Your company needs a complex software solution. You have an end goal in mind, but everything between “start” and “finish” is a question mark.
Do you outsource a few developers to piece-meal your vision? Ask some members of your IT staff to give it their best shot? You could, but you won’t get the results necessary to meet your goals.
You need a dedicated development team to own your software product outcome and help you design the roadmap you’ll use to get there.
Imagine building your new home with an electrician, a plumber, and a roofer, but no general contractor or architect to steer everybody toward a specific goal. You’d end up with disjointed results — a working faucet, a few light switches, but no direction to create a cohesive home.
This is a pitfall that companies may encounter as they attempt to address software development needs. A dedicated development team owns your software product outcome and system roadmap. Each team member takes responsibility for a piece of your value creation stream to deliver not only products but also sustainable ongoing solutions.
Any developer can create an isolated software product, but a dedicated development team actually owns the software product. They put it into production, monitor and repair bugs, maintain the system, and assess issues and benefits. Your dedicated development team can become a trusted partner committed to helping you achieve a cohesive vision for lasting success.
When a dedicated development team takes ownership, they know exactly what’s important and what’s not important. The quality of output becomes better aligned with the company vision. Your team also remains motivated because they understand and appreciate the underlying significance of the work they’re performing.
An investment in a dedicated development team should be thought out as you would any other major expenditure. By implementing certain key measures, you’ll maximize the value of your investment.
Achieving clarity is critical to helping your dedicated development team build momentum. Clarify where your team sits in your value stream and how they must interact to achieve results.
Your company and your dedicated development team need to ask the right questions:
Coming up with answers to these questions can help you prevent complications down the road. For example, team members may know who owns a component, but not who will integrate that component into the overall website. The space between steps is unclear, leading to confusion and unnecessary problems. When your team consists of 20, 30, or even 50 people, months can evaporate while resolving such issues.
Avoid this by gaining clarity for every stage of the development process ahead of time.
It’s much easier to find clarity when you’re working with the “right” dedicated team. Try partnering with a team composition that supports and enhances business growth and also meshes with your company values.
Ask yourself: what functional roles do you need on your team to achieve your goals?
Then evaluate whether the people you select to fill those functional roles exhibit values in harmony with your company’s. In order to do this, you must be clear on both your company values and your own.
It’s rare for two companies or even two people to share the same exact values. You’ll limit your company tremendously if you’re not willing to compromise on compatible values to build a more intellectually diverse team.
By purposefully building a dedicated development team aligned with your vision, mission, and values, you can maximize the value of that team by creating a foundation for optimal execution.
The third key to maximizing the impact of a dedicated development team lies in the process.
Every team member should own and take responsibility for a certain part of your development process. Without this ownership, nobody has the incentive to change, improve, and optimize your systems.
You also need a process owner, a person who is acutely aware of how your development team operates as a whole. This person evaluates the efficiency of the team and constantly takes measures to recalibrate the process, remove waste, and improve team performance.
Process improvements are not possible without feedback loops. So the more feedback loops, the better! In the best-case scenario, your engineers would communicate with your customers directly to identify every point of strength and weakness in your system.
Clearly defined and implemented processes help your team remain relevant and attuned to the changing external and internal market forces around them.
If you’re investing in a dedicated development team, take steps to ensure you get their full value. Bring clarity to every team member and process point to avoid confusion. Make sure you have the right team, with compatible values that align with yours. Finally, outline clear processes. Who owns each component? What are your feedback loops? How does change happen?
Make the most of your investment. Implement these three keys and keep your dedicated development team moving in the right direction.
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