This post was originally published on IT Pro Today
IT development teams are known for their iconoclasts, free spirits, and non-conformists. It’s embedded in their DNA. That’s what makes developers so good at their jobs. Yet when a team suddenly deviates wildly from its assigned mission, it’s time to intervene and issue a course-correction that will get them back on track without bruising egos or killing morale.
There’s rarely a single goal for any IT development team, says Liz James, managing security consultant at cybersecurity firm NCC Group. “Where there are a few goals, there’s a tendency for them to become overly broad and not effectively measurable,” she explains in an online interview.
Warning Signs
When a team starts solving problems nobody asked them to solve, you’ve got an issue, observes Peter Murphy Lewis, founder of Strategic Pete, a marketing advisory company. “Maybe they’re over-engineering, chasing the ‘perfect’ solution, or adding features no one needs,” he says via email.
The first sign that an IT team is drifting is when task progress appears strained, says Alex Osmichenko, CEO of website development firm IT Monks. The team is working hard, implementing various changes with good intentions, but these small victories don’t add up to the big picture, he notes in an online interview.
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