Benefits Of Teamwork And Collaboration For Software Development Teams

It’s not a secret that collaboration and teamwork can be beneficial for business.

They can boost productivity, improve creativity and make a company more competitive on the market.

Then why are numerous software development firms have to fight it?

The answer is easy that collaboration isn’t always straightforward.

It is essential to identify people who are able to work with each other, and then determine how they’ll get along with the other teams within your organization.

It takes effort and time, two factors that the majority of teams working on software development do not have a lot of.

We’ll look at the advantages of collaboration. We’ll also show several real-world examples, hoping that they’ll encourage you to integrate greater teamwork to any software-related development project.

Let’s take a look at the difference!

Collaboration boosts teamwork

It’s well-known that collaboration across functional lines is essential to success and efficiency for many businesses. In fact 83% of tech executives believe that collaboration across functional lines is vital to success in software development, but only 35% believe that investing in greater cross-functional collaboration is a major business priority.

This means that over two-thirds of businesses aren’t investing in acquiring the necessary skills to collaborate effectively within their teams.

What is the reason for this gap?

The solution lies in the manner we conduct our business. The majority of software development companies are based on functional silos.

Business analysts are located in one area, developers are in another and QA testers are in another.

However many projects contain hundreds of moving parts, and it’s difficult for a single person or team to understand all about them all.

This could lead to misunderstandings as well as missed deadlines and decreased efficiency, which are important things which cost businesses time and money.

If you would like your developers to be efficient and complete your projects within the timeframe and schedule, then you must to eliminate the barriers between departments and teams to ensure that they collaborate toward a common goal than competing with each other.

The solution? Develop a more flexible system that allows teams to collaborate across disciplines and work in a seamless way.

Your team should be cross-functional instead of functional, because this can bring individuals from different departments who can collaborate on a task.

Collaboration’s benefits regarding efficiency will be remarkable, and probably include

Better decision making
A less siloed approach
Better communication

People with diverse perspectives can offer valuable insights into problems that could be overlooked, which means an more effective method of working and less time spent trying to make the best choice.

Collaboration increases code quality

Software is an activity played by teams.

The concept of a lone programmer operating out of an unfinished garage or basement to come up with something groundbreaking might be appealing however it’s not the realities of modern software development.

Today, top quality software is developed by teams of individuals who work together in order to resolve complicated issues. In the present, the most effective teams collaborate effectively.

One of the strongest reasons to encourage collaboration between group members is because it can lead to a better quality code.

In particular, collaboration methods like pair programming or regular code review, that are widespread in teams of software developers have been proven to boost the probability of finding flaws within the program.

The pair programming technique is method that allows two programmers to work on a single PC, where one (the driver) writing code while the other (the navigator) watching programming being created.

The benefit of this kind of collaboration is the fact that it ensures that no bugs fall through the cracks of the process of development.

The study has proven that pairing programming produces 15% less errors than codes written by single developers.

A number of companies embraced this approach, such as Facebook, Peloton, Stash, Grubhub, Snap, Vimeo, Meetup, and Shapeways to mention some.

In the image below you will see the two Shapeways developers working side-by-side on a code piece and looking over their work.

Code reviews are another type of collaborative work that aids in to improve the quality of code.

When they review code developers debate possible changes via a pull request prior to them being added to the principal branch of a codebase.

Through a review of the code of each other Developers can spot issues or areas in which the solution wasn’t properly implemented before they become apparent to testers or users.

The advantages from these tests are clear they make sure that any new features and bug fixes are vetted and reviewed, making much less probable that codebases will become stuffed with bugs once it is live.

Code reviews can also force designers to create more legible code since they’re required to communicate their ideas to other developers, who might inquire about the reasons they made certain patterns of design or architectural decision.

Remember that the more eyes you’ve got on an item of code more likely it is to have bugs.

Collaboration in teams of software developers is essential. It reduces errors made by humans and permits more people to scrutinize the code to improve its quality.

Thus, software that is bug-free is best developed by a number of developers working together instead of one individual.

Teamwork helps in learning

In teams of software developers Learning is crucial due to the knowledge and skills of each member of the team are crucial to the development of the product.

In addition, no matter how knowledgeable you’re at it’s never too late to learn something to learn, whether it’s a brand new language, an entirely new library, or simply an easier method of organizing your code.

There are a variety of ways team learning happens within software development teams.

We’ve already talked about code reviews and pair programming and the importance they play to ensure the quality of code.

However, they are great for studying too.

In the process of implementing these techniques it is also possible to look at the way other programmers approach and resolve problems. This can provide you valuable insights into how they think and function.

Then, as you see in the Quora thread below, this will improve your engineering skills.

Furthermore, team members regularly get to know each other better as they discuss problems they’re facing at hackathons or similar events that are that are organized by the company.

Hackathons are excellent for learning from colleagues because they allow rapid prototyping, and experimentation with new technologies that can aid developers in learning new techniques and skills.

For instance Microsoft’s annual Hackathon is an event unlike any other that brings together thousands company engineers, developers and designers from all over the globe to work together with a common goal creating new software solutions.

This is an excellent opportunity for developers to gain from one another because they will be able to see how others are solving challenges in their area.

They also learn about the most recent technology and tools for development that Microsoft offers.

