Guide to Building and Managing an Extended Development Team

As a business owner, you’ve likely considered leveraging a skilled third-party development team to support your software initiatives. While this is a popular and viable development approach, due to budget constraints and lack of project control, outsourcing is not the best fit for every business.

Fortunately, there are more cost-effective options that don’t require you to entirely turn your project over to an outsourced team. The extended team model, for example, enables you to access the top software engineers from across the world but still keep your finger on the pulse by managing your project in-house.

However, building an extended team is not without its challenges, as you will need to ensure all members mesh well with your existing developers. But with the right software development partner, you can successfully create a cohesive team to take your project to the next level.

So, to help get you started, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about selecting and managing an extended software development team. Keep reading to learn more about how you can take advantage of this powerful development approach.

What Is an Extended Team Model?

The extended team model essentially combines an in-house software development team with an external development team to drive innovation and collaboration. The external team, referred to as an extended team is sourced via an IT development company to supplement and enhance the knowledge base and skill set of your existing team members.

Unlike outsourcing, the development process is then conducted in-house with the support of the extended team members rather than being transferred to another company. This gives you full control of your project, allowing you to directly manage workflows and assign tasks however you see fit.

When to Use the Extended Development Team Model

When it comes to software development, selecting the right approach for your business is crucial to your long-term success. While IT outsourcing certainly has its benefits, there are numerous scenarios in which using the extended development team model might better suit your needs.

• You Need Short-Term Support: Hiring developers to complement your existing team works best for projects that only require short-term support. This is because, by adding remote workers on an as-needed basis, you can properly fill skill gaps for specific projects and tasks.
• You Run A Small Business: Startups and smaller businesses often require additional support throughout the development process. With an extended team, you can ensure you have the manpower and expertise needed to cover all your project’s essential tasks.
• Your Project Has A Limited Budget: Often, it’s much more cost effective to bring in a few extra developers rather than replacing your existing in-house team. The extended team model also enables you to leverage specialist skills at specific stages of your project’s development, helping you stay within budget by hiring on a task-by-task basis.
• Your Project Requires Direct Oversight: The extended team model ensures you have full control over the management of your project, making it perfect for complex projects that require your direct involvement. Instead of turning it over to a project manager hired from an IT solution company, you are able to oversee the entire development process and make adjustments as needed.
• Your Team Needs A Temporary Expansion: With more extensive projects, especially those that must be completed within a specified time frame, you may need to supplement your existing team in order to get the job done. The extended development team model is perfect for this, as you can temporarily expand your in-house team to accommodate certain projects and deadlines.

If you can tick off a significant number of the points above, then you should give the use of an extended team model serious consideration. It might be the best option for your business, providing you with the talented software engineers you need, at the price appropriate for your budget all while enabling you to manage your project in-house.

Cost Efficiency

In the current economic climate, carefully managing your business budget is imperative in order to reduce overheads, improve your profit margin, and ultimately stay ahead of the competition. Fortunately, the extended software development team model has proven to be cost effective in multiple ways:

• Leveraging an extended software development team provides smaller businesses with access to the skill sets they need without the additional cost of headhunting and onboarding new team members.
• Your development partner may offer flexible payment terms, making access to specialist team members more affordable if operating on a tight budget.
• Your business is not held responsible for the operational costs for your extended team; that is the role of your development partner.
• Having an extended team ensures scalability, as you can easily increase or decrease your workforce in relation to the development support you require.
• The extended team model is a lean production approach, resulting in enhanced efficiency, reduced waste, and greater value. It also ensures projects are delivered swiftly, further cutting costs.

Having tight control of your budget and working in as cost effective a way as possible gives you the ability to then reduce your overheads, improving your profit margin.

Access to Talent

For a successful project, you need team members that possess a wide range of knowledge and expertise across all areas of the development spectrum. The extended development team model allows you to achieve this within your budget limitations.

This is because, with an extended team, you get access to experienced software engineers without having to pay additional costs to train them. You also only need to hire for the specific roles your project requires. For example, if your team is lacking skills in a certain area of software programming, you can hire the right individual to fill in the gaps.

