There will always be times in business when you have a bit more spare time than normal. And then of course, to counter that, you’ll have times where you don’t have enough working hours in the day. We all know how that feels!
When you’re trying to develop software, time and resource is a huge part of the calculation you need to understand. When you get right down to it, the time and the resources you have at your disposal are always going to be the biggest factor in completing a software project.
We’ve identified three ways to increase your software output when you feel that time and resource is against you. When you don’t have enough developers in your business to complete your project, try one of these three solutions.
1. Employ more developers
Not a short-term solution, for many reasons, but certainly a solution for your long-term growth, especially if the current workload and development is going to continue. Employing more developers will certainly increase your output and keep those projects on track.
But there’s a catch…
Employing new devs isn’t a quick fix, and it’s rarely an exact science. There’s a lack of good quality devs on the market, and there’s a lack of high-end skills… or at least so we’ve found in our own recruitment drives.
Then there’s the onboarding time for training and introduction. Even in a non-tech business, a new member needs time to adjust and learn the processes in their new environment. But in a software company, this is 10-fold.
So, employment might be a good long-term solution, but what about the here and now…?
2. Engage some contractors
There are a wealth of highly skilled software developers out there to choose from and when you’re up against it, this might well be a viable option for you. You can secure a dev for a day rate in most cases and you can employ/hire them for short periods of time. This is ideal for those ‘over the line’ moments on a project.
Contractors are often highly skilled too. You’ll be able to source people who are skilled in the exact language and skillset that you need for the current project.
There’s a downside here, too…
When your project ends, and you part company, those skills, learnings, and some of the knowledge of the project will leave. You can always get them back, but they’re not at your disposal for meetings, the odd email, or guaranteed for the next development.
3. Team augmentation
The third option is a mix of the two really, and it’s something we offer to other developers and companies when we can.
Essentially, this is a merge with another dev team on a particular project or client that enables you to grow your team on-demand. Although you’re using an external team, you’ll be using the same team on the projects going forward and this can be advantageous for the longer term.
This option is very flexible and can be used to fill gaps in your workforce. Maybe you have a lack in your prototyping side, or you’ve just taken on a large project and you need to draw in some extra ammunition.
Team augmentation gives you highly skilled people on a flexible basis and helps you and the team you work with grow profits and learn from each other.
Clearly, you’ll still have the issue of losing some of the skills and knowledge between projects, but it might be a better option than recruiting or hiring contractors.
We can help you with this whether you’re a developer or a company with an in-house gap in skills or dev time.
Let’s have a chat…
We build business-changing software. If you’re looking to build something bespoke or need some help on a project you’re already working on, we could help.
Of course, if you don’t have the in-house developers and you’re simply looking to bring an idea to life, then we really should chat about that too. Contact us now.
