What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff Augmentation, also known as Team Augmentation, is an outsourcing model in which you hire external talents from a staff augmentation or web development company on contract basics. This borrowed staff works closely as an extension to your in-house team to meet your project requirements. You also retain complete control over the team and project. This means you’re responsible to manage the extended team, the workflow, as well as the project outcome.

Moreover, staff augmentation allows you to have maximum efficiency by integrating top talents in your team and at the same time gives you the flexibility to keep them on board for however long you need.

Benefits of Staff Augmentation

1. Cost Efficiency

The major reason why companies outsource is to cut costs. And staff augmentation is highly efficient in it. Hiring a new in-house team member brings along several expenses including office space, device and hardware expense, software and tools expense, etc. And not to forget about the employee benefits and the increasing salary with the increased experience. All these are significantly cut down when you lease team members from a staff augmentation company.

Additionally, you can further cut down costs by hiring staff from countries with cost-efficient rates. Countries like India are known for providing world-class development services at a significantly less price than other countries.

2. Flexibility

At times, you may need faster development to meet the tight deadline, time to market, and fulfill the customers’ needs. Staff augmentation makes it easy to ramp up your development process by adding members to your team on-demand without any lengthy hiring process. Further, when the workload reduces, it’s also easier to scale down and optimize your team to save costs.

3. Get top talents around the world

Many times, geographical locations can be a barrier to get the talents you need. The required skills and expertise might not be available in your region or even country. Staff augmentation can help you with it by extending your team with skilled members accessible around the globe.

4. Full control and ownership

This is one of the primary reasons companies opt for staff augmentation. Although they hire external team members to work on the project, the complete control of managing, guiding the team members and the project is in the hand of the clients. This gives them full ownership and control.

Staff Augmentation vs Other Models

The relationship-based outsourcing model describes how the responsibility of the project is shared among the client and the vendor. Staff augmentation falls under this model.

Two other popular models — managed-service and project-based software outsourcing also come under the relationship-based models. Let’s understand how these two models are different from staff augmentation so that you can make the right choice.

Staff Augmentation vs Managed Service

The major difference between staff augmentation and other models is the share of responsibility. In staff augmentation the complete ownership and responsibilities of outcome are in the hand of the client — the extended team just provides the input as per the instructions. While in managed service the responsibilities and ownership are shared by both the client the outsourcing company. In managed services, the client and the company both decide the responsibilities to share and take ownership of the outcomes of the project.

Staff Augmentation vs Project-Based Model

In a project-based model the entire responsibility, from the start to finish, is taken by the outsourcing company. The client just has to provide the project requirements initially and feedback on the completed task. Staff augmentation and project-based models can be said to be the extreme end of the relationship-based spectrum.

(Proportion of responsibility in different models — While in staff augmentation, the majority of the responsibility is in the hands of the client, project-based is its extreme opposite — the outsourcing agency bears the responsibility. And in managed service/team model, the responsibilities are discussed in advance and shared by both.)

When Should You Implement Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation yields the best results for certain projects and scenarios. You should use this outsourcing model in the following cases.

1. You already have an in-house team

There’s a reason why it’s called staff ‘augmentation’ — you’re adding or improving your current team with more talents. If you don’t already have a team or looking to make a team from scratch, there are outsourcing models that are more useful.

2. You need specialized skills temporarily

If your project requires experts with specific skills, but you don’t want to hire them permanently, then staff augmentation can help you hire the skilled resource on-demand and contractual basics.

3. You want to speed up the project

When you have to meet tight deadlines or speed up the time to market, staff augmentation is the ideal way to get talents for the needed boost.

4. You want complete control over the project

Gaining control is the very essence of staff augmentation. When you hire the resources from a staff augmentation company, an extended team works just like your in-house team with you being in total control. So managing and directing them for the desired outcome is in your hand.

