Entrepreneurship, Outsourced Engineering Team
There aren’t many professions without a stereotype attached, and programming is sure among them. But are these ideas about the personality of programmers accurate, or are we missing something else? Let’s look into these old myths, and see if they hold up.
By Scio Team
When we think about programming and software, we tend to conjure a specific image in our minds, a stereotype that has accompanied the profession almost since the beginning: the image of a coder hacking away at the keyboard, immersed in a world of their own, without the need of much company.
However, if this was true at some point, it still is? The stereotype of the introverted programmer is an even mix of fact and myth, and here at Scio, where we know perfectly the talent we work with, we want to shed some light on the reality of people applying a special skill to create software.
Is it possible to profile a personality?
Since the days of the classic “Temperament Theory”, which tried to divide people into 4 distinct types (namely: Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic, which are pretty weird classifications if we are being honest), people had the impulse to try and understand their personalities, where they come from and how they affect their everyday lives.
More scientific approaches to these questions have evolved from the 20th century onwards, and today we understand that personality, affinities, and preferences are more fluid and flexible than we once thought, even if we simplify the whole idea for the sake of practicality.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator nowadays is one of the most popular systems to tackle this subject, going more in-depth on the inner workings of a person instead of just focusing on their outward behavior.
Going back to the idea of programmers as introverts, things like the MBTI bring some very interesting insights about this professional field and the people who feel compelled to it. What can we find there?
Let’s define “introversion”
What you need to know right now, is that the “introvert/extrovert” dichotomy is a little outdated, simplifying a vast swath of personality types into two neat boxes with little in-between. What the definition of “introversion” tries to convey under this understanding, is people who don’t have much affinity for a specific kind of social interactions, preferring more individual activities, or with a pretty select group of people.
Although many probably feel this way, reducing it to only these signifiers leaves a lot out. What the Myer-Briggs does is check the balance between the following:
- Extraversion (E) versus introversion (I)
- Sensing (S) versus intuition (N)
- Thinking (T) versus feeling (F)
- Judging (J) versus perceiving (P)
What this system maps out is the preference of the person, rather than the ability, so the metrics here assign percentages based on what a person would prefer to do in a given situation, ending up with a combination of 4 letters based on their highest percentages, like INTP or ESTJ. Please take note of the use of the word “extraversion” instead of “extroversion”, which will be important in a minute.
There are pros and cons to this approach, but the important part here is that we have a lot of historical data to see what large swathes of the population prefer, and in programming, the results are pretty interesting overall, challenging many of our notions about the “introvert coder” stereotype.
So… are programmers introverted or not?
We are getting there. First of all, since we are looking into preference instead of abilities, it’s important to note that certain groups, as a whole, will pick one instead of the other; it’s a decision (even if a subconscious one) instead of instinct, or impulse. For programmers, this preference goes towards Thinking (T) instead of Feeling (F), meaning that they like to analyze situations from a more objective point of view, not giving as much consideration to the emotional side of things
Now, this doesn’t mean they only do one of these things. It means that when compelled to act, people will feel more comfortable with a single approach, so if we look at coding, programming, or engineering (where you see lots of interconnected mechanisms balanced between “needs” and “wants”) people prefer Thinking (T) will be better at it. This post, titled “Does being an introvert make you a better coder?” puts it nicely:
“A typical software developer likes there to be a logical consistency behind a decision. It might not matter much what that consistency is, so long as it’s there. By contrast, other people prefer the ‘feel’ of the situation, using empathy and imagining what it is like more from other people’s point of view. In other words, there is a difference between coders and others, in how they tend to justify a decision.”
And as you can see, this has nothing to do with social preferences, or the ability to relate to people in any situation. That’s why this profiling system uses the word “extraversion”, referring to “the world of action, people, and things”, in contrast with “introversion”, or the world of ideas and reflection, both useful for doing complex things such as programming software.
