Set up your development team in 2 easy steps

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"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan

We wouldn’t be where we are in the IT world without teamwork.
So when creating a digital product one of the crucial things to do is to assemble a group of talented, hardworking and trustworthy people.

How to do it?

1 Find the right kind of experts

Of course, you can’t do the project all by yourself. You need help from people with different kinds of skills and knowledge.

Business-operational team

First, I’ll cover roles related to the business side of the project. You’ll need people with great business and managing skills.

Members of this team are:

The product owner
The project manager

Let’s take a look at them in detail.

Product owner
A product owner is a crucial element of the team. They’re in charge of overseeing the development process and they know your product inside-out.

A PO can be someone with a background in business, but also in IT. Even so, they should be focused only on the business aspect. They should have a top-down approach. That is, their role is to find out what kind of features the app needs. They also have to be capable of shaping these features so developers can implement them.

Sometimes a smaller startup doesn’t yet have the budget to hire a product owner. That’s why the founder or CEO needs to take on those responsibilities before the company grows.

Project manager
A project manager is similar to a product owner, but there’s a crucial difference. This person is handling the operational aspect of the project - the bottom-up approach.

In smaller companies, it can often happen that they fulfill other roles such as SCRUM master.

Their role is to:

Communicate with the technical team.
Assign tasks.
Make sure the team delivers results.
Manage communication between the devs and the product owner (or project sponsor if PO doesn’t exist).
Stay within the budget.
Make sure everything is done on time.

Tech team

The tech team consists of more roles that are responsible for the successful development of the software. They are:

CTO
Developers
QA engineers
UX/UI designers
Domain experts

Here’s a look at what these roles are and how they’re invaluable to the success of your product.

CTO
The most important person in the tech part of your team is the CTO (Chief technology officer). If the product owner keeps track of business goals, the CTO has an eye on the technology.

Just like a pack leader, they manage the whole team - developers (front-end, back-end), QAs, designers, and mobile developers.

Choose a person with lots of experience but also with skills like:

Leadership
Strategic thinking
Decision-making

The CTO needs to be fully engaged in your project. Working on your project part-time or working on other projects simultaneously isn’t an option.

Developers
The most obvious and important tech experts you need for building your product are developers.

In general, your team should consist of:

Front-end developers
Back-end developers
Mobile developers
a DevOps engineer (in smaller teams this role is sometimes assigned to a back end developer)

QA engineers
Your product has to be tested throughout the development. QAs (Quality assurance engineers) make sure that bugs aren’t messing with your product. They do automatic and manual testing. Hire at least 1 full-time QA.

UX/UI Designers
Don’t forget about UX/UI designers. They’re the ones who make your product look attractive and make sure it’s easy and logical to use.

Keep in mind that it can be tough to find a top-quality UX/UI designer who’ll want to work in a structured environment.

Those designers at the top are most likely enjoying the freelance life, working on multiple projects and with numerous clients.

Here it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider outsourcing if you’re looking for great quality.

Domain experts
Depending on the industry and project, sometimes you’ll need domain experts. For example, in fintech, you’d need help from a financial expert.

The same with designers, you can outsource an expert consultant for a specific project.

In-house, freelance, or agency?

Now, I guess you want to know: should I hire in-house, outsource to an app development agency or hire a few freelancers?

This depends on your budget, project size, and goals. But in my opinion, it depends the most on the time to market and the risk of failing. After all, only 29% of software projects are successful.

Let's say you get one million dollars. That’s a lot of money, right? You can hire your own team, but it’s a high-risk decision.

Why?

The hiring process is long and difficult. You must be very good at choosing the right people for the job. If you’re not good at it, you have to hire someone to do the interviewing process.

What if you don’t want to go through the hassle of hiring an in-house team? You decide to hire freelancers. After all, it’s cheaper. But you realize you also have to spend time on the hiring process.

Another risk is that they won’t be team players - they never saw each other so they don’t know how the other one works.

The third option is hiring an agency. Here you don’t have to go through the hiring process by yourself. The agency takes care of it - you save on time. It also provides you with an already structured team of IT experts. Therefore, the time to market is shorter. True, hiring an agency can be more expensive than hiring freelancers, but there’s less risk.