If there isn’t a sponsored by your company hackathon There are plenty of alternatives to get developers to collaborate for peer-to-peer learning.

For instance, if it’s structured like in Buffer mentoring, it can be a fantastic source of collaboration-based learning.

Buffer has created a space that gives each member the chance to learn from each other through participation in a vast mentorship program.

As you can see from the testimonials from one participant They’ve had great results from it.

It’s because, in their instance, mentoring is not just for developers in junior positions as well as those in the top posts (e.g. an experienced engineer at the back end who is looking to master front-end development can also find themselves in the role of an mentee).

However, Buffer’s mentoring program doesn’t stop there. They also aim to build communities of support around mentors by adding mentorship champions to the picture.

Mentorship champions provide support and assist others mentors succeed in their mentorship relationships.

This way, they’ve built a huge network of mentors, mentors, and mentees who are able to impart their knowledge and experiences in collaboration.

It’s not enough to have just one expert in a group. Today, every member of the team need to be experts in their own way.

The most effective method to accomplish this is to learn and sharing your knowledge with team members.

Teamwork is the key to creativity.

Creativity can be a difficult thing. It’s not easy to sit down and hope to create something amazing.

Many factors can influence your creativity, including your environment, your attitude and your friends and family members.

One aspect that is often ignored is collaboration and teamwork.

Indeed, a research study called Collaboration 2020: hype, or competitive edge discovered that collaboration is a key source of innovation and creativity and could lead to an “collision of fresh ideas”.

When you’re working in a group project with other people, your mind naturally expands in trying to comprehend their perspectives and figure out the way they think about things.

It’s the reason brainstorming sessions are extremely effective, as they require you to think about several perspectives at the same time.

Although brainstorming sessions as such are feasible in the world of software development however, they aren’t as often in the real world.

However, what happens are sprint retrospectives that provide the perfect opportunity to brainstorm and encourage innovative thinking and creativity.

What exactly are they You might be wondering?

Sprint retrospectives are a brief meeting that occurs at the conclusion of every cycle (or an iteration).

Its goal is to review the things that went well and not as well during the previous sprint, and to pinpoint ways to improve during future sprints to enable everyone to do what they do best.

Software development teams typically employ different methods like the process of brainstorming, or affinity mapping to generate ideas for improvement or even new features that might be added in the future sprints or iterations.

What makes this process difficult is that the developers aren’t always in the same boat about the best way to go about it.

They might have different opinions on how to resolve problems or complete assignments.

It can be frustrating sometimes, however it could be a catalyst for inventive solutions that they would not have thought of by themselves.

Teamwork helps us see things from the perspective of another This can allow us to invent and generate fresh ideas. The numbers support this assertion.

A collaborative workplace is more productive according to an analysis by Frost & Sullivan.

The study found that businesses who collaborate are 30 percent more ingenious than those that don’t.

Based on everything that’s been discussed, it’s evident that collaboration isn’t just focused on working together in a group. It’s about sharing thoughts, ideas and experiences with team members.

It’s about bringing fresh perspectives to work, and challenging one another to look at things from different perspectives.

If everyone is working as a group There’s no way to predict what amazing items they’ll come up! It’s definitely something to think about.

Teamwork fosters accountability among members

With creativity taken care of we can now say something about the last thing that we have listed accountability.

When employees are required to report their actions at every stage of the process, they are able to perform more efficiently as compared to if they were working on their own with no accountability policies implemented.

It also means that they aren’t able to blame anyone else for their errors or mistakes. That is, if there is a problem the person responsible must be willing to admit the error and accept the responsibility.

The interesting thing is that even though some see accountability something positive but the vast majority do not view it as an experience that is positive.

In fact, 80percent of employees see accountability as a form of punishment instead of a method to increase performance.

The good thing is it doesn’t need to be exactly like that.

Certain teams have adopted an “no responsibility” culture, in which players are encouraged to highlight the reasons for what went wrong, rather than focusing on the person who did it.

In reality, businesses like Google, Etsy, or Hootsuite have a no-blame post-mortem procedure for when things go wrong.

What exactly is a blameless postmortem?

In essence the essence is that it’s a meeting in which all participants gather to discuss what transpired and ways to prevent repeating it to come.

The concept is straightforward When something goes wrong instead of blame-pointing and focusing on the person responsible the team concentrates on what went wrong and the reason it happened, how it happened, and then how to stop it from occurring again.

This doesn’t mean no one is responsible for their actions. It simply means there’s no responsibility in the event.

This may be challenging for some, but it could also produce some interesting results too.

If everyone is aware that they will not be punished for their errors, it’s more likely that they’ll speak out whenever something goes wrong, and believe that they are responsible for their actions.

This creates an environment that is safe for everyone to experiment and take risks on new concepts without the fear of getting punished in the event that things don’t go according to plan.

It also helps create a culture of trust and collaboration.

When team members work together on projects, they are aware that their coworkers depend on them to perform their work and ultimately, this encourages excellence and quality standards.

Conclusion

Collaboration and teamwork are at the foundation of software development.

The most efficient software is created with teams of people, and never individual.

This is why, in this piece, we attempted to draw attention to the important advantages team collaboration provides to a team.

We hope it will motivate you to increase collaboration and teamwork in your company, particularly because they increase efficiency, creativity, and the quality of work.