Additionally, the extended team model enables you to leverage international talent rather than attempting to recruit developers in your local area. This unlocks the ability to source the most remarkable software engineers across the world, ensuring your team has the skill sets needed to tackle all aspects of your development project.

Flexibility and Scalability

With an extended software development team, the size of your team is flexible and can be scaled up or down, governed by the tasks identified within your management plan for each phase of the project. This means that you only use the members of the extended team when their specific skills are required. Consequently, your overheads from recruitment and onboarding are eliminated, as your development partner deals with this aspect.

How to Build an Extended Software Development Team

When building your extended team, it’s imperative to carefully consider the merits of each member and how they will work together as one cohesive unit. This ensures that your team meets the needs of your development project.

Think of it building like a house: You need a good strong foundation to build upon. Your team is that foundation for your project. As a result, the main objective here is to build a strong well-functioning and well-managed team that communicates effectively.

Planning

Because software development requires careful planning and efficient resource distribution, it’s generally recommended to create a software development plan. This will serve as a strategic guide to the successful execution of your software development project and the effectiveness of your extended development team.

Your software development plan should include:

• An overview of your software development project that defines its specific scope and outlines the main objectives and goals.
• A project timeline, including the identification of any key milestones, deadlines, and resource allocation.
• A detailed budget breakdown covering an in-depth breakdown of the costs associated with your project.
• Risk management strategies identifying any potential risks and how you can mitigate them.
• Quality assurance measures outlining the processes, tools, and techniques your team will need to ensure your software is of the required standard.
• Configuration management detailing the methods used to control and manage changes to your software during the development process.
• Project organization and team roles specifying the roles and responsibilities of each team member, including those of the extended team.
• A communication plan to ensure effective communication between all team members.

Once your software development plan is in place, you are ready to start looking for a partner organization. The company you choose to work with will source your extended team members to fill the gaps you have in your internal team as identified within your software development plan.

Finding a Partner

When searching for a software development partner to source your extended team from, you need to ensure that you find a reliable company with a proven track record. This means that you will need to identify skill sets required from your software development plan for your external development team members, as well as their roles and responsibilities.

Having identified these, you should begin thoroughly researching prospective organizations to determine whether they are recognized within your industry for their work. It’s also a good idea to check their website and social media channels to see if they actively share their knowledge and expertise via blogs or other content. Additionally, by reviewing client references and requesting copies of their portfolio, you can ensure they have the relevant qualifications and experience for your project.

Once you have identified potential partner organizations, you can then refer to your project plan to compare their available skill sets with those that you require. You may also want to request CV’s of any prospective team members for further inspection.

Integration

When leveraging an extended team, you will need to take extra care during the onboarding process to ensure new members integrate seamlessly with your existing team. This will consist of clearly defining their roles and responsibilities, as well as how they relate to your in-house developers, to help promote accountability and cohesion.

Once everyone understands their role, you can then move on to the actual development of your project, focusing on scalability and flexibility. It’s important to note that you should properly plan for post-release maintenance and support during the development process and carefully document everything. You will also need to provide training to any team members affected by the new software.

Communication

As with any software development project, communication is the key to success. With 86% of employees and executives citing lack of effective communication as one of the main causes of workplace failure, it’s essential to get this right when working with an extended team model.

A good place to start is by developing a clear plan that outlines the communication strategies that will be used by team members and for what purpose. Your plan should include:

• A Detailed Overview of the End Product:. Clearly defining the end product and its key features will enable the development provider to understand your needs and objectives and accurately identify what skill sets your extended team members will need.
• Your Preferred Communication Channels: You will need to make the development team aware of any specific email or messaging platforms, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Webmail, that will be used for daily communication. This will ensure that all team members frequently check all preferred channels, enhancing collaboration.
• Project Management Tools That Will Be Utilized: You will also need to identify which project management and workflow tools the team will leverage throughout the development process. Additionally, you will need to make sure all team members have access to these tools, which commonly include platforms like ClickUp, Trello, and Asana.
• Expected Frequency of Communication: For this, you will need to consider all time zones that team members live in to ensure the expected frequency of communication is realistic. A morning stand-up meeting, for instance, may not be the best idea if members of your extended team are sleeping across the world during in-house hours.
• Your Plans for Monitoring Output: You will need to explain how you plan to monitor your extended team’s output and activity by identifying appropriate HR management systems and time-tracking tools such as TSheets, Screenshot Monitor, and Calamari.
• Procedures For Dealing With Issues: It is imperative to address how you will go about handling any issues that may occur during the project, clearly identifying the communication chain for extended team members. This may involve providing temporary access to your business communication systems for the duration of the project, such as a guest account in Slack or adding them to your business’s Clickup workflow management system.