Of course, not all agencies are created equal. Check out the list my team made on mistakes to avoid when it comes to outsourcing.

So, when deciding on where to hire your dev team, always weigh out the risks.

Now that we’ve outlined your team’s structure, let’s look at what kind of soft skills your team should have.

2 Hire people with great soft skills

It’s more important how you do something than what you do. What I’m talking about are soft skills.

You can hire a great developer, but if they don't have problem-solving skills or can’t communicate when issues arise, then why bother?

I’ve learned that the best and most useful soft skills in a development team are:

Communication
Proactivity
Accountability
Team spirit
Thirst for knowledge

I’ll explain why.

Communication
This is the most important one. Lots of projects fail because of bad communication, especially if the team is remote.

Communication should be:

Clear
Transparent
Regular

If your team cannot communicate, that’s a sure recipe for failure.

The other soft skill on the list is also tied to communication.

Proactivity
Problems are a normal and healthy part of the development process. But, team members should come forward with a solution, challenge your ideas and think two steps ahead.

Let me give you an example. Project or document specifications have to be as detailed as possible. But if team members spot a mistake or realize a part of it’s vague, they should communicate the issue immediately.

Also, if a junior developer doesn’t know how to solve an issue, they shouldn’t just cross their arms and wait. This can actually interfere with other team members' daily tasks.

A senior developer especially should be very proactive in solving project-related problems.

When you have a team of proactive people who communicate clearly, you’ll have better end results.

Accountability
In a high-stress environment, it’s easy to make mistakes. A QA can miss out on a big bug or crash or an overworked dev can jumble up a string.

And that’s totally fine. But what isn’t fine is people not taking responsibility for their mistakes.

An accountable person will try to do all of their work and if a mistake happens they’ll learn from it and ensure that it doesn’t happen again in the future.

An accountable person is someone you can rely on because you know they’ll go the extra mile and make sure they’ve done everything to make their work great.

Team spirit
You can’t have a successful team without that good ol’ team spirit, right?

Team members have to keep in mind they’re all in this together. The best ones communicate clearly and are not afraid to challenge each other. Without taking it personally, of course.

Thirst for knowledge
The IT world is moving fast to the future. Technologies change and IT experts should know how to keep up with that fast-paced rhythm. Also, they should always be keen to learn new things and constantly upgrade their knowledge and skills.

The good news is that developers are aware of that. According to a StackOver Flow Survey, 87% of people taught themselves a new programming-language / technology.

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Now that you’ve set up your team - it’s time to start working on that project!

But wait, do you know which tools to use? If you choose the right tools, you’ll up your game - everything will be faster and easier for your team.

More on that in my next newsletter.

Until then, stay well!

