7 Key Challenges to Building a Software Team and Their Solutions

Here are some key challenges you might face when building a high-performing software team, their solutions and what you can do to avoid them completely.
7 Key Challenges to Building a Software Team and Their Solutions

The challenges you'll face in this process range from attracting talent in a highly competitive market to building systems that will create space for them to realize their potential.

How to build a good software team

  • Discover the right talents and engage them.
  • Invest in your team to create loyal and happy employees.
  • Motivate your employees by empowering them.
  • Introduce the team at the very beginning of the process and strengthen communication.
  • Discuss with your team as you prepare the work schedule.
  • Make sure your software team stays organized.
  • Bring your employees from different age groups together on common ground.

1. Competition in recruiting the right talent

Competition in the software field has been on the agenda for a long time all over the world. Talented software developers are the target of all companies and entrepreneurs in the face of increasing software needs with digital transformation. That's why getting successful developers into your team is one of the biggest challenges you can face.

Many project managers want to include talented software developers on their team, just like you. On the other hand, the cost of a substandard hire is quite high. What’s more: a bad hire costs 30% of annual earnings for the position.

Solution: Identify your needs correctly to realize your project. Improve your working conditions to attract and keep developers on your team. Tell them how your project will improve them.

2. Lack of investment for employees and project

You need proper infrastructure and hardware tools to bring high-quality products to market. Teams working with limited resources have to work more than necessary on a project, and therefore it is not possible to work efficiently.

In addition to the technical requirements, you also need to make the necessary investment in your team members individually. Today, employee expectations are rising, and employees do not want to work for companies that do not support their individual development.

Solution: You can support them in participating in training programs so that they can improve themselves and encourage them to develop themselves.

3. Employees with insufficient authority

Imagine that even the smallest things are done as a result of decisions made “from above”. You may find that after some time your team only does the work that comes from you and may avoid taking initiative when it comes to solving problems.

The solution: People are motivated and more committed to your project when you trust them. After you have explained in detail what you want from them, you need to trust your team and allow them to do their job in the most accurate way. Team members who feel empowered work at their peak.

It is very important to keep this in balance. When giving authority to your team, you should not neglect to intervene and share your ideas when necessary.

In addition, it makes them feel comfortable when you authorize your team on issues such as working style and daily workflow. At the very least, making a decision with them and establishing an order will get them to adopt the business.

Remember that you're working with capable developers at their job, and don't be afraid to give them the power they deserve so they can make technical decisions.

4. Communication problems within the team and between stakeholders

For a product development process to be successful, you need effective communication between the customer, the team and other stakeholders. This also helps you make quick decisions and respond quickly to problems you may encounter.

Lack of communication leads to confusion and errors. A team that works in harmony is only possible with team members who can communicate well.

Solution: You need to embrace being open to communication in the team formation phase and make it a culture. You can use some practices to facilitate communication between your team members and their stakeholders and to make the exchange of ideas effective.

For example, you can make sure that your team members communicate easily through apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Even if they work remotely, you can organize online meetups so that they can physically meet.

5. Time management problems

Clarifying expectations and tasks while building your team is one of the most significant steps you can take in time management. Especially when you develop software manually, the process takes quite a long time. You can shorten development time by using low-code platforms. However, in both cases, this process needs to be planned realistically and the work schedule needs to be well organized.

Solution: You can avoid this problem right from the start by thinking realistically and exchanging ideas with your team. Planning the time required for each step in the software development process with your team will be helpful for team members to adopt their responsibilities.

6. Managing a dispersed team

Increasingly, developers are adopting remote work. According to Terminal data, in 2022, 61% of software engineers work entirely remotely. It's no wonder that every member of your software team now lives in a different country.

Employees working from home or from any location where they are comfortable increases their motivation considerably. But things get a little more complicated when it comes to managing these teams.

Solution: Project management tools can help you with this. Perhaps the most preferred of these tools are Asana and Trello. You can choose these software products for project management and organization of tasks, which are very important for your critical processes such as software product development.

If you think you don't have time to manage this process, companies that provide turnkey software services can help you.

7. Working with different generations

Let's say you include top-of-the-line developers on your team. Is it possible that they are all the same age? While you may prefer a software developer for the experience they have gained over many years, you may prefer a younger software developer for his brilliant ideas and solution suggestions.

However, it is important to be aware of this situation when creating a software team that includes multiple generations. Each of them may have different ways of working, habits and perspectives. Additionally, each generation may have different expectations of working life. For example, flexibility in when and where they work is critical to 81% of Gen Z.

Solution: It is still possible to unite team members of all ages on common ground. Imagine combining the knowledge and foresight of experienced software developers with the agility and flexibility of young software developers. It will be much easier for them to work together when you help them successfully adopt a team culture.

To sum up

Being aware of the difficulties you will encounter while creating a software team and producing solutions in this direction will make it very easy for you to create a successful team. To quickly develop functional software products, you need to do much more than bring together talented developers.

By paying attention to the main challenges we have compiled, you can take the necessary precautions and ensure that your software team works without losing their motivation.

To learn more, please contact us.

Hey, wait...

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news and promotions.

Our newsletter is sent twice a month.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.