5. You already have a leadership team

Since you need full control, you’ll need the in-house leadership that can guide and manage the team. It’s ideal to have a tech lead, project manager, or CTO who can instruct and manage the extended team.

How to Implement Staff Augmentation to Your Project

1. Define your requirements

Before you start searching for the ideal staff augmentation company, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of your requirements. This includes defining the tasks, the precise number of resources, required technical skills, preferred experience, and qualifications.

2. Search, review, and select

Once the requirements are defined, start searching the candidates to fulfill the needs. Check B2B directories, search online job marketplaces, get referrals from your personal network, or simply search for service providers on Google.

After you have a list of the companies and candidates, you’ll need to review them to get the ideal fit for your project. Go through the individual candidate’s profile, conduct interviews, conduct practical tests, check the company’s background and portfolios, check their review, etc.

Based on the review process select the ideal candidate, discuss the payment, contract, and other important details before onboarding them to the team.

3. Onboard the new team members

Now once the newly hired resources are part of your team, help them understand your expectations, project goals, define their roles, your company processes, and procedures. This ensures they are on the same page and work to successfully achieve the project outcome.

5. Provide continual feedback

The new team members work closely for your project’s success — they are a part of your in-house team. So offer them help, feedback, cooperate, and nurture them to maximize your project output.

Things to Consider While Staff Augmentation

• Safeguarding with NDA.  It’s highly recommended to sign an NDA — nondisclosure agreement with the contractor for sensitive and confidential projects.
• Team availability. Sign a contract to ensure that the hired resources are available until the completion of tenure. And in case you’re expecting to scale up or down the members during the project, it’s always better to discuss in advance.
• Candidates are directly employed by the vendor. For smooth project execution, you need to ensure the candidates you are hiring are employed by the staff augmentation company. Companies outsourcing their work to independent workers can sometimes create mismanagement in the project.

Wrapping Up

Here’s a quick recap: Staff augmentation is an ideal outsourcing approach to scale up or fill in the skill gaps of your in-house team. It brings a lot of benefits including cost-efficiency,  flexibility, and control.  When used for the right projects, it can help you achieve your project and business goals.

Hope this article has given you a good understanding of the staff augmentation model. At Techuz, we provide various development-related outsourcing services including staff augmentation. We have a team of over 55 tech professionals who work closely with the client’s core team to add value. If you’re looking to extend your development team with skilled resources, we can help. Just drop us a line and we’ll get back to you.

Discuss your project needs

The post What is Staff Augmentation? A Flexible Outsourcing Model to Achieve Project Goals appeared first on Techuz Blog.

Outlining the details of your project ahead of time can help you find the right service provider and maintain structure throughout the engagement, so it’s important that you provide a detailed scope of work.

Include these in your scope, and you’ll find the right partner for your project and set your team up for success. 

1. A Detailed Description of Your Project and Deliverables

As you get started on your project, it’s important that you and your partners agree on the deliverables and underlying goals. 

Deliverables are the quantifiable goods and services that a vendor provides. For a web development project, deliverables could include mock ups, landing pages, and certain features, while deliverables for a branding project would include logos, designs, and marketing collateral.  

To ensure that you get exactly what you want from your service provider, you need to create a detailed outline of your expectations in your scope of work. 

As you create a complete list of what your service provider will by accomplishing, consider your preferred materials, tools, systems, and products you want your team to use throughout the project. 

By including the features, services, and tech you need to accomplish your goals, your future partners will be able to provide you with a more accurate cost estimate and timeline. They will also be able to guide you and pick the right members for your team. 

2. Performance Requirements

In business, you’re not looking for the bare minimum. Rather, you need a solution that is going to be effective and meet all your needs. To ensure that the final deliverable is high-quality and meets your standards, you should outline your performance requirements.  

Performance requirements, unlike the product or service itself, describe the functionality, conditions, and quality that the final deliverable must meet in order for you to consider the engagement a success. 