Marko

              
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<td id="text_div1357" class="td_text td_block" valign="top" align="left" width="640" style="line-height: 140%; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: arial;"> <div style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight:
inherit; line-height: 1.4; text-decoration: inherit; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;" data-line-height="1.4"> <div style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class=""> <div style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class=""> <div style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: left;" class=""><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;' class=""><b style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;
line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic;'>"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – <span style="color: #000000; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Michael Jordan</span></span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'>We wouldn’t be where we are in the IT world without teamwork.</span><br style='font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;'>So when creating a digital product one of the crucial things to do is to assemble a group of talented, hardworking and trustworthy people.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'>How to do it?<br></span></b><span style='color: #000000; font-size: 21.3333px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><br>1 Find the right kind of experts</span><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans",
Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Of course, you can’t do the project all by yourself. You need help from people with different kinds of skills and knowledge. </span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Business-operational team</span><br style='font-weight: 700; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br style='font-weight: 700; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129;
font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>First, I’ll cover roles related to the business side of the project. You’ll need people with great business and managing skills.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Members of this team are:<br></span><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px;
font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The product owner</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The project manager</span></li>
</ul>
<br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Let’s take a look at them in
detail.</span><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><br>Product owner</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>A product owner is a crucial element of the team. They’re in charge of overseeing the development process and they know your product inside-out.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><span style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">A PO can be someone with a background in business, but also in IT. Even so, they should be focused only on the business aspect. </span>They should have a top-down approach.<span style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"> That is, their role is to find out what kind of features the app needs. They also have to be capable of shaping these features so developers can implement them. </span></span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Sometimes a smaller startup doesn’t yet have the budget to hire a product owner. That’s why the founder or CEO needs to take on those
responsibilities before the company grows.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: italic;'><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Project manager</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><span style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">A project manager is similar to a product owner, but there’s a crucial difference. This person is handling the operational aspect of the project - </span>the bottom-up approach<span style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">. <br><br>In smaller companies, it can often happen that they fulfill other roles such as SCRUM master.<br></span></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Their role is to:</span><br><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Communicate with the technical team.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Assign tasks.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Make sure the team delivers results.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Manage communication between the devs and the product owner (or project sponsor if PO doesn’t exist).</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display:
list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Stay within the budget.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style:
normal;'>Make sure everything is done on time.</span></li>
</ul>
<br><span style='color: #000000; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br>Tech team</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The tech team consists of more roles that are responsible for the successful development of the software. They are:</span><br><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style:
normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>CTO </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Developers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color:
#1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>QA engineers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>UX/UI designers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San
Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Domain experts</span></li>
</ul>
<br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Here’s a look at what these roles are and how they’re invaluable to the success of your product.</span><br><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><br>CTO</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight:
400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The most important person in the tech part of your team is the CTO (Chief technology officer). If the product owner keeps track of business goals, the CTO has an eye on the technology.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Just like a pack leader, they manage the whole team - developers (front-end, back-end), QAs, designers, and mobile developers.<br></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Choose a person with lots of experience but also with skills like:</span><br><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Leadership</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit;
list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Strategic thinking</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Decision-making
</span></li>
</ul>
<br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The CTO needs to be fully engaged in your project. Working on your project part-time or working on other projects simultaneously isn’t an option.</span><br><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><br>Developers</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The most obvious and important tech experts you need for building your product are developers.</span><br><br><span style='color:
#1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>In general, your team should consist of:</span><br><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Front-end developers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans",
Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Back-end developers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Mobile developers</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin:
0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>a DevOps engineer (in smaller teams this role is sometimes assigned to a back end developer)</span></li>
</ul>
<br><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>QA engineers</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Your product has to
be tested throughout the development. QAs (Quality assurance engineers) make sure that bugs aren’t messing with your product. They do automatic and manual testing. Hire at least 1 full-time QA.</span><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic;'> </span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: italic;'><br><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>UX/UI Designers</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans",
Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Don’t forget about UX/UI designers. They’re the ones who make your product look attractive and make sure it’s easy and logical to use.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Keep in mind that it can be tough to find a top-quality UX/UI designer who’ll want to work in a structured environment.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Those designers at the top are most likely enjoying the freelance life, working on multiple projects and with numerous clients.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size:
16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Here it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider outsourcing if you’re looking for great quality.</span><br><br><span style='color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><br>Domain experts</span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Depending on the industry and project, sometimes you’ll need domain experts. For example, in fintech, you’d need help from a financial expert. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height:
inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The same with designers, you can outsource an expert consultant for a specific project.</span><br><br><span style='color: #000000; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #000000; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">In-house, freelance, or agency?</span></span><br style="color: #000000;color: #000000;"><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Now, I guess you want to know: should I hire
in-house, outsource to an app development agency or hire a few freelancers?</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>This depends on your budget, project size, and goals. But in my opinion, it depends the most on the time to market and the risk of failing. After all, only </span><a href="https://www.infoq.com/articles/standish-chaos-2015/" style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: #262626; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: normal;" data-ac-default-color="1" target="_blank"><span style='color: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration:
inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>29%</span></a><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'> of software projects are successful.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Let's say you get one million dollars. That’s a lot of money, right? You can hire your own team, but it’s a high-risk decision. </span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br>Why? </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The hiring process is long and difficult. You must be very good at choosing the right people for the job. If you’re not good at it, you have to hire someone to do the interviewing process. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>What if you don’t want to go through the hassle of hiring an in-house team? You decide to hire freelancers. After all, it’s cheaper. But you realize you also have to spend time on the hiring process. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit;
text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Another risk is that they won’t be team players - they never saw each other so they don’t know how the other one works.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The third option is hiring an agency. Here you don’t have to go through the hiring process by yourself. The agency takes care of it - you save on time. It also provides you with an already structured team of IT experts. Therefore, the time to market is shorter. True, hiring an agency can be more expensive than hiring freelancers, but there’s less risk.<br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open
Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Of course, not all agencies are created equal. Check out the list my team made on <a href="https://decode.agency/article/outsourcing-app-development-mistakes/" data-ac-default-color="1" target="_blank" style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: #262626; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: ; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">mistakes to avoid when it comes to outsourcing</span></a>.</span></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129;
font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>So, when deciding on where to hire your dev team, always weigh out the risks.</span><br style='font-weight: 700; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br style='font-weight: 700; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Now that we’ve outlined your team’s structure, let’s look at what kind of soft skills your team should
have.<br><br><span style="color: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class=""><br>2</span> </span></span><span style='color: #000000; font-size: 21.3333px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'>Hire people with great soft skills</span><b style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0;"><b style='margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129;'><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'></b></b><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>It’s more important how you do something than what you do. What I’m talking about are soft skills. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>You can hire a great developer, but if they don't have problem-solving skills or can’t communicate when issues arise, then why bother?</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>I’ve learned that the best and most useful soft skills in a development team are:</span><br><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0; font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc;
margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1"><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Communication</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1">Proactivity</li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1">Accountability</li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1">Team spirit</li>
<li dir="ltr" style='display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;' aria-level="1">Thirst for knowledge</li>
</ul>
<br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>I’ll explain why.<br></span><br><span style='color: #555555; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;
text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class="">Communication </span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>This is the most important one. Lots of projects fail because of bad communication, especially if the team is remote.<br></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Communication should be:</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open
Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'><br><ul style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0;">
<li style="display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px;"><b style='margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: #1f2129; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Clear</span></b></li>
<li style="display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px;"><b style='margin: 0; outline: none; padding:
0; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: inherit;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'>Transparent</span></b></li>
<li style="display: list-item; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0 0 0 3px;"><b style='margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: inherit;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'>Regular</span></b></li>
</ul></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San
Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>If your team cannot communicate, that’s a sure recipe for failure. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The other soft skill on the list is also tied to communication. </span><br><br><span style='color: #555555; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br style="color: #555555;"><span style="color: #555555; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Proactivity </span></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family:
"Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Problems are a normal and healthy part of the development process. But,</span><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'> </span><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>team members should come forward with a solution, challenge your ideas and think two steps ahead. </span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Let me give you an example. Project or document specifications have to be as detailed as possible. But if team members spot a mistake or realize a part of it’s vague, they should communicate the issue immediately. </span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San
Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Also, if a junior developer doesn’t know how to solve an issue, they shouldn’t just cross their arms and wait. This can actually interfere with other team members' daily tasks. <br></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>A senior developer especially should be very proactive in solving project-related problems.<br></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>When you have a team of
proactive people who communicate clearly, you’ll have better end results. </span><br><br><span style='color: #555555; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br style="color: #555555;"><span style="color: #555555; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Accountability </span></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>In a high-stress environment, it’s easy to make mistakes. A QA can miss out on a big bug or crash or an overworked dev can jumble up a string.<br></span><br style='font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>And that’s totally fine. But what isn’t fine is people not taking responsibility for their mistakes. </span><br style='font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>An accountable person will try to do all of their work and if a mistake happens they’ll learn from it and ensure that it doesn’t happen again in the future.</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight:
inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>An accountable person is someone you can rely on because you know they’ll go the extra mile and make sure they’ve done everything to make their work great.</span><br><br><span style='color: #555555; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br style="color: #555555;"><span style="color: #555555; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Team spirit </span></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>You can’t have a
successful team without that good ol’ team spirit, right? <br><br>Team members have to keep in mind they’re all in this together. The best ones communicate clearly and are not afraid to challenge each other. Without taking it personally, of course.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style='color: #555555; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;' class=""><br style="color: #555555;"><span style="color: #555555; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Thirst for knowledge </span></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open
Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The IT world is moving fast to the future. Technologies change and IT experts should know how to keep up with that fast-paced rhythm. Also, they should always be keen to learn new things and constantly upgrade their knowledge and skills.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: italic;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>The good news is that developers are aware of that. According to a</span><a href="https://ilovecoding.org/blog/how-to-become-a-self-taught-developer" style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; color: #262626; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: normal;" data-ac-default-color="1" target="_blank"><span style='color: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'> StackOver Flow Survey</span></a><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>, 87% of people taught themselves a new programming-language / technology.</span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><br><span style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">---</span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Now that you’ve set up your team - it’s time to start working on that project!<br></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style:
normal;'>But wait, do you know which tools to use? If you choose the right tools, you’ll up your game - everything will be faster and easier for your team.<br></span><br style='font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1f2129; font-style: normal;'><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>More on that in my next newsletter. </span><br><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Until then, stay well!<br></span><br><span style='color: #1f2129; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: "Open
Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;'>Marko</span><br><br></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; font-family: arial; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="ac-designer-marked-selection ac-designer-copy"><span class="ac-designer-copy"><strong><span class="ac-designer-copy">Marko Strizic, MS CS</span></strong><br class="ac-designer-copy"><span class="ac-designer-copy" style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span class="ac-designer-copy">CEO &amp; CO-FOUNDER
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"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."
- Michael Jordan

