How to manage a software development team?

August 05, 2022

Tags: IT Staff Augmentation, Managed Teams

software development

 

Software development is the profession of the moment. At IBM they define it as “Software development refers to a set of computing activities dedicated to the process of creating, designing, implementing and supporting software. The software itself is the set of instructions or programs that tell a computer what to do. It is hardware independent and makes computers programmable.”

 

Development does not happen by itself, a consolidated team of developers is needed to create the websites, applications, and other projects that customers demand. To manage this team, you must have a person with great knowledge of programming and technology, as well as leadership skills.

 

How is a dedicated software development team defined?

 

As explained on the DoIt Software portal “They define the relationships of software components, coding conventions, tools, and platforms. Typically, you would find them leading back-end or full-stack teams, or a development organization as a whole, much like a CTO would in the traditional model.”

 

A good software development team is made up of a UI/UX designer, a full-stack developer, a backend developer, and a frontend developer, plus a QA who makes sure all tasks are done successfully.

 

How to manage a dedicated software development team

 

A common scenario in any software development team is to see the developer frustrated by questions like how much time do you have left to finish that task? Or will you have this code ready by today? This happens when a person without programming or technical knowledge takes over one of these teams, which can happen in a good way by following a few guidelines.

 

In Wrike they detail “A person does not necessarily need to know how to code to understand how the people on his team do the work. He may not understand the technical aspects of architecture and programming, but he can still understand common pitfalls, preferred tools, and best practices. For example, if he is an Agile organization, as long as he is an Agile expert, he can manage Agile for IT operations, even without extensive IT knowledge.”

 

The person without technical knowledge must be trained to recognize the signs that the team is not performing at 100% or close to that number, detect why this is due and maintain a relaxed work environment where productivity can flow, avoiding “ micromanagement” or constantly monitoring every movement of the team.

 

“Software development is truly creative work: the team needs time to think, solve problems and find new solutions. So the leader must give them space and not just measure their performance by the number of lines of code they write each day. Are deadlines being met? How many defects are being created, found, and fixed? How do your peers feel about your performance? The manager must look for a combination of quality, quantity, and collaboration capacity” they affirm in Wrike.

 

software development

 

If I don't have a leader, can I hire a technology partner?

 

Within the team of engineers and programmers there may not be a person with the skills to lead it, so companies turn to a technology partner that can provide them with a Project manager or engineers with the necessary experience to lead their project and ensure that finish successfully.

 

When the decision is made to look for a technological partner to help the company, it is key to have someone who has good communication, who can understand the company's needs in detail, and who also communicates the steps of the project at all times while it is being carried out. they are giving

 

Also, take into account the experience of the software agency to be hired, see the projects they have carried out in the past, and the rate of clients satisfied with their work. Always keep in mind that knowledge is not the same as experience, so the balance should be slightly tilted towards an agency with a past, with a track record of consolidated projects with international clients.

 

The latter directly affects the price and cost of the services of the agency that you decide to hire. It should be analyzed if the total cost for the project is valid and justified compared to what they offer: knowledge, experience, equipment, maintenance and future updates. A complete software agency makes all these services available to the client, thus ensuring a satisfactory final product.

 

dedicated software development

 

What is Dedicated Software Development and do I need it for my company?

 

Within the software development process, we can also count on a team that is one hundred percent dedicated to the company's project, this practice is known as Dedicated Software Development.

 

At Ncube they say "It refers to a model where a virtual team is intertwined with a client's software project, working from the vendor's office. Typically, the vendor assembles a dedicated development team from scratch and tailors it." to the client's project.

 

Benefits of a Dedicated Software Development Team

 

The main thing is the economic benefits. Having a single developer hired by the company could mean a salary of up to 200 thousand dollars a month, which would be multiplied by being a team. Hiring a Dedicated Software Development Team will mean that the expenses involved in having the team will be borne by the provider, with the company, the client in this case, paying only the service fee.

 

Other benefits listed in NCube are:

 

  • A dedicated team model is best when you need to speed up the project to meet schedule requirements.
  • Get a jump in time to market. Speed ​​is another benefit associated with a dedicated development team, as you don't need to distract your internal team from the main project to handle your side project.

 

In addition to this, having immediate access to experienced developers on the project to work on is tremendously valuable. The company does not have to go through the process of recruiting, interviewing and possibly training, wasting time and even money on a person who may not be qualified for the position.
 

 

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