A formidable product development team acts as the scaffolding around which path-breaking products infused with technological innovation are developed. Assembling a formidable product development team needs an eye for talent acquisition and expertise for careful selection. However, the process of hiring the right talent is extremely complicated due to which recruiters end up hiring a misfit which jeopardises the overall product development effort.
This article will act as a guide for individuals who are building product development teams by shedding light on the most obvious pitfalls during the hiring process. Avoiding these pitfalls is vital because each wrong hire results in disruption within the product development process. This article tries to delve into the nuances of hiring and helps us understand various common mistakes that should be avoided during the hiring process.
Analysis of Holistic Needs
Before you begin hiring for your next product development team it's time to look inwards and analyse the needs and requirements of your organisation. Conducting a thorough analysis of your organisation is necessary to understand the needs of the company.
The holistic needs analysis serves as the compass which will propel the trajectory of your hiring efforts. The analysis will help the hiring teams understand which candidates will be the perfect fit for the job. It will help them align the composition of the team and the requirements of the project.
The basic factors to look out for while conducting a holistic team analysis:
Project requirements
Define the scope of the project in terms of its features, functionality and leverage for scale.
Technological requirements
Even before beginning the project, it is vital to underline the technology stack such as programming languages, datasets and frameworks that will be utilised for your project.
Compliance and security requirements
Every project falls within a particular domain which has its own industry-specific compliance standards and security requirements which are supposed to be underlined.
While conducting holistic analysis hiring teams make some common mistakes
Vague analysis
Recruiters conduct an over-the-top analysis of the project requirements without giving specific attention to the specifications of the project. A cursory examination of the project results in the development of a skewed view which doesn't take into account the nuances and intricacies of the project.
No future planning
Sometimes project management teams are formed without incorporating them according to the long-term vision of the project. Unawareness of the long-term goals of the project results in the jeopardization of the scalability of the project. A team which is unclear regarding the future of the project stifles the agility of the project.
Hasty interview process
A perilous approach adopted by various organisations is filling vacant positions with a sense of deep urgency. The pace of the recruitment certainly gives away the final status of the project. These practices usually end up with hiring the wrong fit for the wrong project resulting in misalignment of the project goals and the individual.
Usually, recruiters conducting a hasty interview process do not conduct an in-depth analysis of the candidate's capabilities and skills. Such a hasty approach deprives the recruiter of a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. It's been noted that sometimes recruiters end up overlooking potential red flags within the candidate's resume such as their past behaviour record and work history. The impact of haste is witnessed when such incompetent hires delay the project timelines while significantly adding up to the overall costs.
Disregard for soft skills
Some recruiters solely base their interviews on the technical skills of the candidate. If they are proficient with the technology they are immediately incorporated within the team. However, such a blind approach results in the jeopardization of the overall team effort. Teams always function by group effort. Although the candidate might be highly proficient with technical skills an absence of soft skills might end up deteriorating the team cohesion which will directly translate to reduced productivity.
A candidate who isn't the right fit for your team culture and lacks the flexibility to adapt themselves to the changing times will disrupt existing team dynamics. Any candidate who's being taken on board must possess the necessary soft skills to align themselves with the values, vision and objectives of the company.
Overlooking onboarding and training
A comprehensive onboarding and training programme ensures that trainees are integrated within the teams and are provided clear guidance about their roles and what's expected from them. Further, this serves as a good team bonding exercise where various stakeholders can get to know each other and get acquainted with each other on a much individual basis.
New trainees who are provided with a planned mentorship programme can quickly adapt themselves to the workflow and get acquainted with the technology stack of the company. Further, they get a chance to voice their opinions and clear any doubts.
However, sometimes organisations commit the blunder of omitting the onboarding process to proceed with product development. Such decisions result in jeopardization of the entire product development workflow since the new team members aren't acquainted with the basics of the organisation which leads to various episodes of guessing games culminating in a haphazard project.
Therefore always make it a point that new trainees undergo the onboarding and training programme. It might seem like a waste of time to some but it is the most crucial aspect of the team-building exercise within your organisation.
Building the perfect product development team is a meticulous task involving rigorous precision and an eye for talent. Recruitment teams end up repeating certain common mistakes regularly. Avoiding the mistakes mentioned within the article will help you choose the perfect fit for your company which will boost the efficiency and productivity of your team.
