Almost every software company gets to a point where scaling becomes crucial. As a startup, you might have had a limited team, a product with limited features, etc. But as your customer base increases, it’s necessary to improve your product capabilities, which often requires scaling your development team.
Most software companies have challenges when scaling. While rapid growth can be exciting, knowing how best to navigate this change can be complicated. But it’s a good thing you’re reading this post.
Here are ways to scale your existing software development team the right way.
Look towards team integration
Sourcing the right talent is one of the greatest challenges growing software companies face. Demand is high, and the best talents are most likely already taken. Finding the right candidate may be time-consuming, and that’s not good when you’re scaling to meet an urgent need.
Building a distributed team by integrating a remote dedicated team into your in-house workforce is an efficient way to scale your development company. For example, you can collaborate with a front end development company when you need more engineering talent to speed up your software design. While one team works on the backend infrastructure, the other can handle the UI/UX design.
This collaboration will help speed up the development roadmap while giving you access to global talent offshore. Of course, such dedicated teams are a company comprising highly experienced developers, so you no longer have to waste time searching for individual job seekers.
Get agile with your software development
Agile software development involves a collaborative effort within your existing team. This requires that each department is self-organizing, complementing the efforts of one another.
Agile teams overshadow the traditional project management structure that usually slows down software development. Imagine having teams that always wait for instructions or green light from another team or supervisor.
An agile team is cross-functional, with people of different roles and skills working together as a whole. Notably, this is not only great for small scale projects as experts have always thought. Agile teams are now a widely recognized way to scale large development projects.
Keep your finances in check
According to Harvard Business Review, one in six IT initiatives is a “black swan” with cost overruns of around 200%. With many things causing pressure on growing businesses, it’s imperative to have a realistic view of your goal to avoid exceeding your available budget.
As a new software company, you must acknowledge that growth may occur at any time and allocate budget and contingency measures to handle that change when it comes. This may involve having the resources to hire when more talents are needed.
However, outsourcing and leveraging remote dedicated teams can often be a great way to save on operational overhead costs.
Have the right processes to facilitate collaboration
When working with agile or dedicated teams, it’s crucial for there to be a seamless flow of information across all parties involved. Therefore, you must work towards acquiring the necessary tools and processes to facilitate the free flow of communication.
From video conferencing to project management software, It’s important to keep all parties in sync while scaling your development team.
Final Words
Agile teams, remote developers, adequate finances, and effective collaboration are key to scaling a software development team. By leveraging these resources the right way, you position your tech company for outstanding growth.