For example, if you hire a web developer to build your new website, there are specific things you need in order for the site to work for your business. It should match your company’s brand, be easy to navigate, and have a user-friendly UX/UI. On top of that, you might need an administrative portal or an easy-to-edit backend. 

However, if your service provider delivers a website that isn’t easy for you to manage, the product doesn’t quite meet your performance requirements. 

To prevent you get a top-notch product or service, provide a detail description of your performance requirements. 

3. A Plan for Communication

Things can go wrong if you and a partner aren’t on the same page, which is why communication is key ingredient in any successful partnership. It’s important to note who will be in charge of providing updates and communicating between teams.

As you begin a new partnership, agreeing on how you plan to communicate progress, make changes, or ask questions, can streamline communication later on in the engagement. As a result, you will likely experience fewer miscommunications and disagreements.  

Since different teams have different collaborative styles, you should discuss how often you want to be updated and by whom. If you want to be more engaged, you could hold daily or weekly stand ups. If you want to be more hands-off, monthly reports might suit your needs better. 

On top of that, some companies may assign a project manager to the contract, or you could be dealing with the team directly. Each of these communication plans have their pros and cons. Project managers are easy to work with, but if you are dealing with a highly technical project, direct communication with the team can be beneficial. Either way, you need to determine a plan that works for you.  

As you outline the communication section of your scope of work, be sure to include your project lead’s contact information and outline how they should go about authorizations and approvals. 

4. A Timeline With Milestones

Timelines are critical because they hold vendors accountable for delivering products and service on time.  

However, establishing a timeline at the beginning of your relationship does more than keep your project on track. A schedule is like a roadmap for a lot of B2B service providers. As they go, they’re able to check off what they’ve accomplished and plan for what comes next. 

A calendar can also help vendors plan ahead so they can scale their team accordingly and bring in resources as needed. 

If you need a project completed with a tight turnaround, they may also require more manpower and have to bring additional people on the team to meet your goals. This, in turn, could increase the cost of your project. 

A good timeline notes key milestones and the tasks that are required to reach them. They also include the date they should be started, and when it will be completed. 

Source: HubSpot

This template does a good job outlining the description of the service and when each task will be completed. As a result, both partners know when to expect each deliverable. 

By detailing the what you need accomplished, and by when, you’ll ensure that you and your partners are on the same page throughout the partnership. 

5. A Budget That Is Broken Down for Each Part of the Project

While you need include your overall budget in your scope, you should also break down how much you expect to spend on each piece of the project. 

In the timeline template featured above, they did a good job outlining how much the project would cost by associating a dollar amount with each individual task. 

Several factors go into determining how much a project will cost, such as the number of people on the team, how much time it takes to complete the project, and the types of technology you plan to use. So, the more specific you are in your scope of work, the more accurate your cost estimate will be. 

Once you’ve outlined the project sufficiently in your project description, do some preliminary research to determine how much everything should cost to make sure the estimate your service provider is quoting you is comparable to the market.

Include Important Details in Your Scope of Work

A scope of work is important for finding the right partner, keeping your project on track, and ensuring you get the results you need. 

To get the best results from an engagement, you need to note key details ahead of time, including a thorough description of all deliverables and your performance requirements. Communicating with your service provider will be key to building a strong partnership. 

By maintaining a schedule with the start and end dates of each task, and how much each phase of the project will cost, you and your partners will stay on the same page throughout your engagement.  

The post 5 Key Things To Include in Your Statement of Work appeared first on Techuz Blog.

However, the reality is different. There are surprises, challenges and roadblocks. What this demand is perseverance and skill to handle it all.

Successful Project management journey is rarely seamless. The project managers aren’t sure about their expectations from the project. They miss the deadlines. And there are several challenges that become barriers to the success of the project.

To ensure successful project management, project managers need to know every aspect of the project, make effective and result-driven plans, manage the workflow, track progress and evaluate the entire thing.

There is no single idea or method that can help a project gain success. In this article, we have curated the most important tips to ensure project management success.

