Probably everyone remembers that lovely dating period. It is time when you take a closer look at potential partners. What selection criteria do you have? What do you pay attention to? If you use a dating app, are you more interested in the completed profile of the candidate, or are you ready to take a risk and meet an absolute stranger? Who seems more reliable?
Let’s imagine another situation when you choose one of hundreds or thousands of companies to cooperate with. Who do you tend to work with? Will it be a team of anonymous developers and designers who will not take responsibility for their actions in case of failure?
Or the professionals you can personally discuss all the details of the development process with and those who confirm the reliability of your investments?
To build trustworthy relationships is essential not only in private life but also in business.
Therefore, this article will discuss the benefits and importance of getting to know the team you will work with. Cadabra Studio’s CTO, Ihor Dyachenko, will share common mistakes you should avoid while choosing a team and reveal the behind-the-scenes work of Cadabra Studio.
Three crucial benefits you get if you know your team personally
Let’s start with your advantages of being acquainted with a team.
Trust
Knowing your team members is one of the most essential leadership aspects. The most important thing to take away from getting to know your development team comes down to one word – trust. You build a bridge of trust by taking the time to know the team members in person. This way, you’ll have honest communication and create a work environment where everyone has quality interaction.
High-performance
Building stronger connections among team members and clients also leads to high performance. Such interconnectedness fosters a profound sense of belonging, thereby significantly augmenting overall job satisfaction.
Furthermore, selecting individuals with the appropriate skills and experience ensures that the team is equipped to handle challenges and contribute effectively to the client’s objectives. A judicious amalgamation of diverse talents and personalities not only promotes inclusivity but also injects dynamics into the team’s work. Thus, active involvement in the team selection process is pivotal in shaping cohesive and effective teamwork.
Deep needs understanding
High-quality interaction and communication with the team lead to understanding the client’s deep needs, which, in turn, allows for choosing the right tools and methods for effective work.
Understanding deep needs is also important for strategic planning. Of course, the team adjusts the volume of work at each stage, but the basis of the workflow is laid at the very beginning.
Behind the scenes of Cadabra Studio with CTO Igor Dyachenko
We have asked the CTO of Cadabra Studio the most frequent questions among our clients. And he explained all of them in detail. So, welcome behind the scenes of Cadabra Studio.
What does cooperation with clients mean to you?
“For me, cooperation with clients is about building business partnerships. We prefer long-term projects. First, they allow us to do a complete cycle from business analysis to design and then support. Second, we are able to do our work better, proudly add it to our portfolio, and receive great reviews and high marks from clients.
Based on the company’s experience, I can say that this type of cooperation brings the most profit for us and customers.”
Why do you think it is important for the client to get to know the team and participate in forming the team on the project? What is the client’s area of influence in this process?
“In my opinion, clients should pay attention to the team and its processes.
If the client chooses the team independently, first, it is worth paying attention to the main team and managers and establishing interaction with them. Next, select people according to their professional level of skills.
If the customer comes to a ready-made team, it is worth paying attention to the managers who can comprehensively assess the client’s request. Managers are the people who can influence the entire process. Then, customers should get to know the core team and the leads in each direction (mobile, web, design).
When the client wants to better understand the processes within the team, it is worth diving into the team structure, discovering their levels, and learning about task delegation.
So, I recommend paying more attention to processes in the team than its structure. That would be enough for productive cooperation.”
How does the team interact with the client in Cadabra Studio, and how often does the client receive progress updates?
“At all projects, clients have basic meetings with managers and the core team. These meetings are informative and include the planning process. We also have call reports at the end of each sprint; they are included in the basic meetings.
Of course, there may be additional calls at the client’s request. However, we try to reduce the number of calls in the schedule to a practical minimum because we prefer effective work more than conversations about work. However, some projects require constant interaction between the customer and the team, and these are exceptions to the rules.”
What are the most common mistakes clients make when choosing a team?
