If it’s your first time hiring a software development team, it’s either you’re an owner of a startup company or a self-made entrepreneur who is building your team from scratch. You’d need a guide to start your quest in finding members for your team. That’s when these 10 key tips to hire and build an effective software development team will come in handy.
However, if you’re in a bit of a hurry, proceed to our contact page so we can arrange a software development team to work on your product. At Full Scale, we make sure to provide our clients with software developers quickly and affordably to help their businesses boom.
Traits to look for in an effective software development team
Before you hire a team of software developers, you should know first what are the traits to look for in an effective team:
Clear roles and responsibilities
Each member of your team should have well-defined job roles and responsibilities. You or the team leader should designate each team member’s specific roles and tasks for the project.
Each member should hold the other accountable for their deliverables. They should know who is specifically responsible for decisions regarding the design and technical aspects of the product.
Common goals
The team should set clear and attainable goals to ensure that everyone in the team knows what they are aspiring for and why. Each member should have a sense of shared responsibility to achieve the team’s shared mission of finishing and delivering a quality product.
Efficient communication
Your team must have an open and safe environment of healthy communications where each member is comfortable in sharing and expressing their ideas, concerns, and opinions. A team with open communication operates with faster problem solving and increased productivity.
Independent mentality
Encourage your team to be self-sufficient when it comes to overcoming challenges and finding solutions to problems. If they are capable of learning solutions independently, they’ll be able to respond more quickly in their decision-making process.
The 10 key tips for hiring and building an effective software development team
Your plan to hire and build a software development team will be off to a good start if you use the following tips as your guide:
1. Don’t rush the hiring process
Before interviewing an applicant, you should do extensive research about your project’s requirements, define its methodologies, and make an outline of the specific requirements to complete the project. This step will help you to get a profile of the candidates that are fit for your project.
2. Hire professionals only
If you want excellence in your project, you should only hire professional developers with extensive skills and experience. Recruit professionals who practice precise software development protocols and workflows, and possess comprehensive knowledge of patterns in software development.
3. Consider speed and flexibility
Your team members should have these vital qualities as software developers. Speed means that every stage of the development, design, and deployment of the software can be carried out by them as fast as possible. The team members should be flexible to adapt and implement any sudden changes that happen during the software development process.
4. Instill positive culture
Instill a working culture in your company that will be attractive for junior to mid-level developers since they are still searching for companies where they could really fit in.
As a start-up, make your working environment fresh, innovative, and pioneering. This will allow the developers to feel welcome in your workplace and enjoy the companionship of their peers.
5. Practice teamwork
Your team should practice “unity in diversity” even if each member has different levels of skills, experience, and working styles and values. Even if there’s a team leader or project manager, it should be a teamwork effort, not a one-man show.
Your team should perform well together by working in the same direction and sharing the same goal of successfully delivering a quality product within the deadline.
6. Open coding environment
Encourage your development team to have an open coding environment – a mindset in the team that allows the members to come up with innovative ideas and solutions to strengthen the quality of the project.
As part of this mindset, you as the company owner should invest money and time to further train your developers. This enhances their level of skills and knowledge and makes them feel that you value the hard work they provide to the company.
7. Keep connected
If your team is remotely located in another country, stay connected with your team by having regular virtual meetings, video conferences, and online chats. Constant communication with the team will keep them motivated because they know you are letting them in the loop of everything that is happening about the project.
8. Empower your team
Let your developers be heard and each of them should have a say about the different stages of the development process – planning, design, development, and implementation. Encourage each member to be actively engaged and involved in the project including the setting of the goals and objectives of the project.
9. Encourage innovation
Inspire your team to be innovative by letting them come up with ideas and solutions for issues and problems instead of going to experts outside of the team.
When your team is actively engaged in brainstorming and problem solving, their motivation to work harder builds up because they’re doing it for the product they’re delivering to the client.
10. Hire and promote within the team
When you have established your team, tell them that you prefer to hire and promote from within the team first rather than recruiting externally. Promotion from within is a great form of recognition of a developer’s hard work, and it encourages them to stay in the company.
You should also ask developers if they can recommend friends or former co-workers for new job openings in your company since this shows that you trust their advice and recommendation.
Now that you know about the 10 key tips to hire and build an effective software development team, then you need to know where you can hire your team. Instead of hiring them from the U.S., you should hire a software development team from another country through offshoring – the relocation of a business process to another country.
Offshore your Software Development from Full Scale
Hiring a team of software developers from Cebu City in the Philippines is the best offshoring option for your business because it’s where Full Scale is located.
We are one of the best offshore services providers in Cebu because of our unique Guided Development – a system that makes it fast and easy to hire and build a dedicated team of software developers for your business, and you get to manage your offshore team even if they are halfway around the world.
The benefits of our Guided Development system:
- Remove unnecessary layers of management – You don’t need to worry about the micromanagement of your offshore team since the company keeps that in check.
- Easy access to your team – You and the team closely coordinate with each other even if you’re not physically present at our office. We provide easier avenues for you to directly communicate with the developers who are working on your project.
- Open lines of communication – We make it easier for you to approach your team and communicate with them in regards to production processes. This is particularly helpful when you need changes to be implemented during a critical time in the project.
- Shorter timeline of a project – The unnecessary discovery of tasks and acquiring new knowledge will be reduced since the offshore team that will be working on your project is already experienced in their own specialized fields.
Our Guided Development process consists of these easy steps:
- Schedule a call with us – Fill out our contact form. Then we will contact you and set up an appointment to discuss the needs of your project.
- Evaluate your needs and time frame – During your initial consultation, we will discuss your project’s needs and its stages of planning, development, and implementation. We’ll help you to determine what type of development, testing, and design resources you’ll need to help your project develop until it is finished.
- Choose from our team of developers – After your initial consultation, we’ll be able to offer you a variety of choices of Filipino software developers available either now or soon that can work for your project on a full-time basis.
- We start your project immediately – As soon as we assign the team members you need, we’ll be able to start your project right away.
As you can see, our Guided Development provides several benefits for your business and the system only takes four simple steps to build your team. With Full Scale as your provider of a reliable offshore team, your business is on its way to growth and expansion!