1. Gather every detail of the project before you begin

It is important for a project to have a solid foundation. For this, ensure that you have every single detail about the project, including interests and expectations of the key stakeholders, interim milestones, deadlines for every part of the project and required budget, and roles and responsibilities of every team member.

Maintain a worksheet for every detail and inform your team members about the deadlines and budget so that things remain aligned with the project. Let them know the expectations and functionalities required in the project. You have to also take care of certain data privacy and compliance regulations while building the project. With this step, you will have set the plan for the entire project.

Here, documentation plays a key role to manage the project. You should use some tools which can help you to prepare the documentation in minimum time.

2. Assemble an effective team for the project

The team members for distinct projects can vary depending on the skills and experience required to perform certain types of tasks. After gathering every detail and making the plan, find the right team members for the project and share your plan with them.

The number of team members depends on the project’s complexity. They work on individual parts of the project, but their eventual goal is the same. This goal is achieved through several divisions of skills.

For example, Amazon believes that the number of team members shouldn’t be more than 10. They divide the project into a pizza and assign some team members to every slice. It helps the company to gain maximum efficiency and reduce costs.

3. Determine team members and their responsibilities

Since several people will be working on a single project, there are chances of deadlines getting breached during the course of the project development. Hence, it is important to avoid confusion by making it clear who is responsible for what? For this, you can go for an online task management program. Every team member should know what is expected from them as their contributions to the project space.

4. Have a communication plan

You have to make a communication plan and stick to it throughout the project. Always keep the communication lines open for every team member and get in touch with them consistently. It will help you ensure that all of them have the required data and information to make further decisions.

Even if you are away from the team, opt for regular calls to know their concerns. All of them need to be on the same page, so having an effective communication plan is necessary. Also, remember to give them room to work so that they don’t feel pressurized.

5. Ensure project stays on track

As a project manager, you have to set expectations and milestones for every phase of the project and check frequently on them. The advantage of setting short-term goals is that you will be able to find the problems with each stage and troubleshoot them before they impact other parts. This is not possible when you have set long-term goals.

This way, the team members will have a clear idea about the project and will help in avoiding the circumstances that can derail the project.

6. Act as a leader and mentor

To manage the project effectively, you will need to be more than just a manager and motivate your team members as a good leader and mentor. This will encourage the team to share their inputs with you and work passionately. They will feel motivated and follow you up for every task. Being a leader and mentor will not only create a healthy work environment but lead to a successful project.

7. Reward the team members

Motivation leads to high quality of work. So, whenever a milestone is achieved in the project, reward your team members. This will motivate them and drive encouragement to reach the next milestone with the same or higher quality of work. Even small celebrations like going for snacks and coffee can be motivating.

8. Keep yourself ready for risks

During a project, your team members might run into a risk which they find it difficult to avoid or solve. If you communicate well with them, you will be able to know the risks on time and use your experience to get over them.
As a project manager, such risks will mostly be your responsibility, so always be ready and control them before they start controlling you.

9. Test your project before delivery

Before you deliver the project to the client, test every part of it and make sure that the final project is working as expected and meeting all the demands. Indulge yourself in the parts of project to ensure everything works fine and as intended.

Your mission will remain incomplete if the project is failing to meet the requirements of customers.

10. Project evaluation

There are a lot of things that can be learnt from a project. There are new challenges, new risks and new opportunities which can be analyzed during and after the completion of the project. Find what worked for you and what not, which strategies didn’t go well and what made the project difficult to manage.
With proper analysis, you can learn a lot and make informed and better decisions in next projects.

Wrapping up

These were some of the most important tips that can help you achieve success in your future projects. If you are a project manager, then try to implement the aforementioned steps and believe me managing a project won’t be a cumbersome task anymore.

Finally, project management leads to successful software delivery. We have been featured as Top Real Estate Software Developers on SoftwareDevelopmentCompany.co

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