“MBTI introverts prefer fewer, deeper, and more involved interactions with people, whereas extraverts prefer shorter and more frequent interaction. For getting to know users quickly, extraversion can be an advantage, but introverts are perfectly good at deep social interaction”, goes the cited blog. And it’s true; avoiding people has little to do with introversion, and the stereotype comes from misunderstanding what these words try to convey.
An alternative definition of the “introverted programmer”
So, to wrap things up, where does this leave the myth? As we said, maybe at some point in the past, before the development of agile methodologies or the normalization of a remote model of working, the stereotype of the “introverted programmer” was true and functional, but it no longer works that way.
People are more complicated than many of these systems will tell you, and lots of different preferences and abilities are desirable in any well-balanced team. What is true in the age of remote work, though, is that knowing how to interact and communicate well with your coworkers, clients, and managers at a distance are going to be a very valuable skill moving forward, and this has nothing to do with how one approaches the challenges of programming.
So we can leave behind all that and start thinking of the people best adapted to the work of programming in a different way; is no longer an introverted programmer, but a thinking one, whose intuition and affinity for code can be supplemented in a great way by social understanding and the clear communication that only the best Nearshore companies can offer.
Entrepreneurship, Nearshore, Outsourced Engineering Team, Project Management, Successful Outsourcing
By Scio
The importance of soft skills in the workplace cannot be overstated, and doubly so for remote work, when coordinating a team you may not know in person is the core of a successful project. But how to apply those skills?
It’s no secret that managing an effective team requires a special kind of talent, one able to bring the best of every individual in the team, while also keeping everyone on the same page, looking at the same goals. In the old days, you could achieve it by having close proximity with your collaborators, keeping an eye on their needs and difficulties, and doing your best to lessen them to create an effective working environment.
But yeah, that was when the office environment was a given, and managing was a face-to-face affair. However, in the New Normal, where remote work is becoming commonplace, probably with coworkers living in entirely different continents, the skill set necessary to complete a well-done project is changing.
How do you communicate an effective company culture remotely? What do you need to manage talent through a screen? Here at Scio, where working remotely has been the norm since the very beginning (both with clients and collaborators), we know how important these skills are, and how they will become more sought after as this organization model becomes more commonplace.
1. Communicating through a Zoom call: More difficult than you think!
Hey, raise your hand if this situation is a tiny bit familiar to you:
Trying to make a joke on zoom – YouTube
Yeah. As we all know very well, conducting a videoconference is tough, as reading your coworker’s body language, emotions and predispositions are nearly impossible at a distance. Humans are social creatures, designed to pick up on gestures and the tiniest social cues while talking, and doing so through the barrier of a Zoom call is an important skill to attain.
That’s why implementing clear communication rules, and enforcing them effectively is so important. Simple etiquette rules (like turning the mic off when not speaking, giving space to questions and answers, or RVSP any invitation), assigning a person the specific task of conducting the call, as well as being clear if the call is more formal (i.e. presentations with clients) or informal (like a brainstorming session) can make a world of difference in the way a team functions.
Once your collaborators internalize these rules, further strategies will be easier to implement, and you will avoid awkward scenarios like that one.
2. The importance of choosing the right tools
“An artisan is as good as his tools”, the shared wisdom says. And that’s true whether you are talking about making a vase or developing a software app; selecting your tools well is just as important as the technical knowledge applied behind.
Zoom is a good example of the pros and cons of these tools. There are plenty of reasons why Zoom became the choice to work remotely during the pandemic (it’s friendly to use and offers a good range of basic options), but that doesn’t mean this software lacks drawbacks (like its lax security) you need to take into account.
The same is true for any tool you have at your disposal to manage teams and projects, and learning to choose and use them effectively is a valuable ability in any remote team. There are plenty of options to try and decide, but also don’t be afraid to discard anything that is not helping the team to reach their objectives.
Here at Scio, for example, beyond the usual suspects (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Trello, etc.) we developed some internal tools, like an internal guide with the names and positions of everyone in the company, or a proprietary clocking-in page, that we continually improve and tailor to fill the needs of our clients and developers, making sure all of our developers and collaborators have any piece of information they might need.
