Published on July 24th, 2023 | by Bibhuranjan

Extending Your Development Team: Benefits and Strategies for Success

In today’s fast-paced and dynamic business landscape, staying ahead of the competition requires innovative solutions and efficient development processes. As companies strive to bring their ideas to life, the importance of a robust and skilled development team cannot be underestimated. However, what if your in-house team faces tight deadlines or your project requires expertise beyond their capabilities? This is where extending your development team can become a game-changer.

Extending your development team involves partnering with external talent, such as remote developers, freelancers, or dedicated software development agencies. By leveraging external resources, businesses can tap into a pool of specialized skills, increase development capacity, and drive their projects to success. This article will explore the benefits of extending your development team and provide effective strategies for achieving success in this approach.

Let’s explore the numerous benefits of extending your development team, the human touch it brings to your projects, and some proven strategies for ensuring a successful partnership.

The Benefits of Extended IT Dedicated Team Model

The traditional outsourcing approach needs to show more involvement of the in-house team. At the same time, the Extended Development Team (EDT) model integrates outsourced developers as almost part of the in-house team, extending the home IT department. In the traditional model, team communication follows a scheduled pattern, whereas the EDT model emphasizes constant and direct collaboration among all team members. Moreover, traditional outsourcing often involves outlining requirements and leaving the outsourced team to work independently. In contrast, the EDT model retains overall project management with the core in-house team, although specific tasks may be delegated to the outsourced members.

The benefits of the Extended IT Dedicated Team model, then, are pretty straightforward and can be summed up in the following points:

Diverse Expertise

When we extend your development team, you gain access to a pool of diverse talents with a wide range of expertise. People from different backgrounds can share their experiences in the development process. Also, collaborating with external experts allows you to tap into specialized knowledge, experience, and fresh perspectives that can boost your project’s quality and innovation.

High level of trust

The Extended Development Team (EDT) model emphasizes continuous communication, fostering personal connections among developers across different locations. These relationships cultivate trust, leading to a willingness to be transparent and honest. A comprehensive study conducted by Google over several years highlighted the significance of “psychological safety” in team success, which entails having enough trust to be completely open and candid. This honesty enables the team to openly address challenges, roadblocks, and other issues, facilitating the early identification of solutions.

Prompt response to market

The market requires a faster response with quality solutions, and tight project timelines can put immense pressure on your in-house team to enhance their effectiveness. By augmenting your team with external developers, you can expedite the development process and accelerate your time-to-market. This can be a crucial advantage in today’s competitive market.

Cost-Effectiveness

Sometimes, hiring and training new in-house developers can be expensive and time-consuming as you have to compromise their productivity and other expenses. On the other hand, extending your team provides a cost-effective solution as you can work with external developers on a temporary or project-specific basis, reducing long-term financial commitments. You can get the best and pocket friendly engaging model.

Enhanced Flexibility

Market trends can change unexpectedly, followed by business needs can change rapidly, and scaling your team accordingly can be challenging. When you extend your development team, you gain the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and workloads without the burden of managing a larger permanent team. A flexible decision comes in your hand to continue the further journey with the team or not.

The Human Touch

One of the most significant advantages of extending your development team is the human touch it brings to your projects. How? Collaboration with external professionals can infuse fresh perspectives, creative ideas, and a collaborative spirit that invigorate your team and foster innovation. The dynamic exchange of ideas between your in-house and extended team members can lead to breakthrough solutions that might not have been possible otherwise.

Building strong working relationships and camaraderie between your in-house and extended team members can positively impact project morale and productivity. You create an environment conducive to creativity and problem-solving by fostering a culture of inclusivity and teamwork.

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Quick Guide of Success to the Extended Development Team Model

So, What should be the strategies for success in the extended development team model function? The answer lies in a meticulously planned process that creates an agile software development team collaborating harmoniously to achieve project objectives. Let’s take a look at an overview of these strategies.”

Define Clear Objectives

Before extending your development team, define clear project objectives, timelines, and expected outcomes. Knowing this can help both sides to move on to the next step. Having a well-defined scope will ensure that both your in-house and extended team members are on the same page, reducing the chances of miscommunication or misunderstandings.

Emphasize Communication

Effective communication is the backbone of successful collaboration. People like to interact while working together. Hence it is advisable to encourage regular meetings, video conferences, and open communication channels to facilitate seamless collaboration and foster a sense of unity between teams.

Establish Trust and Respect

Treat your extended team members as valuable partners, not just contractors. Building trust and respect between teams will create a positive working environment that enhances productivity and encourages everyone to go the extra mile for project success. Consequently, an efficient project outline can be derived.

Leverage Project Management Tools

It becomes very tough when you have a larger team but no project management software for effective delivery. You can utilize project management tools to streamline workflows, assign tasks, and monitor teammates’ progress. Such tools promote transparency, keep everyone on track, and help you stay organized throughout development.

Celebrate Achievements Together

Working together will take you to the next level, and many goals can be achieved. When milestones are achieved, celebrate them collectively. Recognizing the efforts of both your in-house and extended team members reinforces their commitment to the project and fosters a sense of belonging. Also, celebrating together brings more positivity and enjoyment to the company.

Conclusion

Extending your development team can be a game-changer for your projects. The benefits of diverse expertise, cost-effectiveness, and increased flexibility are amplified when coupled with the human touch of collaboration and innovation. Following the strategies outlined above can ensure a successful partnership and pave the way for exceptional project outcomes. Embrace the power of extended development teams and watch your ideas flourish like never before.

Author’s Bio

Jazz Gill is a marketing executive at Lavorg, a global remote hiring talent platform. She has over ten years of experience in the marketing field. She has expertise in branding, driving revenue growth, and building strong customer relationships.

Cover Image by Freepik

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.