Consultants and specialist expertise in all their glory. But honestly. Is it worth the money, time and risk that the development will suffer? Of course, it can be fun to show off all the expert knowledge that the company’s talented developers possess. But not if it comes at the expense of what provides maximum value in the end.
Recruiting competent programmers and developers is not an easy task in today’s Sweden. Many are also extremely focused on finding people who know everything about specific technical solutions, have a solid grasp of PHP, Node.js, C# or any other abbreviation that feels cool to throw around.
Duck the vicious circle
The result is often that you go hunting. With the aim set on headhunting whoever has everything you think you need. There, the vicious circle is as close to ending as the orcs will end. Finding the specialist skills that you imagine you must have consumes both time and energy, but also money. In addition, there is a shortage of both developers and programmers in our country. Therefore, the solution is often to staff temporary development teams that are wholly or partly made up of consultants.
The best programmer
No matter what techniques programmers work with, it’s always the same people who step up and get star status. This is actually recurring in all groups of programmers. Isn’t that strange? That these people, who before entering this particular field, had no experience with the new technology are always the best at using it. This is an insight we have so far shared with all development managers we have worked with worldwide. Since it is obviously the same people who are stars, regardless of what the technology is called, it should reasonably be a smart strategy to work long-term on getting a star into each team? Regardless of what experience they have in the past. We at Miller Development always work according to the motto ”a good programmer is a good programmer”. This means that we do not answer customers’ questions about what skills we have. Instead we talk about the amount of stars they should have in their team, for it to be as effective as possible.
Stay in shallow water
It’s time to back off the tape and look up. Step one is to face the facts: It’s hard to even find enough skills. To stare blindly at specialist competence in that situation is to step into even deeper water. Step two is to reflect on why it feels obvious that an expert in an area would automatically be right for my particular development team? If that person fulfills a long-term function and is surrounded by people who complement her or him in the right way. Sure! But hand on heart. Many development tasks are relatively simple and repetitive. How many superstars settle for that in the long run? And so the expensive and drawn-out recruitment process starts again.
Drop the prestige!
The way to build a team is what gives the maximum return. With a mix of skills to get the most out of everyone, hopefully everyone feels stimulated and wants to stay for a long time. With temporary consultants, who can certainly be cruel, the knowledge disappears as soon as a work step is completed. And the continued work, which is often linked to what the consultants have produced, becomes deficient. By stopping focusing on specialist competence, letting go of prestige and seeing the development department as a long-term investment that will deliver benefits and problem solving – then you have come a long way.