3. Remote company culture is possible
As we mentioned, certain skills are needed to do remote work well, and these will grow in importance as more projects realize the potential of Nearshore development. The importance of soft skills has grown in recent times, as being able to communicate with your team is just as important as the technical talent you have behind. So what do you need?
- Have clear expectations: For anyone joining an organization remotely, knowing exactly what’s required of them helps build boundaries and focus efforts on things that matter. Lay them out at the beginning, and should have no problems making everyone work towards the same goal.
- Create working structures: For remote teams, lack of structure on a given day can be an obstacle to productivity. That’s why good team leaders establish a clear schedule of deadlines and meetings and explain in certain terms where a particular collaborator fits into the workflow.
- Determine delivery: In a traditional office, the time in front of the computer seemed to be just as important as the work being delivered, which of course is unsustainable in a remote environment. This is why an effective manager keeps track of the actual output every review (let’s say, once a week), to determine the effectiveness of the collaborator, who can set their rhythm with flexibility. As long as the project delivers by the agreed deadline, everything else becomes unnecessary.
- Encourage social interactions: The best teams have chemistry and rapport behind their collaboration, and managing that remotely is truly a challenge. That’s why social interactions are important; celebrating important holidays, giving them channels to communicate freely, and organizing activities for fun help a lot and creates familiarity between co-workers that otherwise will never happen.
- Give ongoing feedback: Good feedback is the lifeblood of any team, and for remote teams, doubly so. Being gentle with it, but also effective and certain, is an important skill for everyone on a team (not only leaders), and learning how to give and receive feedback is critical to delivering better and better projects.
4. The Key Takeaways
So, what does this all mean? That the best remote teams are those with strong structural support behind that lets their talent be used to its maximum potential. So we can have these few takeaways of the soft skills behind an effective remote working environment
- Pure technical knowledge can only get you so far. Managing with a wide range of skills helps everyone feel part of a team in order to achieve objectives.
- Remote working needs certain flexibility to function, but firm boundaries keep the team focused and productive, from a simple call to delivering a whole project.
- A good company culture needs to be clear and well communicated, and implementing it effectively means the difference between a good team and a so-so one.
This is clear for us in Scio, as our Nearshore model is designed to use these methods to their fullest, and guarantee that any project you have in mind has the right team for you.
Entrepreneurship, Technologies
The December holidays are the perfect moment to look back and celebrate the best things that happened this year. Or in the case of Scio, celebrate all the technologies that manage to make our lives a little easier in 2021, which is why we are taking a look into one of the most surprising tech resurgences: the QR code and all the solutions it brought to us during the pandemic.
It can’t be denied that, for a moment, the idea of receiving information just by scanning a picture sounded like something out of an old Sci-Fi novel. And for a brief period at the beginning of the New 10’s, QR Codes (and the whole idea of “Augmented Reality”) seemed to offer a preview of that exact future.
It didn’t turn out quite like that, sadly. Although it had its particular applications, QR’s never lost a certain “novelty” vibe, a gimmick that most of the time brought more complications than true convenience.
On one hand, the need for a special reader capable of recognizing these codes (which not many phones at the time included right out of the box), and a stable Internet connection to actually check the content was already a high barrier in 2011.
And on the other, integrating QR’s in any kind of visual design, like in an advert, was always difficult, because they almost never mesh well with any composition, so it’s easy to let them overshadow every other element of the image.
So QR Codes, although an interesting idea, looked like an artifact of the smart device boom of the 2010s, and by the end of the decade, the world seemed ready to leave them behind.
What happened, then?
If we look closely at this Google Trend graph, we can see how the search term “QR Code” had its first sudden popularity spike in years. The date? August 22nd, 2020.
We all know why. Thanks to the pandemic, we were forced to take distance from everyone else, and a lot of our normal interactions had to fall back on technology, forcing us to look for quick solutions in a time we couldn’t do anything else.
