The need to scale development teams is becoming one of the primary concerns for businesses. Developers are in high demand, and companies want to grow their staff as quickly as possible. The problem with this approach is that it often leads to a build-up of technical debt that can slow down future growth or even put the company out of business altogether. In this blog post, we will discuss how you can scale your team without incurring too much technical debt by focusing on just six factors.

#What is technical debt, actually?

Technical debt is a term used in software development to describe the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer.

In other words, it's when you make quick decisions without considering how they'll affect your project or company in the long run—which can lead to problems down the road if not handled correctly. There may be many reasons for technical debt, but this usually happens because there isn't enough time during initial development stages and companies end up going with what seems easiest at first (i.e., hiring one person for multiple roles) only to realize later on that things aren't working out as well as planned. The result? Technical debt needs to be paid off which means more work done after launch/initial release.

#How to overcome technical debt

# Hire a technical project manager to oversee all development projects

Create a budget for hiring new developers. Define milestones and deadlines of the development process. Regularly communicate with your team members to make sure everyone is on track.

Hire more experienced people, who can mentor less experienced ones. This will not only increase productivity but also accelerate learning skills within hybrid teams. 

A technical project manager, dedicated to oversee all projects in the company, is a vital person if you don't want to create any technical debt.

#Have clear and detailed specifications for each project before you start coding

Make sure that the client or product owner is available at all times. Have a dedicated point of contact who can answer any questions on behalf of your clients.

Clear and detailed specifications are required before you start coding anything for each project, as this will ensure that everyone remains aligned with the goals of the company. It also makes it easier to avoid miscommunication during development work. Having clear communication between developers, customers/clients, and stakeholders is important in ensuring timely delivery without incurring technical debt along the way. Furthermore, make sure there's always someone who can deal with customer issues if they arise so you don't have interrupt anyone else's workflow while working on something new - especially if you're still working on a previous project. For complex projects you will need the help of workflow software which will make it much simpler

#Ensure that the team only works on one project at a time, so they can focus their efforts on that project

You'll need a dedicated team for each project, so make sure you estimate the time needed correctly. It's easy to underestimate, especially if it's your first time working on something new. The last thing you want is having half of your development staff sitting around with nothing to do because they finished their work faster than expected and don't have enough tasks assigned yet.

Working on one task at a given time within a single team ensures that everyone focuses their efforts towards completing the next milestones efficiently without wasting any resources or losing traction along the way due to lack of focus. If there isn't anything available in terms of upcoming projects, then take this as an opportunity for both yourself and your other team members to take a break and rest, head back home or do whatever you want.

However, ensure that project managers keep track of the number of hours worked per person on each task. This will help them estimate time needed for future projects more accurately and assign tasks accordingly without wasting any budgeting/billing hours at the end of every month.

#Create an agile process for managing code updates

Have developers update their code in small increments, instead of large chunks. Embrace the fact things may change any second.

Create a process for notifying the rest of your team when updates are implemented. Do this on an ongoing basis, rather than only at scheduled time, and have developers document their testing changes with comments in the code. Furthermore, keep documentation up to date by having devs update it as they make changes that affect existing functionality.

Make sure processes are documented and shared across teams or you'll end up creating multiple versions of how things work, which can lead to more problems down the road. If you choose to have separate agile development teams, be clear about communication protocols so everyone is kept informed throughout each cycle/iteration. Having frequent standup meetings where progress is discussed is one way to do this; use whatever works best in your specific circumstances. A good place to start is by looking at what other successful companies are doing and adapting it to your needs. You can also use tools facilitating collaboration, for example, a headless CMS and online meeting software. 

This way you can prevent technical debt from piling up.

#Provide continuous feedback from stakeholders and users to make sure you're building what they need

Lack of feedback is never warmly welcomed.

Not receiving feedback can leave your dev team feeling uncertain about what to do next. This is why it's important to have regular meetings with stakeholders or even set up a continuous integration process involving members of the development team, product managers and key users.

This will allow you to get input from all sides on whether you're building right for your targeted market. It also shows that you value their time by being proactive in wanting them involved so they feel confident in working together to improve upon an already great idea/project.

#Make sure your team has the right skillset to carry out the tasks required by the job description

Hire people with knowledge in specific areas if necessary, and assess the skill level of employees and provide training to those who need it.

You may not have an exact match from day one, but if you hire smart people then they'll be able to pick things up as they go along. In addition, your dev team should be trained on all necessary skills before starting a project because there's no point in hiring someone just for their knowledge in one specific area when you can get better talent that is flexible enough to handle multiple roles within a single company. This will also help prevent problems since everyone has at least some idea about what other members are working on—especially with smaller teams where individual tasks/projects aren't always clear cut. As long as your development team continues learning new technologies or programs, they'll be able to deal with changes in the workplace.

Your team's skill level should reflect how complex your project is and what you need them to build/maintain within it. Make sure everyone on your dev team knows about any obstacles that may pop up during their workday so they can prepare for them (i.e., limited or no access to certain data).

If there are areas where someone needs more training then provide appropriate resources both internally and externally; this will help prevent future problems when things get too complicated, especially if developers aren't familiar with a new technology/program being implemented by the company. This is also true of hiring employees who know specific languages needed for projects—if possible hire people who have knowledge of multiple languages rather than just one. Hiring people who are quick learners will help reduce technical debt by allowing your team to adapt quickly whenever necessary—for example, if they're asked to learn a new language/program to create a referral marketing platform or a social map experience on short notice or work with other members in different roles.

#Over to you

The best way to develop your product without creating technical debt is by using an iterative approach, where you break down large projects into smaller milestones that can be achieved in a short time frame. The key here is for development teams to work closely with clients in order to gather feedback and iterate quickly when mistakes are made.

If you’re looking for a way to scale your development team without creating technical debt, make sure that each member of the team has an equal opportunity to contribute their ideas and expertise on product design.