We wouldn't be where we are in the IT world without teamwork.
So when creating a digital product one of the crucial things to do is to
assemble a group of talented, hardworking and trustworthy people.

How to do it?

1 Find the right kind of experts

Of course, you can't do the project all by yourself. You need help
from people with different kinds of skills and knowledge.

Business-operational team

First, I'll cover roles related to the business side of the project.
You'll need people with great business and managing skills.

Members of this team are:

* The product owner

* The project manager

Let's take a look at them in detail.

Product owner
A product owner is a crucial element of the team. They're in charge of
overseeing the development process and they know your product
inside-out.

A PO can be someone with a background in business, but also in IT. Even
so, they should be focused only on the business aspect. They should have
a top-down approach. That is, their role is to find out what kind of
features the app needs. They also have to be capable of shaping these
features so developers can implement them.

Sometimes a smaller startup doesn't yet have the budget to hire a
product owner. That's why the founder or CEO needs to take on those
responsibilities before the company grows.

Project manager
A project manager is similar to a product owner, but there's a crucial
difference. This person is handling the operational aspect of the
project - the bottom-up approach.

In smaller companies, it can often happen that they fulfill other roles
such as SCRUM master.

Their role is to:

* Communicate with the technical team.

* Assign tasks.

* Make sure the team delivers results.

* Manage communication between the devs and the product owner (or
project sponsor if PO doesn't exist).

* Stay within the budget.

* Make sure everything is done on time.

Tech team

The tech team consists of more roles that are responsible for the
successful development of the software. They are:

* CTO

* Developers

* QA engineers

* UX/UI designers

* Domain experts

Here's a look at what these roles are and how they're invaluable to
the success of your product.

CTO
The most important person in the tech part of your team is the CTO
(Chief technology officer). If the product owner keeps track of business
goals, the CTO has an eye on the technology.

Just like a pack leader, they manage the whole team - developers
(front-end, back-end), QAs, designers, and mobile developers.

Choose a person with lots of experience but also with skills like:

* Leadership

* Strategic thinking

* Decision-making

The CTO needs to be fully engaged in your project. Working on your
project part-time or working on other projects simultaneously isn't an
option.

Developers
The most obvious and important tech experts you need for building your
product are developers.

In general, your team should consist of:

* Front-end developers

* Back-end developers

* Mobile developers

* a DevOps engineer (in smaller teams this role is sometimes assigned to
a back end developer)

QA engineers
Your product has to be tested throughout the development. QAs (Quality
assurance engineers) make sure that bugs aren't messing with your
product. They do automatic and manual testing. Hire at least 1 full-time
QA.

UX/UI Designers
Don't forget about UX/UI designers. They're the ones who make your
product look attractive and make sure it's easy and logical to use.