This graph is about the United States only, by the way. If we look at a worldwide trend, well…
We can see a noticeable growth signaling that QR codes maybe are finally here to stay. But beyond the pandemic, what does this resurrection means, and why has this technology becomes part of our daily life?
A story of highs and lows
These codes have an interesting story, because their popularity has never been uniform, and it has suffered a somewhat fluctuating implementation for the last 30 years.
Let’s not forget that “Quick Response Codes” have been around since 1994, as an invention of the Japanese automobile industry, used to codify the biggest quantity of information possible, while compatible with the notoriously tricky kanji alphabet (at least in regards to software).
This huge amount of info in every code (inspired by the grid of a Go board) made QRs codes popular, and little by little it started to see some applications beyond tracking auto parts: virtual business cards, instant Wi-Fi connections, and even the aforementioned Augmented Reality.
And even after this tech didn’t seem to have a bigger impact among consumers, it never really went away, becoming an expected feature of many smart devices which, along with better mobile Internet connections, made QR codes singularly well-positioned when the pandemic demanded quick and trustworthy solutions.
By condensing a lot of important info or giving a quick link to elsewhere without any direct contact, things like menus, information about attendance capacities at any place, or any change of services announcements could be conveyed through a QR code, making them an important tool to take care of our health.
And this late adoption doesn’t show signs of stopping; just as we can’t imagine a near future without medical masks or anti-bacterial gel, QR codes are now a normal part of our daily interactions in many places, probably on their way to becoming a normalized and accepted means to interact with our world.
That’s why we celebrate a technological solution that we took for granted at some point, or whose real value needed a very specific context to shine: when the distance between us became a necessity, a simple code and a camera gave us a way to keep parts of our daily life functioning.
Agile Methodology, Entrepreneurship
Today, more and more IT companies, especially on agile software, have been hiring external software developers to work on a certain project or product. This has proven beneficial to the industry for years.
According to statistics, outsourcing software developers can significantly reduce the company’s operational costs from 50 to 90 percent. This is because the company needs to hire only software engineers who are experts or knowledgeable on the project; thus, eliminating the need for trial and exploration.
Aside from that, hiring external app developers helps the company refocus their time and energy on other matters, leaving the project in the hands of experts. They can also provide a broader understanding on the subject matter.
Although hiring external developers have become a trend in many companies, there are still downsides that are undeniable. One is their loyalty and commitment to the service. Because they are “hired men”, it is easy for them to feel like they are just completing a task and not really working with passion. These things are unavoidable and can even worsen if you don’t work it out.
If you’re a business owner, a project manager, or simply a team leader, you might be asking yourself how you can make them feel “at home” in your team. How do you really integrate external software developers into your existing team? Here are simple tips that you can start with.
Tip #1. Get them involved with each other
One way software developers can stay happy and committed to their task is by giving them a pleasant and light working environment. Provide a friendly atmosphere, and make sure everyone is getting to know each other. Since communication, cooperation, and coordination are key to completing a project, it is important that everyone in the team works together. As a team leader, you must look for an external app developer who is willing to work with other developers and is open to share his or her knowledge and learnings with them.
Moreover, it is important that developers become familiar with the business. Being transparent is one key to making them feel that they are part of the company. You should let them feel that they are trusted and that they are able to complete the project. The goal of the team should also be laid out thoroughly in detail. Make sure that the entire team is directed toward one goal.
Tip #2. Define each member’s roles, both among the external software developers and the existing team
As a team leader or manager, you must clarify the role of each developer and the part they have to take in the project. This way, conflict between the developers will be avoided. This also makes it convenient for everyone because they know which area they will be needed in or will be working on. Once a member is done with their part, he or she can help in the other parts by providing input on how to make things easier and faster.
Make sure that developers do not only finish their parts but that they are also aiming to complete the project.
