How the right software development team determines your project’s success

 The more I get deeply swamped in this software project deployment stuff, the more I realized that – the success of any project no matter how huge or small the project is lies solely on the kind of development team you put together.

 

Let’s bring this to life, typically a software development team should comprises of:

-       Product Designer(UI/UX Expert)

-       Project Manager

-       Business Analyst

-       Front end & Back-end Developer

-       Quality Assurance manager

-       DevOps Engineer

As you can see, the variety of roles in software development team is far more complex than “just developers”. Writing the code is actually the easiest part, and even for a developer, it’s not the most time-consuming activity. There are dozens of factor contributing to the project success and failure, from the top of my head:

-       the business idea/process itself,

-       the user stories, journeys and look and feel of your application,

-       the stability, and reliability of the app,

-       the quality and security of your system,

-       the architecture of the solution,

-       efficient algorithms,

-       adequate risk management… and I could go on and on. 

 

Yea, it is much safer to assemble good developers with experience in writing well-structured and clean codes, they are usually still not enough to ensure the project’s success, there is need to ensure that you include all the crucial people in your development team from inception.

 

According to an old saying, “two heads are better than one”. It’s simple math that two developers will deliver a result faster than one. Plus, the more people working on a project, the greater the chance that one of them will come up with a good idea or an important update.

 

The challenge comes when the client hires a developer and a project manager to develop an application. Yes, you can get the result but I bet you it will not be the one that stand the test of time. There is no way, a project manager and a developer will play overlapping roles for a product designer, Quality assurance, DevOps engineer etc and there wont be cracks. Even if the solution works, it’s just a matter of time before you start seeing the cracks.

 

The best part, however, is team size doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to have all those specialists all the time hired full-time. One of the best advantages of partnering with a software development firm is the flexibility you get – we can assist you to engage whichever resources you want on your project, whenever you want it. 

Reach out to us via info@techspecialistlimited.com

Build a Better Product: 7 Questions to Ask Your Customers

Did Apple introduce the iPhone and never improve upon its features and specs? Of course not, so why would you do the same with your product? Constantly looking for ways to improve your product will satisfy the ever-changing needs of your customers.

You should be talking to the people who matter most: your customers. Not only will you get the best insights into what features and improvements will be used and appreciated, but your customers will feel valued.

So, if you want to build a better product, here are seven questions to ask your customers.

1. What challenges are you trying to solve with our product?

In order to build a better product, you need to find out why your customers came to you in the first place. Now, the answer to this question might seem obvious. For instance, if you sell lawnmowers, the obvious answer is that your customers needed to cut their grass. But you may be surprised by some of the insights you’ll uncover. 

The answers you get can help you learn what features you need to focus on. For example, maybe you’ll see a trend of customers coming to you to solve a different problem than what you cater to but end up using your product anyway. If that trend is big enough, capitalize on it.

2. What struggles do you experience with our product?

You want your customers’ experience with your product to be as smooth as possible. You want it to be simple to access/download/assemble and easy to understand and use. So, by asking your customers what struggles they experience with your product, you’ll be able to pinpoint areas where your ease of use is lacking and improve it so that your customers have the best experience.

3. How difficult or easy is it to ‘XYZ’?

This question takes a deeper dive into specific features and actions your customers want to take with your product. For instance, if you’re a software as a service (SaaS) company and users have to download and install your product, you should ask them how difficult it was to do that one step. If 10 is the most difficult and 1 is the least difficult, you want this step to be a 1.

By asking this question, you’ll be able to minimize the amount of effort it takes for users to accomplish their goals with your product, which will make them more likely to stick around. 

4. Have you tested out our competitor’s product?

You’re bound to have a number of competitors who offer a similar, or the exact same, product, and you can’t ignore them. In fact, you should find out as much about them as possible, which is why you need to be asking your customers if they’ve tried out your competitors’ products.

Asking this question to your customers will help you identify key problems with your product that may be costing you customers. Discover features that your competitors offer that your customers are tempted by and implement them into your own offerings to prevent customer churn.

5. What are your favorite features and which ones do you rarely use?

Not every feature your product boasts will impress your customers. One of the biggest wastes of your time is to focus too much on a feature your customers just don’t care about. On the flip side, you might think your star feature is one thing, while your customers much prefer something else.

By finding out what your customers’ favorite feature is, you’ll know where to focus your time and money.

6. What features do you wish you had?

You have the ability to grant your customers’ wildest dreams. By asking your customers what features they wish your product had, you’ll be able to unearth more pain points your customers are looking to solve and give them features for which they’ll be thankful.

7. How quickly and efficiently are your customer support issues solved?

The success of your product doesn’t only depend on the product itself, but also the level of your customer service. According to American Express, "33 percent of Americans say they’ll consider switching companies after just a single instance of poor service." So, make sure to ask your customers how quickly and efficiently their problems were solved by your customer service team and by your documentation.

