7 Things You Must Know Before Hiring a Development Team

Hi friends, if you are reading this article, it means that you are facing a choice problem. How to find an enthusiastic and technically savvy development team that will professionally solve all the urgent technical problems of your business or help you realise a new promising project? There are now thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of them on the Internet now: from different countries, of different sizes, and with completely different cheques for their services.

I've been in the IT industry for over 15 years, 5 of them as an employee, and the rest of the time – as a co-owner of a company and head of a development team. I'd like to share with you 7 insider tips that will help you make the most informed decision possible when choosing the right IT company. Let's get started!

Strange as it may sound, the first thing you need to do before you start surfing the web or asking people you know for advice and recommendations is to develop a clear vision of your product and its goals. It's like the final destination of your journey – you need to know where you're going in order to take the right road. Before you start evaluating potential developer candidates, you should have a clear vision of your desired outcome.

Think about what problems your customers are trying to solve, what features your product should have, and what goals you want to achieve. The more specific your goals, the easier it will be to choose a development team that can deliver.

This task may seem complex and daunting, so I've put together a checklist to help you tackle this big elephant one piece at a time:

1. Define the main objective of the project

Be specific and articulate a goal that will be your main motivating factor.

2. Identify the main problems or needs of your target group

What problems or needs are your target group facing today? How can your project help them solve these problems or meet these needs?

3. Make a list of features

What features should be included in your product to achieve your goal? It's a good idea to make two lists, "Necessary" and "Desirable".

4. Decide what your criteria for success will be

What key performance indicators or metrics will you use to measure the achievement of your goals? Write down this list and the desired values for each criterion.

5. Set a timeframe and budget

What time frame do you have to complete the project? What budget are you prepared to allocate for development?

6. Check the alignment of the objectives with your business strategy

Ask yourself: how does your project fit into your overall business strategy? Does it fit with your corporate goals? Will it help you achieve your mission and vision?

This checklist will help you to 'see' your future project more clearly and in more detail, and prepare you for your first meeting with the development team. And if you also formalise this information in a document – electronic or paper – it will save you and the developers a lot of time and nerves. Both at the beginning and in the middle of the work.

Here are a few key points to consider:

1. Review the portfolio of projects the team has worked on. Assess their variety, size, and complexity. This will help you understand how well the team adapts to different tasks and requirements.

2. Ask the development team for feedback from previous clients or partners. This will give you an insight into their experience of working with other companies and give you real feedback on the quality of their services.

3. Ask the developers if the team adheres to software development quality standards, such as development methodologies, testing, and quality assurance. It’s important to ensure that your project is delivered to high standards.

We’ll prepare a list of technical "must-ask" questions for you to ask the team you are considering hiring. For each question, we’ll include a rough answer. This will help you get an idea of the quality of the team's work.

Once the list is ready, we’ll post it on our social media pages (join us – it's fun ;) and add a link here as well.

4. Google reviews about the selected development team on the internet. This will give you a more objective idea of their reputation and work. There are cases where, at the client's request, the company will only share positive feedback about their work and carefully hide any negative aspects.

This is extremely important, especially if you are working with a remote development team or a team in another country. The ease of communication and understanding will determine the efficiency of the work and the quality of the final product. Here's what you need to consider:

1. Make sure that the members of the development team know the language in which you plan to communicate. Why deal with misunderstandings later?

2. Assess how willing the development team is to discuss ideas, ask questions, and make suggestions for improvement. These skills will help you to solve problems at an early stage and not waste a lot of your time.

3. Discuss with the team what communication tools they prefer to use (e.g. email, chat, video conferencing) and how willing they’re to adapt to your preferences in this regard.

4. If you are selecting a team from a different time zone, discuss how you will deal with the time difference and how you will coordinate work schedules.

5. If your project requires localisation or adaptation for a specific region, it’s better to choose a development team that already has experience working in that region. The quality of the work will be higher.

