Introduction
"We provide self-managing dev teams." We use this sentence as a slogan on our company website and in our LinkedIn account summaries. We also use it as a simple answer to the question: "What do you do?"
What is a self-managing team?
Since agile took over and phrases like "cross-functional team" or "cross-team collaboration" became commonly used, I don't want to throw everything into one basket.
I believe everyone has their own definition of a self-managing team, and in most cases is quite right. We can imagine it is a group of people who are focused on a target, act without further supervision, and organise their day-to-day cooperation. Adding "dev" to it only serves to narrow down the domain to IT.
Benefits of self-managing dev teams
Using this sentence as a slogan means that we believe such teams offer extra value and can act as a key selling point. It's something that could interest potential customers and show them the reason why pick us from other IT providers.
Here are the three main reasons why you should consider hiring a self-managing team as the number one priority for IT product development:
Employer-driven decisions
Not everything can be foreseen, and problems often emerge along the way. IT and software development are no different than any other domains. Having a self-managing group of people working as a team ensures you that the bigger picture is always the number one priority. The team knows how to prioritise decisions on that basis. In case of any problems, you can be sure the development will not stop, and all the resources are going to be directed to fixing the situation without any additional supervision.
There is an additional benefit here. Sometimes problems are swept under the rug, but self-managing people can foresee future complications and focus on delivering high-quality products throughout the entire development cycle, without cutting corners.
Empowering lean and agile development
We know that agile is currently an industry standard for software development. Still, we see many companies struggling to tap into the full potential of agile and lean development. The reason behind this could be because digital transformation is extremely difficult, time-consuming, and requires a lot of work.
Each self-managing team brings agile with it. It's the methodology that works best, and self-organisation is deeply implemented in its approach. As a result, companies get to benefit from seeing agile in action, which should make digital transformation easier or improve the existing agile processes.
Self-driven people
Self-managing dev teams are made of self-driven people. We're talking about passionate software developers focused on delivering the best possible solutions. As great as it sounds - there's a risk of turnover if the project doesn't meet their high expectations, especially in IT. And turnover is one of the factors that can delay the project. But giving self-driven people the possibility to develop their skills outside of the project builds greater confidence and engagement. And this is ultimately reflected in their dedication to the client's projects.
Engagement is a point worth mentioning here. The more you empower a self-managing dev team, the more engaged with the product it will become. Granting the team more control and trust leads to seamless product development aligned with your vision.
Summary
As Solidstudio, we can become your technology partner and provide you with self-managing dev teams for streamlined product development.
If any of the points bring value or is something you would like to discuss - please do not hesitate and contact us.