Companies use staff augmentation as a way to supplement a team, usually adding team members with special skills that are unavailable in-house. Staff augmented projects allow businesses more flexibility, a cost-effective solution to the skills gap, and more control over the job compared to outsourcing the project entirely.
Adding temporary staff members gives organizations an outside perspective and can often help improve the development of a product or service. However, since these team members have never worked together before, some executives worry that team goals may fall by the wayside.
According to Workboard, 69% of high-performing companies rated company-wide communication of business goals as their leading tool for stacking a team of top performers.
If team leaders outline and execute goals effectively, then projects have a better chance of success. Here are tips on how to accomplish goals for staff augmented projects.
Separate Goals and Tactics
Goals and tactics are often confused with each other, but it’s important they are organized separately. Tactics are what help to complete a goal, so managers should consider creating overarching goals and outlining tactics that will help them achieve each one. The team, including the augmented staff, should understand the goals and realize their role in terms of tactics as well. Consider integrating the management technique practiced by Google called “Objectives and Key Results” to set and communicate goals to your team.
Determine Goal Measurements
Once goals are established, teams should outline measurements that will tell whether or not the goal has been achieved. These should be numerical and data-based so that team members can easily decipher if the goal has been reached or not. Publicize goals team-wide to help keep everyone on track and measure continuously to see how close or far the team is from achievement.
Set a Communication Standard
Once each team member understands his or her role, it’s time to set up a communication standard that everyone abides by. Use tools such as Slack or Skype for team communication and select a project management software such as Jira or BaseCamp to keep track of progress. Make sure each member of the team (augmented staff and in-house staff) uses these tools to ensure communication is smooth and everyone meets project deadlines.
Set a Plan with Dates and Data
63% of respondents surveyed by Weekdone claimed that not knowing which projects were priority was the biggest waste of their time. The entire team should understand what is expected of them, under what deadline, and how each task will be measured. Managers can use sprints to create a tactical plan with assignments for all team members so each person, in-house or not, can review what tasks need to be done and when. Using data points to measure success helps keep the team on track and performing high-quality work.
Review Goals and Team Progress
Managers should pay close attention to all team progress, addressing any concerns team members have and making sure everyone has the tools and resources to complete tasks. Augmented staff should feel welcome to discuss any problems or alternative methods with the team lead as well, fostering a cohesive, cooperative environment.
Teams that set and track goals are 2x more likely to hit targets, which makes goal setting and follow through critical to company success. When there is newvaugmented staff on the team, it’s important that managers bring them into the fold and provide them all necessary elements to complete a project.
Staff augmentation can dramatically improve product development, but team leads should be sure to include this new staff in meetings, updates, and progress reports so they can be aware of any changes and successes from the team.