“I can single out the two most common mistakes:
- Clients often pay attention to talkative people, but those who talk a lot do not always know much. We frequently notice that customers are looking for proactive partners and think that someone who talks a lot is proactive.
I advise looking for people who understand the processes, give reasoned advice, and can explain controversial issues.
- When choosing a company to cooperate with, clients often compare the prices of different companies without understanding what is behind pricing. The price tag can be adjusted according to the client’s requests, work deadlines, team size, and team processes. And this is only a small part of the conditions.
It is worth studying the companies’ offers more deeply, analyzing their cases and experience. If the client needs help understanding the technical aspects, it would be good to have an inboard specialist who could assess the proposals’ potential with a professional eye. Also, the inboard technical specialist can communicate with the development team.
However, if such a specialist is unavailable, our managers always try to convey all important aspects and answer all worrying questions.”
Who chooses the technology stack for the project?
“Usually, when a project comes to us, we conduct an analysis and offer the customer a technology stack suitable for his project.
However, it happens that the client comes with his requirements and has a prescribed stack. If products come to us for finishing or processing, we always select the most optimal option so the client receives the best decision after cooperating with us.
By the way, we have a Project Booster program that includes consultation with C-Suits of Cadabra Studio to help you identify your project goals and select the needed tech stack, tools, and specialists. It’s completely free, so don’t miss the chance to use Project Booster now.”
There is a myth that developers’ hard skills prevail over soft skills. Does this not reflect on the quality of communication with customers?
“People are different, but technical specialists have very advanced hard skills. Therefore, they are often not verbose and sometimes reserved in communication. However, their brevity does not make their soft skills weak. In our team, developers know how to convey their opinions to customers and explain complex processes in simple words.
The same applies to teamwork. Everyone communicates according to their level and status. For instance, if they are a tech lead, then they must understand the details, offer solutions, and communicate with both the team and the client. If it is a middle or junior developer, then they also participate in discussions inside the team, give statuses and comments about the work, do code reviews, and follow the rules that exist in the team.”
What measures does the team take in case of unexpected technical problems on the project?
“Initially, it’s important to categorize problems based on their importance levels. The degree of importance is determined by factors such as the problem’s environment, the urgency of its resolution, and its complexity level.
At the first level, we faced issues directly affecting the production environment. Here, an immediate response is necessary. A team is assembled, and bugs are fixed in the shortest possible time.
Moving to the second level, issues arise during the staging or development environment. Typically, testers detect these errors, which are addressed within the active sprint and resolved before its conclusion.
Lastly, the third level involves minor bugs that may surface during template updates, particularly when using website builders like WordPress. A specialist responsible for site maintenance commonly handles these issues.”
How does Cadabra Studio interact with clients to ensure transparency on the financial aspects of the project?
“We try to optimize the budget at each stage and allow the client to choose where to spend his money. Somewhere, it can be an alternative, cheaper technology, a simpler implementation of some feature, or a not complicated design. We also pay attention to the terms of implementation, security requirements, and test coverage because all this affects the value. We are in favor of optimization according to the client’s requests.
Regular reports are equally important. Our reports are configured so the client sees a complete picture of the project and its stage. The client can also track the amount spent on the pledged amount and future planned expenses.
We provide transparent and maximally informative reports and, in case of questions, a quick and clear answer.”
Wrapping Up
As you can see, selecting partners, whether for dating or business collaboration, shares similar principles in both personal and professional spheres. Just as you carefully consider matches with potential partners, choosing a development team for your project requires reflection and analysis.
In conclusion, establishing strong relationships and clear communication channels between clients and development teams is crucial for navigating the complexities of project development. Businesses can launch successful partnerships that produce mutually beneficial outcomes.
It is essential to trust the development of those who pay attention to your project’s specific requirements, are open to communication, and provide informative reports. At Cadabra Studio, we have expertise and well-established processes that ensure a personalized approach to each client. So, tell us about your project today, and we will achieve great results together.
