Finding That Special Someone
Posted: March 31, 2009 | John Fildes
A client recently asked me how I knew the associates we were recommending for development on his project were the right resources for the job. My answer was just a few words – “Because each team member has done it before”. He responded somewhat surprised stating that “No one has done this before!”
I was pleased to hear that response because it gave me the opportunity to explain why I was so confident in how we have been addressing his project.
To give you the background on what would generate such a response, the project is innovative – a truly amazing concept and I have been eagerly anticipating its development. As much as it is innovative, it is also massive – its database structure is complex and the word “rich” would not give its functionality the respect it demands. As a result of its many value-adds, it truly is differentiated from the competition.
But although it is forward-thinking and ground breaking at its core, the project has three aspects to it that have been accomplished before and are going to be critical to its success; (1) great usability, (2) engaging interfacing, and (3) amazing performance.
So that said, why were we so confident in our recommendation to him?
I explained that the associates we are recommending have worked on large enterprise database projects. They also have demonstrated in their past successes that they are able to plan for long term growth. And their experience on other large database driven projects essentially translates to risk mitigation for him – they anticipate possible challenges long before they reveal themselves and work to navigate away from them.
Then I told him the exciting part.
I told him what really makes this team special is their ability to implement dynamic interfaces. The database and application guys really understand the front end developers.
And of course now intrigued, he asked, “And why is that special?”
So I further explained that when the backend guys understand the requirements and goals of the front end work the result is efficient code and intelligent data structures. For the user the result is great usability, engaging interfacing, and the system responds to user’s clicks at lighting speed for downright awesome performance.
We talked for a while longer about other aspects of the project but I wanted to share this portion of the conversation in hope that it may help others when organizing their project teams.
Always remember that although some projects may at face value appear to be uncharted waters, if you break down the project to the core of what will determine its success you will typical identify the qualities that are critical to have in the team members who you will entrust to deliver to your expectation.
Good luck leaders – and thanks for reading!