Building a great product that customers will line up for isn’t a one-way street. It’s a relationship between your company and your customers that requires great communication and mutual understanding. Your customers will be thrilled that your product has improved but even more thrilled that you listened to them.

Written by Chris Christoff - he is the co-founder of MonsterInsights, the leading WordPress plugin for Google Analytics.

Why counseling is good leadership

Happy Monday Friends! Listening is leadership. You need to give time and space to what your team members need. Often, that is access to you. Not so much for your infinite wisdom, insider knowledge, and wonderful management skills. Though things like that may certainly come into play. Most of the time, the most important thing is someone to listen to their needs, their ideas, and their perspective. That is why a one-on-one meeting with your direct reports is so important. Conversations are different depending on who is in them. They are also different according to the numbers. Conversations that involve exactly two people are the most intimate. These dialogs are made for sharing perspectives, covering a broad range of thoughts on any particular topic, and discussing the emotional impact of any given situation. It is healthy to confide in someone. For your direct reports, that someone needs to be you in many cases. They need to let you in on the reality of their situation. So that you can help and support them. And so that you can maybe help to guide them a bit. Your job is to create a safe space for that to happen in. Often, that is not best accomplished through scheduling a specific meeting on a specific project or task. You are more likely to cultivate the environment for these discussions by having regular meeting times set in advance. The day and time of the meeting can be set, say weekly for 30 minutes. But the agenda can be fluid. Sometimes there will be very specific tactical things to discuss. Sometimes it will be ok to skip the meeting because of some lull or scheduling conflict. But many times there will be an opportunity for you to listen to the needs and desires of your direct report. Maybe it will be a passing comment. Or sometimes your whole meeting time will be focused on an important people issue of sorts. For any of this to happen, you need to be available. And you need to be listening. You can dispense your wisdom, give direction, and provide guidance. But all of that will be better too if you can listen first. It is an important part of leadership. Hopefully your boss is listening too.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week! Tom

Limiting Beliefs – the message in your mind

It is amazing how much I have gotten in my own way. I think that may be a challenge for many people. Especially if you are in any type of leadership position. Because if you are a leader, you have to worry a lot about other people. Which makes it easy to lose yourself in the process. It happens slowly, of course. And you may never notice if you don’t stop and think about it.

A long time ago I learned about something called “limiting beliefs.” This is when you start to paint yourself into a psychological corner.

These are sneaky things, these limiting beliefs. Because you unwittingly build yourself a mental prison with them. And when you hold yourself hostage, it works better than any outside force.

A limiting belief is the thing that stops you from even trying something because you have already decided it won’t work. Or it isn’t worth it. Or you are not that type of person for such job, task or work. That’s the worst...when you start to build these things into your identity.

It can seem like a subtle thing, but it is actually quite powerful. It’s the difference between thinking “I’m not a good public speaker” and “I’m not good at public speaking yet.” These are two different statements and have varied meaning.

When you identify as a poor public speaker (or whatever your chosen limitation is), you are making that part of your self image. Which is a sinister way of letting yourself off the hook. While the later mean you are not good at it yet but can learn and be better. Because if you were born a poor public speaker, then fate has spoken and there is nothing you can do about it but whine like a baby. But, if public speaking were an acquired skill, you could work at it. You would have to admit that anyone building a new skill is going to be bad at it for a while. Then, if they keep trying and practicing, getting feedback and working to improve, they will get better.

You weren’t born “good at math” or “a bad listener” but lots of people tell themselves stories like that all the time.

I have told myself lots of stories like that, and I’m sure that I still do. But I have also worked to identify and work around many limiting beliefs. And that has made all the difference.

It turns out that with practice and patience and determination, I could build a series of skills that led to success in many areas.

To do this, I did have to be bad at things until I could get better at them. I had to respect the process of incremental improvement.

Recently, I started working on my Networking Skills, meeting new people and striking up conversation is quite exciting and easy for some people but for some of us its not such an easy task. I had to be willing to be uncomfortable, confused, and risk looking foolish sometimes. But each and every time it has been worth it.

I had to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I had to be forgiving of myself. I had to remind myself that I am a beginner and this whole thing is going to take time. The same is true for skills at work. Maybe it is making better presentations, leading meetings, collaborating across groups, or coaching staff. Whatever you want to get better at, the secret is to do it more, not less.

It will be awkward at first. Then only slightly better. But over time, your skills will build. And those evolving skills will open up more opportunities for you to grow and to do even more.

It is likely that whatever you feel is holding you back could be changed by the development of some type of skill or experience. If you can get yourself started, you can improve that skill or gain that experience over time.

Maybe it is you that is holding you back in some way. There might be something you believe about yourself that just isn't true. It might be something that can be changed if you work at it.
And if you change it, you might work around a road block or simply open up more new routes to success.

Thanks for reading.

Lanre Yusuf