Culture

When using this development model, it’s important to understand that your extended team does not replace your in-house team. The extended team should become a part of your existing in-house team, sharing its vision and values, while leveraging your pre-existing resources to cohesively bring your development plan to completion.

How to Manage an Extended Software Development Team

The success of any software development project is largely due to the skillful management of the team as a whole. As a result, you will need to strategically blend the in-house and extended team into one cohesive unit.

Leadership and Management

A major benefit of an extended team model is that you are in complete control of your project management. This means you don’t need to hire someone from your development partner to manage your project as you would in other outsourcing models.

With full control of your own project, the extended development model ensures access to direct feedback from both your extended team and in-house team, enabling you to re-allocate members to meet your project’s needs. Additionally, if you don’t want to manage the team personally, this task can be delegated to someone else in-house with the relevant management skills.

Performance Monitoring

While the extended team model is particularly useful for small business startups, it’s important to bear in mind that startups do have a high rate of failure. In fact, research shows that new startups have a failure rate of about 90%, with 10% failing in their first year. Consequently, it’s crucial that you monitor your extended team’s performance effectively to ensure success.

Achievable Goal Setting

By setting achievable goals, you can make sure objectives are being met, while also boosting team morale.  After all, teams who work towards set goals together can improve overall performance by up to 25%.

For best results, you should utilize a goal-setting framework like SMART:

• Specific: Define what needs to be measured.
• Measurable: Identify the metrics you need to monitor to ensure a specific goal is completed.
• Aligned: Ensure that the goal is aligned with the extended team’s targets.
• Realistic: Verify that the target is achievable.
• Timely: Make sure the goal can be achieved within a specific timeframe.

When using this framework, you will need to actively support your team in crafting a goal statement that ensures coverage of each point, giving your team ownership of the project.

Establish Milestones

In addition to setting overall goals, you should also establish milestones that will need to be met throughout the project. Milestones are essentially smaller subgoals that demonstrate progress, enable team members to get closer to achieving their end goal, and help them to stay committed to accomplishing the overall objective.

Track Key Performance Indicators

Key performance indicators generally vary from team to team based on their objective. This means that you will need to identify relevant metrics that demonstrate your team’s performance based on their specific objectives and goals.

Leverage Monitoring Software

With the surge of hybrid working methods brought on by the pandemic, we are in a much better position than ever before to make use of monitoring software. Here at Idea Maker, for example, we use Scrinio; however, there are many platforms available, including Teramind, Veriato Cerebral, and Controlio.

Feedback and Continuous Improvement

Effectively managing your extended development team will involve regular check-ins with all members and one-on-one meetings to discuss pain points and celebrate areas of success. For this, you should review the SMART goals framework to identify what is working and isn’t, making appropriate adjustments as needed.

Team meetings should also be held on a consistent basis to help maintain cohesion across the extended and in-house teams. By identifying problems together as one unit, team members can work together to discover solutions that enable everyone to stay on track and achieve their goals.

Recognize and Reward

Celebrating the achievements of your team members is vital in any workplace. This not only improves morale, it also elevates overall performance, as team members will feel valued for their contribution to the project.

How Does Idea Maker Work as an Extended Development Team?

If you’re thinking of using the extended team model for your next software development project, Idea Maker is here to help. We have a team of highly skilled professionals on hand ready to work with you to take your software development project to the next level. Contact us today to find out how we can work together to meet your project’s IT requirements.