Tip #3. Build strategies together as a team; hear what they say
The first thing that you must do after hiring external software developers is to sit down with them and talk things through. One effective way to have them trust you is to get their opinions. Make sure that you are letting their voices be heard and that you are open to their suggestions. Let them plan out approaches that will help the team complete the project.
Tip #4. Ensure constant communication within the team
Working together will not be possible if there is no constant communication. This is important, especially for developers who are using the agile method.
You can use online communication platforms for business to make sure that you can communicate as a group even after meetings. Developers should be updated on the status of the project, especially when you encounter problems or technicalities. Everyone must be open and should not be afraid to raise concerns, especially those that need to be addressed. These can only be resolved through proper communication.
Tip #5. Get everyone moving
External software developers are usually hired because of their expertise and knowledge about the project. However, other members or the existing team should eliminate the mentality of separation or the “this is our or my part” and “this is their part” thinking. Make sure that everybody is involved and working as a team. Software development needs group effort, and completing the project requires unity from the team.
Conclusion
The tips discussed in this article can help you integrate outsourced software developers into your team faster and easier. However, the best way is still to motivate and trust them. Developers stay loyal and committed to a company that motivates them and gives them the kind of growth they need. This is important, especially since software development takes time and commitment.
Are you looking to work with a competitive and committed agile software development team? Contact Us we can help you.
Entrepreneurship
Startups are an exciting place to be right now. They are full of ideas, passion, and a race to become the next Unicorn. Everyone wants to work for the next Uber or Snapchat, but their meteoric rise to prominence was the result of a complex series of steps, setbacks, challenges, and of course people.
What may entrepreneur fails to realize, is that now is the best time to get a winning formula. If you have a small team, responsibilities may tend to be ad-hoc. One of you will have a knack for chasing down clients, while another may prefer managing employees on a day-to-day basis. None of this is bad – if you agree on the roles each person should be doing, that is!
How do you share responsibilities without treading on the toes (and delicate egos) of your partners? We have a few handy tips.
Know Your Skillsets, Objectively
Entrepreneurs and founders are typically good at a few things. They can get by in most scenarios, which is why they are great for getting an idea from paper to production. However, as your company grows, you need to be objective about your own skills. It’s not as simple as writing down what you are good at – have your team do this for you. It could be that they see you as effective in an entirely different area.
A great tool for this (though slightly cliché) is Myers-Briggs type personality tests. They give a business-friendly view on personality types, and where the team would fit best in your startup.
Don’t Take It Personally!
If your co-founders or colleagues don’t agree on your assessment of their skills, it’s easy to say that’s ‘Just Business’. If they say the same about you… well, it’s hard not to take that criticism personally. Truly successful businesses rely on management seeing the bigger picture and moving the idea forward.
Remember that your team wants to succeed as much as you do – and only a team effort will get you there.
Formalize Roles…
I know that you may not need an entire C-Suite management team from day one, but formalizing roles based on skillsets gives your team legitimacy. You know the fundamental areas of your business and what skills they require, so once you have a list of everybody’s strengths, formalize what they do.
…But Don’t Become Too Stale
Of course, don’t formalize roles to the detriment of your startup. Things change. Business evolves. The great thing about a startup is that it’s flexible enough to change with the market, and so should your roles. Tim may have been a great salesman when you had smaller clients, but dealing with corporations takes an entirely different mindset (think purchase orders, tenders, procurement contracts, I could go on…). Don’t be afraid to shuffle up the deck, bring in new skills, and evolve your team over time.
Create Accountability
This may be the hardest thing to do in a smaller startup. Oftentimes, entrepreneurs rely on gut and emotion when forming a team. Friends are brought in, are given a role, and then silo mentality can take hold. You trust your friend. If you are divvying up roles based on skillsets, then you should hold those same skills accountable for the results they bring.
Have regular, formal meetings, and discuss objectives. Track progress. Assess whether something is succeeding or failing. If something isn’t going so great? Discuss why, and then take action.
