How to Improve Team Collaboration with IT Staff Augmentation?

If you are a business planning to leverage IT staff augmentation , taking care of three main aspects is vital.

First, you need to choose a reliable staff augmentation partner. Next, you should be clear about your project requirements and talent gap.

Finally, you should plan to integrate the augmented staff members and improve the collaborative spirit.

In most cases, businesses take care of the first two parameters. However, they do not put a high emphasis on the final facet. The result? The projects do not progress with considerable efficiency.

This blog puts team spirit and collaboration at the forefront. By following the pointers mentioned, you can best utilize IT staff augmentation services and build productive collaborative teams.

Why Team Collaboration Matters with IT Staff Augmentation?

To understand the significance of collaboration in staff augmentation, you need to correlate the following two concepts:

• Staff or team augmentation
• Team collaboration

First, let us understand the concept of IT staff augmentation services.

Also known as team augmentation, this service aims to provide temporary contract-based professionals to your business. In other words, you hire proficient software developers or technicians on a project-by-project basis.

Notably, specialized companies offer staff augmentation services to their clients and reduce the hassle of recruitment and sourcing.

Now collaboration, on the other hand, implies the working relationship between your team members and employees. These individuals can be full-time, part-time, associates, or contract-based professionals.

Team collaboration focuses on the following key elements:

• Equal participation of employees
• Shared responsibilities
• Good synergy and synchronization
• Effective leadership and teamwork

If you tick all these boxes, the ongoing or future project will finish at a brisk pace and with high efficiency.

Why Do You Need to Consider the Collaborative Aspect of Staff Augmentation?

If you avail of top staff augmentation consulting from reputed vendors, the following things are certain:

• You will receive the proper guidance from IT professionals
• The vendor will connect you with a wide global talent pool
• You can hire skilled professionals as per project requirements

However, IT staff augmentation has a practical limitation.

Your reliable team augmentation partner can only connect you with the most suitable professional(s). However, integrating these individuals into your existing staff is most likely your responsibility.

In this scenario, you should carefully plan the team collaboration and amalgamation activities. The next section explains actionable pointers crucial to instill a collaborative team spirit after choosing IT staff augmentation services.

Tips to Boost Team Collaboration with IT Staff Augmentation

You can ask the question, ‘How to boost my team’s collaborative spirit’ under two circumstances:

• You already have a blend of the existing team and augmented members onboard
• The decision-makers want to avail themselves of staff augmentation services and want to be ready beforehand

In any case, these tips will prove beneficial and profoundly improve the team spirit of permanent and temporary workers.

1. Promote a Collaborative Culture

Your in-house team and augmented staff are two different entities. So, after you plan on integrating IT staff augmentation, bridging the gap between the two is crucial.

From the onset, you should foster a collaborative culture in the organization.

Consider the following pointers for the same:

• Welcome the temporary members that will work on your project through a staff augmentation service
• Inform your in-house team before onboarding the augmented staff
• Plan team-building activities and social events on-site or virtually
• Keep clear and consistent communication

In addition to these concrete steps, you can reach out to professional staff augmentation consulting companies to know their experiences. For instance, some vendors can share that their temporary staff did not get an inclusive feeling from the client’s end.

So, you can plan small steps to ensure that you include augmented members from the initial phase.

2. Create Well-defined Roles and Responsibilities

How can your existing staff and new temporary hires work as a seamless collaborative unit?

When each one of them knows their duties and scope in a project. A manager or coordinator finds it easy to lead a team with members with well-defined roles or profiles.

This aspect creates a positive impact on the overall efficiency of the project. Notably, the augmented staff gets a clear idea of their position in the entire project. This way, they can plan their activities properly and deliver top-notch quality for short or long-term IT projects.

3. Use Dependable Online Tools and Technologies

IT staff augmentation services predominantly cover remote and hybrid workers. You can connect with professional developers, UI/UX designers, content writers, or other technicians anywhere in the world.

So, if your staff augmentation team works remotely, it is essential to simplify their experience using relevant tools.

Some well-known examples of collaborative software are as follows:

• Slack
• MS Teams
• Trello
• Asana
• Notion

Teams can monitor the performance, share files for editing and reference, and keep every member in the loop via these mobile apps. So, leveraging technology to augment IT staff augmentation can prove worth considering.

4. Focus on Clear and Well-defined Communication

You can create set guidelines to ensure that your existing team and augmented members become comfortable communicating with each other.

Here are some valuable tips for simplifying the communicative facet:

• Types of messages on email
• Use of project management tools
• Discussion Guidelines
• Timetable for brainstorming sessions
• Formal and informal meeting schedules
• Respecting the time of all employees
• Level of formality in messages

You can elevate the collaborative side with a staff augmentation module if each member knows how to communicate at the workplace. Taking care of such simple facets can create a comfortable working environment at your organization.

