
5 benefits of team extension
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5 benefits of team extension
Due to the development of the IT industry, there is a constant shortage of programmers on the market. According to a report by the European Commission, in the entire EU - approx. 600,000, while in Poland - approx. 50,000 positions need to be filled. As a result, employing a programmer is a very difficult and demanding task. Anyone who recruits in the IT industry can confirm this. Therefore, the so-called team extension model, i.e. expanding the team with programmers whose competences correspond to the requirements of a given project is more and more popular. What is this process and what are its advantages?
Team extension is a relatively recent process as a response to the rapidly growing demand for programmers. Not every company is willing to hire developers on a permanent basis to implement one project. Hence the team extension, which allows the project to be delivered with the help of developers engaged ‘from the outside’.
Such an outsourcing service is provided by companies that are well-established in the market. Why do they have to be well-established? Because a given programmer must have competences that match a particular project. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to expand the team, would it? In addition, it is worth bearing in mind that large companies have programmers who possess competences in very ‘narrow’ and not very popular technologies. So, if your project requires specialized skills, it is worth choosing team extension.

Advantages of team extension
Flexibility
You can either use the services of an outsourcing agency that employs programmers, or use the services of a freelancer. In addition, an agency can assemble your team in such a way that some people will work in your office, and some for example, remotely, from anywhere.
Access to specialists
The project you are implementing may be beyond the scope of your portfolio. Without having developers with specific skills in a given technology, you will not be able to simply implement it. Hence the popularity of team extension - thanks to access to programmers with a wide range of competences in various technologies, you are able to expand your team with people with a specific and required technological stack.
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Scalability
Large agencies have many experienced programmers and they make sure that the programmers are in touch with one another in their community. They create an environment that you, as a company, unfortunately cannot access directly, but only through an agency. This is another advantage of team extension - no matter how many different skills you expect (both hard and soft), the agency will be able to offer you such a developer, because it cares about the diversity of its ‘human resources’. You can adjust the size of the team to the needs that occur in a given period and stage of the project. If you need faster technological development in a given period, we increase the team, but later this need is smaller, so the team is reduced - that is scalability combined with flexibility and risk reduction or priority management.
The speed of work commencement
In fact, after familiarizing programmers with the project, they can start work. Hiring a developer from an agency, rather than employing him, means a lot of time saved. First of all, you skip the tedious recruitment process and immediately go to the code review, which lasts much shorter. You can also skip the onboarding process related to corporate culture, but we don't recommend doing this for longer projects. In fact, just a few simple steps are enough and the programmer can get started quickly, which is of course beneficial for you, because you deliver the project faster (or at least you avoid downtime).
Lower risk
Regarding downtime - sometimes it happens that the client has to obtain additional financing or there are factors in the company that make it necessary to temporarily stop the project. With team extension, you have no problem with the fact that a given developer suddenly stops working, because there is simply nothing to do. It is enough to pass the information about the suspension of the project to the agency that employs the programmer and thus can move him to another project. At the same time, after the resumption of work, the developer may come back to you and complete the work.

Team extension step by step
Conducting the team extension process takes just a few steps. If you approach their implementation thoughtfully and responsibly, you can be sure that the developer you hire is the right person.
Step 1 - Define your needs
Think carefully about the competences and knowledge you need from a programmer (or programmers).
Step 2 - Check Experience
During the recruitment process, check whether the developers actually have the skills that they and the agency that employs them declare. At this point, it is also worth mentioning that sometimes it happens that in addition to the blind CV, you also need to conduct a code review or perform a test task.
Step 3 - Getting to know the team
It may happen that your project will take up to several years. Therefore, it is important that the team has a chance to get to know each other (even if the team extension person works remotely). Maybe some Pizza Day or a joint trip? There are many ideas, and you probably have interesting suggestions in the corporate culture. Remember that the effects will not come after 2-3 days. You have to wait a bit.
Step 4 - Flow i reporting
Before starting work, determine which tools (tasks + reporting) will be used by the programmer hired for your project. Thanks to this, they will feel more confident, and you will gain control over the work efficiency and you will be able to plan the next tasks better
Step 5 - Communicate information about the project and set goals
It has been known for a long time that good communication is the key. It is worth starting with providing information on who is responsible for what is in the project. Thanks to this, you will avoid misunderstandings right from the start. In addition, note the milestones and the possibility of discussion.
Summary
We hope that we have provided you with the most important information related to team extension and the benefits of this employment model. Thanks to this, you will be able to hire the best programmers available on the market, and your project will be delivered on time. In our opinion - it is worth trying.