Tech Insights

With the initial shock of a global pandemic behind us, we’ve had a moment to reflect on how it has impacted our teams and how we operate. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and our capabilities in the past couple of years. There’s been so much to adapt to. Still, one thing that’s become apparent is that becoming a fully remote Agile team has created an opportunity for us to elevate our communication, accountability, collaboration, and development. At DragonSpears, we believe in having the freedom to work where we work best. Here are some tools and strategies that have allowed us to do that.

Developers have a lot on their plate when they start at a new company. Whether it be the development environment, project information, or the organizational culture of their employer or clients, they need to learn a lot – and quickly. Adopting a strong onboarding process is vital if you want new full-time developers or contractors to succeed. Here is an 8-step developer onboarding checklist that will help you seamlessly integrate new hires onto your agile team and keep them around for the long run.

Anyone who has ever played a team sport knows there are specific expectations for each position and the position you play depends on what you’re uniquely qualified for. For example, you would never see a wide receiver lining up to throw a pass in football. The same goes for high-performing Agile teams. Strong teams have a clear set of critical functions, know the key accountabilities for each, and are made up of uniquely suited people for their roles. Here’s a look at the framework we employ to ensure everyone on the team is working toward the same goal.

DragonSpears, a custom software development company, was named one of “Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®” in 2020 by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). This marks the fourth consecutive year that DragonSpears has received this recognition.

You love your agile product team, and the thought of losing the stability you’ve created sends you into a spiral of panic. In any business, the reality is that employees come and go and flow throughout the organization. Fortunately, there are ways you can prepare to deal with changes on your agile team, and even take advantage of them.

If you’ve ever been in a spot where it seems like the only constant is “change,” here are three things you can do to manage team fluctuations and prevent losing domain knowledge or development velocity.