5. Ensure That Your Top Management Encourages Team Collaboration

You can improve team collaboration if the seniors and decision-makers support decisions to build a collaborative environment.

Staff augmentation services indeed provide you with a temporary workforce. However, the senior management should not consider the augmented members interim employees. Instead, the top-level officers should be approachable and include the new members in relevant discussions.

Managers can build professional relations with the augmented staff and offer them good value. Furthermore, the senior management can support activities like seminars, meetings, informal chat discussions, etc., to promote a collaborative work culture.

6. Prioritize and Practice Flexibility

Professionals that work on your project through IT staff augmentation do not have a long-term association with the company. They initiate their tasks, work on the project, and part ways after meeting the end goal.

However, the period from start to end is crucial in defining the output of your project. Team bonding and collaborative culture help create an optimistic atmosphere. Such an experience can boost the productivity of your augmented staff as well.

Flexibility is another factor that can elevate the output of temporary and existing staff members.

You can follow the below pointers to portray flexibility with staff augmentation:

• Agile methodology
• High adaptability
• Remote working
• Hybrid work model
• Timing adjustments
• Lean management

If you allow your employees and the augmented staff to work responsibly along with flexibility, the quality of your project can improve considerably.

The Benefits of Team Collaboration with IT Staff Augmentation

If you are hovering on this topic, chances are high that you already know the advantages of staff augmentation consulting. To reiterate the pros, go through the following points:

• Cost savings
• High operational efficiency
• Bridging talent gap
• Access to global talent
• No need to conduct training
• The reduced hassle of conducting interviews
• Operation expansion and testing

If you take care of team collaboration, you can profit from the dual advantages of staff augmentation and good teamwork. So, here are the main benefits you can experience after creating a collaborative workspace.

Boost in Innovation and Productivity

Augmented staff members are skilled professionals who are proficient in their respective fields of work. Your existing staff can be a blend of young and experienced professionals.

A combination of youth, permanent, and temporary employees can lead to the exchange of innovative ideas. For this purpose, a collaborative team environment with IT staff augmentation is necessary.

Whether an intricate custom mobile app development project or a full-fledged website, enhanced productivity and an innovative mindset can create the best results.

High Satisfaction and Happiness Levels

A team that communicates freely, exhibits respect for every individual, and contains a sense of inclusivity can work more efficiently.

After staff augmentation, the new members require a positive environment to attain good working efficiency. Satisfied employees are your best assets. So, a collaborative culture with IT staff augmentation can boost the team members’ professional mood.

Brainstorming and Knowledge Sharing

This point is synonymous with enhancement in innovation. As the augmented members become comfortable with your existing team, they share new ideas about the ongoing project.

As a result, even your permanent employees can benefit from such fruitful brainstorming sessions. To create this work atmosphere, you need to implement the team collaboration points earnestly.

Quicker Pace of Project Deployment

You can connect with the best staff augmentation consulting vendor to hire skilled professionals. However, their work output will depend on your organization’s culture.

If both these parameters align together, the speed of your IT project increases drastically. After covering all the facets, you can test the prototype and launch your software at a brisk pace. Resultantly, your company will get a competitive edge and establish a reputed identity in the respective domain.

In a Nutshell

Team collaboration and IT staff augmentation have a close relationship. To best utilize staff augmentation services, you need to create a collaborative work environment.

First, promoting a collaborative culture by welcoming the augmented staff is vital. Next, keep an open line of communication, use hi-tech collaborative tools, and promote flexibility in the workplace.

It is essential that you do not treat the augmented staff as temporary members (even if their association is for a short-term project). Encourage exchanging ideas, conducting social events, and optimizing workflows to foster a collaborative environment.

Finally, if you want to avail yourself of professional staff augmentation consulting, contact eLuminous Technologies. We have a reliable team of experienced project managers, skilled and certified developers, and proficient technicians to augment your existing staff.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can you succeed with IT staff augmentation services?

To implement staff augmentation successfully, you need to find the skill gap in your existing team. Choose a reliable vendor and foster a collaborative workspace. Ticking all these boxes can improve the chances of success with team augmentation.

2. What are the main types of staff augmentation services?

Staff augmentation has three main categories – highly skilled, skill-based, and commodity. Depending on your need, you can choose any sub-type. However, you can receive access to all these categories at a reputed team augmentation vendor.

3. Why is team collaboration important with staff augmentation?

Team collaboration improves productivity, knowledge sharing, employee satisfaction, and problem-solving attitude. So, you should also focus on improving the collaborative culture along with choosing a trustworthy IT staff augmentation partner.