6. If you choose a development team from a country that has significant cultural peculiarities and differences from your own, you will have to adapt and take this into account. So answer the question honestly: are you ready for it? Sometimes the game is not worth the candle.

It's important to ensure the company's services fit your budget and project requirements. Here's what you should ask the developers:

1. Find out what pricing model the company uses. It could be an hourly rate, a fixed price per project, or a combination of the two. Choose the model that best suits your needs and budget.

2. Discuss any additional costs you may incur. This could be the cost of technical support, software upgrades, etc. Clarify if these are included in their quote or if they will be an additional item. Sometimes this part of the cost can be quite significant – don't underestimate it.

3. Find out how easily the development team can adapt to changes in work schedule and scope. Will they be able to adapt to changes in your project and work in an accelerated or slowed-down mode if necessary?

4. Make sure the development team's pricing is transparent and clear. Serious developers will always be able to provide and explain detailed quotes and cost estimates for each phase of the project.

5. One last very important point: discuss payment issues such as timelines, payment methods, and the possibility of splitting payments into project phases.

1. If you are working with customer data, discuss the privacy and security of that data with your development team. Ensure they take the necessary steps to protect your information from leakage and unauthorised access.

2. It's definitely worth discussing disaster recovery approaches and tools. Firstly, you can assess the team's readiness to respond to critical situations and ensure project continuity. Secondly, you will have a rough idea of the team's level of expertise in this area.

There's no single right answer to the question of whether it's better to work with freelancers or a company. The choice depends on your needs, budget, and expectations for the project. But I can give you a list of things to consider when making your choice:

1. Flexibility and adaptability

Freelancers are usually more flexible and adaptable to changes in the project, but this depends very much on the individual experience and the contractual relationship. A development company may have more expertise and resources to handle complex projects. So if your project has a high level of complexity, I’d recommend that you choose a company. In the case of a complex project, you run the risk of wasting a lot of time and money without getting the desired result.

Also bear in mind that working at a fixed price, whether with a freelancer or a company, makes the collaboration less flexible.

2. Quality of work

A development company often has a wider range of resources and experience, so the quality of work is usually higher. However, experienced and professional freelancers can also provide high-quality services. The only problem is that there are not that many of them and they’re almost always busy.

3. Communication and Project Management

A company usually has a more structured project management and communication system. Freelancers may be less organised (sometimes critically less organised, if you know what I mean) but more flexible in their communication and collaboration.

4. Price and budget

Freelancers often offer more affordable prices for their services because they have fewer overheads. The cost of working with a development company is definitely higher but is more than offset by their experience, quality, and reliability.

A word of caution: if you work with a freelancer, you run the risk that the final cheque for their services will be higher than for the services provided by the company. Why does this happen? A freelancer can work on the task for longer, redo it several times, and, in the worst case, ditch and not complete the project at all because they’re not risking the brand or reputation.

5. Responsibility and guarantees

A good company gives guarantees for its work and ensures a high level of responsibility towards the client. Freelancers have less responsibility for their work but can offer more flexible terms of collaboration.

Be forward-thinking. If the company you choose can’t provide long-term cooperation and support after the project is completed, you are 100% likely to experience problems and unplanned wastes of time, money, and effort. Why is this? You will definitely need specialists to ensure the stability and continuity of your project in the future. 

If you have had to say goodbye to the original developers of the product, then the search for technical partners will have to start all over again, and they will still need time to familiarise themselves with everything that has been developed before them.

So here's what you need to do:

1. Discuss with the development team whether they can provide technical support and updates after the project is complete. Make sure they’re willing to fix bugs, provide security, and update the software as needed.

2. Negotiate terms for long-term cooperation.

3. Discuss the support service level agreements (SLAs), including response time, quality of service, and other aspects. Make sure they meet your expectations.

4. Consider how open the development team is to discussing questions and feedback after the project is complete. This will determine how comfortable you will be working with them.

I and all our staff are always open to communication and collaboration. If you have any questions about this topic or the material in this article, please contact me - I'm always happy to help and advise.