If you’re new here, here’s a brief about us. We are a group of seasoned engineers who’ve navigated through the fast-evolving technology landscape over the last couple of decades to deliver 1000s of projects for customers across industries. Through this journey we’ve learnt a thing or two about what it takes to be successful. Here, we’ve distilled many strategic and tactical lessons from our experience in the hopes that you, our readers, will find them helpful.
Today, we’d want to stop and think about the four elements that we believe are the most important and that, in our opinion, sum up how to “get it done” for any project you might do. These all involve adjustments in mentality, which makes it much more fascinating.
1. Concentrate on the Goal NOT the Noise
There are several ways to go about this, but whatever you choose needs to be crystal clear, concise, and understandable. In the Army, soldiers often follow the “commander’s intent.” The idea is, if everything goes wrong, simply focus on accomplishing the commander’s goal. Before using vision statements, defined measures, or smoke signals, ensure everyone, including yourself, are crystal clear on what success truly implies, no matter how small or how big.
2. Accept Learning
The software industry has been demonizing learning for years by calling it “scope creep” and putting policies in place to punish “change requests.” These concepts were largely leftovers from earlier engineering methods. Examples like “I can’t build a house unless I know if the framework was properly placed” are frequently used. While this may be true, we are creating software rather than building homes. The software encourages human interactions, and human interactions suggest a constant state of change, requiring modification. The false belief that education is horrible has cost our sector millions of dollars and countless man hours.
3. Be Open and Honest – Especially With Those Who are Key to Your Success
Initially, our clients are frequently scared off by our honesty. They may feel uneasy or scared just watching us work since they are so accustomed to hearing people encourage them to ignore the man hiding behind the curtains. Being open requires always having a plan that details when we will be done. Transparency suggests that we should convey whatever new information we learn, whether it has favourable or bad effects. By being open & honest, we can work with our clients to help them make the best decision possible. We give our customers the chance to realize their objectives.
4. Go To Market As Soon As Possible
How many projects have you finished only to learn that the company never used them because the need for them changed or disappeared? Too frequently, business partners make excessive requests (having been affected for years by our yearly releases) and don’t know how to make incremental requests. Even then, development teams are far too frequently shackled by the belief that “if I build it, a requirement will arrive.” It can be very cumbersome to identify and alter one’s thinking. Focus on how to do this, and always strive to get even the smallest change out the door as soon as possible!
Closing Remarks
Our delivery approach is centered around these four components. These might not be simple, and they call for extraordinary restraint and a steadfast dedication to the project’s success. These ideas will undoubtedly help you and your organization succeed regardless of the technology or approach.
We guarantee that if your existing partner(s) are not providing you with this level of devotion and dedication to your success, we will.
