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When expanding your team isn’t feasible through full-time hires, outsourcing often comes to mind. Yet, there’s more to it than the traditional approach. Staff augmentation, for instance, is a flexible alternative that allows you to integrate external expertise directly into existing teams. The beauty of this method is that it enhances your team’s capabilities precisely where needed. In this blog post, we’ll review what it involves and outline staff augmentation best practices.
What Is Staff Augmentation?
Put simply, staff augmentation is a targeted approach to bolstering your team’s capabilities. It allows you to bring in specialists with the skills your projects require for as long as you need them. The benefits of such professionals are that they
- seamlessly integrate into your teams,
- work under your direction,
- complement your existing staff’s skills.
All in all, it’s an efficient way to adapt your workforce to your project’s needs without the long-term commitment of hiring new full-time employees.
Benefits of Staff Augmentation
So, what exactly do you get from employee augmentation and why is this model often preferable to classic outsourcing services? Let’s review the key benefits.
- Quickly Fill in the Gap
Let’s say your project lacks advanced Java developer skills. In this case, Java team augmentation can be of great help as it allows filling in the gap swiftly. Unlike the lengthy process of hiring a full-time employee, this model provides immediate access to the necessary expertise so that your project progresses without delay.
- Keep the Control
One of the standout advantages of this model is the retention of control. External specialists work within your organizational structure, following your project management methodologies and aligning with your company’s culture. This is a good guarantee that the final output adheres to your standards and expectations.
- Only Pay for the Job Done
With this model, you pay only for the specific services you need, when you need them. This can be more cost-effective than the expenses associated with full-time employees, including salaries, benefits, and training costs.
Best Staff Augmentation Practices
To enjoy the benefits of this model, you should use it strategically. But what exactly does this mean? Here are several IT staff augmentation best practices to stick with.
Have Clear Deadlines
Clear deadlines ensure that everyone knows what’s expected and when. This sets everyone on a shared understanding of the project’s timeline and goals.
When setting deadlines, involve your augmented staff in the planning process. Use project management tools to visualize deadlines and progress. Ensure these timelines are realistic. You should consider the learning curve, too.
Accurately Identify Talent Gaps
Conduct a skills audit of your current team to pinpoint deficiencies. Then, correlate these gaps with your project’s specific demands.
Engage with team leaders and project managers to get deeper insights into the nuanced skills required. This analysis ensures you find professionals whose expertise aligns with your project’s needs.
Document Everything
Documentation is the backbone of effective collaboration and knowledge transfer. It’s especially important when working with a blended team of permanent and augmented staff.
Maintain a centralized repository of project documentation accessible to all team members. This should include
- project plans,
- technical specifications,
- coding standards,
- progress updates.
Regularly update these documents. Plus, it can be a good idea to encourage augmented staff to contribute.
Try to Keep Communication Effective
Effective communication bridges the gap between internal and augmented teams. With its help, you can bring collaboration and project cohesion to a new level.
Establish a communication plan that outlines how and when team members should communicate. Use collaboration tools that enable real-time communication and ensure that augmented staff are familiar with your communication norms. To foster open communication, don’t forget about
- regular team meetings,
- check-ins,
- and open channels for questions and feedback.
Provide Recognition
Recognition boosts morale and fosters a sense of belonging and appreciation. It’s a must for maintaining motivation and engagement.
Implement a recognition program that acknowledges both small wins and significant contributions. This can be as simple as shout-outs during team meetings. You can use more formal recognition like awards or bonuses, too. Just ensure that the contributions of augmented staff are celebrated alongside those of permanent employees.
Choose a Reliable Provider
A reliable provider is your partner in success so research potential providers thoroughly. Focus on their
- track record,
- industry reputation,
- and client testimonials.
Conduct interviews to gauge their understanding of your industry and specific needs. Plus, assess the support they offer in terms of onboarding and managing augmented staff.
Foster a Learning Environment
A learning environment enhances the skills of individual team members. It also boosts the overall capability of the team.
Create opportunities for knowledge exchange between your permanent team and augmented staff. Organize
- regular training sessions,
- workshops,
- and team-building activities.
You could organize cross-training sessions where team members teach each other about their areas of expertise or industry trends. The goal is to integrate augmented staff into the team’s learning culture.
Use Agile Integration Practices
The beauty of agile integration practices is that they ensure that augmented staff quickly becomes productive members of the team. This is important for them to contribute to the project’s momentum without lengthy onboarding processes.
The agile approach focuses on quick assimilation and early contribution. To implement it, you should ensure the structured onboarding process is iterative and flexible. For instance,
- start with essential training,
- allow augmented staff to begin working on smaller tasks,
- gradually increase their responsibilities as they become more comfortable.
Use regular sprint reviews and retrospectives to assess how the integration is going and what needs to be improved. It may be a good idea to have one-on-one meetings with augmented staff from time to time to see if they are well aligned with the project’s pace and objectives.
Final Thoughts
On balance, staff augmentation can scale your technical capabilities without the overheads of traditional hiring. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, of course. It shines brightest for short-term objectives where you need to quickly fill in the skill gap. The key task is to employ it strategically. You now know the best practices that will allow you to do so and enjoy the benefits this model has to offer.
