Top 6 Staff Augmentation Practices that Guarantee Businesses in 2024

The IT horizon is dynamically changing and expanding beyond our imagination. The demand for IT experts grows exponentially with the increase in IT services. It directly impacts the business landscape and dynamics. The shortage of the right craft and talent is an undeniable and harsh reality of the world. Fulfilling IT commitments and in-house shortages and adapting to changing technological changes require a modern approach to talent acquisition. Scaling your team could be a challenging task when you are approaching it with a unidirectional approach. Staff augmentation is the practical approach to scaling business operations with minimum effort and costs.  

Sometimes permanent and in-house hiring is not the only solution to the mounting IT challenges. IT outsourcing is a viable, most flexible, and appropriate solution that comes with numerous advantages. Staff augmentation is ideal for business operations and the workforce equally. It is a form of outsourcing that aligns with the company strategy to provide necessary skills and knowledge through an outside external resource. Resource addition is on a contractual basis, and it aggregates the skills of in-house resources with the hired ones. An outsourcing company or agency provides IT personnel, experts, or consultants to help with business-crucial matters.    

Today, we shall discuss best practices for IT staff augmentation, which are ruling the business world. These practices are a ladder to success for any business. They help businesses focus on their operations while decreasing workload and enhancing efficiency. Let’s see what are the most sought-after augmentation practices.  

1. Setting the Right Expectations and Demands from the Beginning

When hiring an external resource, setting the proper work dynamics and norms from the start streamlines operations. The outside personnel have technical skills, but they do not possess knowledge of your internal operations. Being the hiring authority, you should set the tone and inform them of your expectations. This is essential to building a healthy business relationship with the hired resource who is willing to learn and adapt to your culture. Tell them what you seek, your expectations and demands, and hear out their response. It eliminates the element of surprise and unprecedented events for the future. Some of the ways of setting the right expectations from the start include: 

• Be straightforward and upfront with your demands. 
• Do not distract the consultants with fancy claims and promises.  
• Do not go overboard with your expectations, and keep them realistic. 
• Give proper reasoning for your expectations. They ought to know why you expect what you expect from them. 
• Maintain work ethics and professionalism while laying your demands in front of them.  
• Give them a timeline for project completion or submission, and make sure you set realistic goals and timelines. Hiring them does not make them your servants. Reason and logic go a long way. 
• Document everything in a structured and professional manner to avoid last-minute chaos and mess. 

2. Giving Preference to Experience

Filling up vacancies is very challenging, especially for temporary positions. One of the fundamental reasons for failure in IT staff augmentation is giving precedence to qualification over experience. Qualifications give knowledge but do not guarantee success. On the other hand, experience and years of work are accompanied by merit and talent. Fresh graduates may have degrees, diplomas, and theoretical knowledge of IT services, but they do not have the background to solidify their claim to success. Practical knowledge will lead you to success and growth. To transform your business, you require a resource that is both experienced and qualified.  

3. Finding Out Talent Gaps

Before hiring the right person or resource for the job, a company conducts an in-depth evaluation of the existing resources to identify talent gaps. The evaluation is either conducted by the hiring company or augmentation service providers. This step allows the company to identify the talent shortage and make amends for it. Staffing helps the business to make amends for talent deficits. The company can proceed with fortification methods in the form of staff augmentation to suffice the required resources. This practice also gives a clear picture of the standing and rapport of the IT services of a company.  

4. Communicating Through Proper Channels

Open communication goes hand in hand with setting the right expectations from the start. It is an extension of it. Open and transparent communication requires a proper channel to avoid chaos, hassle, uncertainty, misunderstandings, and confusion. A communication channel makes the resource more aware and vigilant of all the communication that goes on between the company and the vendor. It communicates specific tasks and deliverables.  

Professionalism should be reflected in your chosen mode of communication. For official notifications and tasks, communication should take place via emails, conference calls, meetings, and routine discussions on scrums or standups. Even instant messaging is also helpful. These official channels and modes of communication document and record every conversation that goes on between the teams and management. These communication channels or mediums include: 

• Skype, Slack, and Google Chat  
• Gmail and outlook  
• Jira, Microsoft Planner, and Miro 
• Zoom, Skype, and teams  

These channels and sources ensure seamless and transparent communication. Software development solutions, processing, or programming requires constant interaction between software teams and the company. Without these channels, any sort of communication cannot build a suitable development and IT solution. Augmenting new resources means opening up your organization to a stranger and being open with them regarding your internal practices and culture.   

5. Measuring Performance Through Reporting and Escalation Matrix

Closely following the growth, timelines, and progress of the projects guarantees success through staff augmentation. When a business hires a resource, it has every right to track its progress through an escalation matrix and reporting mechanism. It is a way of streamlining operations and being aware of progress. Escalation matrix, reporting, Gantt chart monitoring, etc., are different ways of tracking the progress of a project. They give a peek into project deliverables, milestones, deadlines, and schedules. They provide a roadmap for the project.  

These monitoring matrices help the augmented staff achieve their goals on time while keeping management updated on the milestones achieved. For example, code documentation is paramount in software development processes. The hiring party must be aware of every back-end operation and code in the system. Surveillance at every step and stage of the project is essential for its success.  

These performance measuring tools inform you whether or not the hired staff is working according to the demands and needs of the projects. Performance monitoring is essential for both the hired team and the in-house resources. You cannot let the hired resources take charge and operate on their own. Because when you leave them on their own, you may be letting go of your targets and expectations. Performance matrices keep a health check of the activities and give a boost to the teams to perform better and deliver on time. The hired resources should know they are accountable for their actions.  

6. Using Advanced Tools, Technologies, and Methodologies

Outsourcing your projects to the right resource gives your company the required competitive edge. But to top it off, using advanced tools and techniques doubles your chances of success and growth. An inventory of experts using advanced tools and methods guarantees success for your business in the IT sector. An experienced resource has the experience along with knowledge of specialized and modern tools, techniques, and technologies. They are well-versed in handling cutting-edge technologies that could revolutionize your business. It makes the accomplishment of goals easier.  

For example, a hired software developer must know modern technologies and tools like Kanban, Agile, extreme programming, CPM, etc. Just as an outdated legacy system cannot fulfill the needs of the present world, old techniques and tools cannot revolutionize and bring success to a company.  

Closing Remarks

Outsourcing a project for more significant gains and profitability is one of the most reliable methods of ensuring success. However, revamping a project, starting a new project, or launching a new product requires a thorough evaluation of the company’s internal task force and assets. Staff augmentation is a common practice among many big companies nowadays. It serves as a base for successful project execution. Benefits of staff augmentation include cost-effectiveness, knowledge transfer, access to a large talent pool, better focus on business matters, and efficiency building.  

If you are looking for staff augmentation services, you have landed in the perfect place. Xavor has the best consultants, professionals, and IT job experts who could help your company skyrocket to success. You can get all the benefits of staff augmentation services with Xavor. We have the right team of software developers, programmers, and DevOps engineers to guide you all along. Contact us at [email protected] and bring success to your projects with our best practices and tips.