Keep in mind that it can be tough to find a top-quality UX/UI designer
who'll want to work in a structured environment.

Those designers at the top are most likely enjoying the freelance life,
working on multiple projects and with numerous clients.

Here it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider outsourcing if you're
looking for great quality.

Domain experts
Depending on the industry and project, sometimes you'll need domain
experts. For example, in fintech, you'd need help from a financial
expert.

The same with designers, you can outsource an expert consultant for a
specific project.

In-house, freelance, or agency?

Now, I guess you want to know: should I hire in-house, outsource to an
app development agency or hire a few freelancers?

This depends on your budget, project size, and goals. But in my opinion,
it depends the most on the time to market and the risk of failing. After
all, only 29% of
software projects are successful.

Let's say you get one million dollars. That's a lot of money, right?
You can hire your own team, but it's a high-risk decision.

Why?

The hiring process is long and difficult. You must be very good at
choosing the right people for the job. If you're not good at it, you
have to hire someone to do the interviewing process.

What if you don't want to go through the hassle of hiring an in-house
team? You decide to hire freelancers. After all, it's cheaper. But you
realize you also have to spend time on the hiring process.

Another risk is that they won't be team players - they never saw each
other so they don't know how the other one works.

The third option is hiring an agency. Here you don't have to go
through the hiring process by yourself. The agency takes care of it -
you save on time. It also provides you with an already structured team
of IT experts. Therefore, the time to market is shorter. True, hiring an
agency can be more expensive than hiring freelancers, but there's less
risk.

Of course, not all agencies are created equal. Check out the list my
team made on mistakes to avoid when it comes to outsourcing
.

So, when deciding on where to hire your dev team, always weigh out the
risks.

Now that we've outlined your team's structure, let's look at what
kind of soft skills your team should have.

2 Hire people with great soft skills

****
It's more important how you do something than what you do. What I'm
talking about are soft skills.

You can hire a great developer, but if they don't have problem-solving
skills or can't communicate when issues arise, then why bother?

I've learned that the best and most useful soft skills in a
development team are:

* Communication

* Proactivity

* Accountability

* Team spirit

* Thirst for knowledge

I'll explain why.

Communication
This is the most important one. Lots of projects fail because of bad
communication, especially if the team is remote.

Communication should be:

* Clear

* Transparent

* Regular

If your team cannot communicate, that's a sure recipe for failure.

The other soft skill on the list is also tied to communication.

Proactivity
Problems are a normal and healthy part of the development process. But,
team members should come forward with a solution, challenge your ideas
and think two steps ahead.

Let me give you an example. Project or document specifications have to
be as detailed as possible. But if team members spot a mistake or
realize a part of it's vague, they should communicate the issue
immediately.

Also, if a junior developer doesn't know how to solve an issue, they
shouldn't just cross their arms and wait. This can actually interfere
with other team members' daily tasks.

A senior developer especially should be very proactive in solving
project-related problems.

When you have a team of proactive people who communicate clearly,
you'll have better end results.

Accountability
In a high-stress environment, it's easy to make mistakes. A QA can
miss out on a big bug or crash or an overworked dev can jumble up a
string.

And that's totally fine. But what isn't fine is people not taking
responsibility for their mistakes.

An accountable person will try to do all of their work and if a mistake
happens they'll learn from it and ensure that it doesn't happen
again in the future.

An accountable person is someone you can rely on because you know
they'll go the extra mile and make sure they've done everything to
make their work great.

Team spirit
You can't have a successful team without that good ol' team spirit,
right?

Team members have to keep in mind they're all in this together. The
best ones communicate clearly and are not afraid to challenge each
other. Without taking it personally, of course.

Thirst for knowledge
The IT world is moving fast to the future. Technologies change and IT
experts should know how to keep up with that fast-paced rhythm. Also,
they should always be keen to learn new things and constantly upgrade
their knowledge and skills.

The good news is that developers are aware of that. According to
aStackOver Flow Survey
,
87% of people taught themselves a new programming-language / technology.

---

Now that you've set up your team - it's time to start working on
that project!

But wait, do you know which tools to use? If you choose the right tools,
you'll up your game - everything will be faster and easier for your
team.