issues etc.

Integration is important for smooth running. You will have to figure out whether the software pairs with the tools used by the client or not.

For integration you can use (Application programming interfaces) APIs and other required tools.

FINAL VERDICT

There is no one size fit all rule for building a software team.

Gather a team that suits you. While doing so facing challenges seems inevitable.  However you can avoid some major challenges by choosing your team wisely.

When once done, believe and empower your team. Let them analyse , practice and develop through their own knowledge and skills.

Practice regular feedback loops, reflect analyse and improve where needed.

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