First, the development was in-house, then outsourcing appeared, what will happen next? There are studies that confirm that the next link in the evolution of work on IT projects is elastic staffing or flexible staff. At the heart of this approach is a simple idea: each project needs its own set of people.
One IT team will not be able to build a fitness app and government portal as efficiently as two more specialized teams.
But today, the development market in most cases works according to the old model: the company either uses internal resources or goes to a contractor whose resources are fixed.
What Does It Mean to Work with a Flexible Nearshoring Staff?
When a contractor with a flexible staff receives a task, he participates in the discussion and takes on the role of technical partner, and co-founder. This is necessary in order to better understand what problem the client wants to solve and what team needs to be assembled. You can learn the guide to nearshore software development here to hire such a team.
Such a contractor does not limit himself and the customer to existing resources but proceeds from the needs of the project. For example, if there are no people within the company with experience in writing the server part for marketplaces, then the contractor will find an experienced freelancer.
Finally, working with a flexible staff does not imply that the specialist is connected to the project from start to finish. The tester is only connected when there is a need for quality control, and the designer is disconnected when he finishes the front-end review.
It turns out that development based on the principle of a flexible staff is working with a contractor who does not just accept technical specifications and write code, but is included in the task and creates a solution together with the client. Then he looks for suitable specialists and leads the process:
Why Is It More Profitable Than Traditional Development?
Let’s list some of the obvious benefits you’ll have working with a flexible team.
You can work remotely
In a flexible state, employees do not have to be in the same room. They can be from different countries and time zones and work in a way that suits them. The main thing is that they keep in touch with the team and achieve their goals.
Working from home is becoming popular and commonplace. At the same time, according to research, the inability to control remote workers is the main problem of why IT companies refuse the services of freelancers and outsourcers. So the sooner a business learns how to manage a distributed team, the better.
Product managers are more competent - risks are lower
According to experts, the growing popularity of distributed teams will lead to the emergence of a new generation of projects and products - creative, flexible, and working on both the product and business processes at the same time.
This is logical: the product is the main employee in a flexible state. He receives a task, discusses it, and recruits developers for each project. Working with a flexible staff strengthens managers, and allows them to quickly gain competencies and familiarity.
Budget spent more efficiently
In the traditional approach, the task is delegated to full-time employees - even if they lack knowledge, or, conversely, they are too qualified. A flexible staff recruits specialists with the level and competencies that are needed in the project. That is, the nearshore developers will be with relevant experience and vision, and will most likely be able to complete the task faster than the average specialist.
Only those employees who are needed right here and now are taken to the flexible staff for the project. They will disconnect from the project when their task is over, so people who are underloaded with tasks do not have to spend a budget every month. A company that will make you a flexible staff will find outsourcers on its own if it is profitable, or contact a specific freelancer on the exchange and pay him only the required number of hours.
An important advantage of flexible staff, in addition to speed and cost-effectiveness, is positive feedback from employees. In fact, these are developers, managers, and freelance designers who join the project through an intermediary. They are hired on a flexible staff only if they fit the profile and experience, which means they get more pleasure from work: they don’t have to endure boring tasks or finish their studies to be useful.