Once you have chosen the best approach for a specific project, your next focus will be the composition of your remote team of product experts, designers, and engineers.
At first glance, it may seem as though this should not be particularly challenging. Our experience, however, is that unexpected challenges often arise. You can avoid many of them by doing a little homework and paying attention to the right approach to building your team.
Make sure the positions you are looking for are properly described
Make a list of the major and minor skills that are critical to your project. Focus only on truly important ones. When you are considering candidates, eliminate specialists whose profiles are too broad or who don’t fit the specific needs of your project. For example, if you work with Kubernetes on AWS, you don’t need someone who knows Azure Micro services.
And don’t feel compelled to shoot for the moon – yes, it’s great to have a developer with the broadest possible skill set on a project, but you don’t need it all, you just need what the project needs. A clear understanding of the essential core and non-core skills will help you choose the best candidates.
Proper specialists’ classification
It’s also important to describe precisely the skills and expertise you expect from Middle, Senior, and Lead-position specialists. The lines between the responsibilities for these positions are often blurred. For instance, the skills that a Senior developer has can also be considered relevant for a Lead position. An inaccurate description of your expectations for each position can be harmful to the project.
We recommend the following breakdown:
- Lead – a specialist who writes code about 60% of their working time. The rest of the time they spend managing a small team and solving complex problems.
- Senior – a specialist who can write code independently and solve current problems proactively.
- Middle – a specialist who can write code well but occasionally needs support from their colleagues.
The right combination of positions and experience is the key to making your project a success.
Time spent in a position is not necessarily an indicator of excellence
A specialist who reached the Senior level in three years can be more efficient than someone who has held that position for ten years. Rapid advancement may mean this person will continue to develop quickly. So, when you choose a candidate for your team, don’t place too much value on the time they have spent in a particular position.
Following these hints is crucial if you form a team offshore on your own or with the help of an IT service company. Contact EPAM Anywhere Business, which provides services of skilled IT professionals for a successful and timely delivery of any software development project.
