There’s a common misconception that prevents many software development companies in London or elsewhere around the world to realize their full potential: wanting the best professional for the job.

Why? It’s simple, really.

Software Development Is A Team Effort

Perhaps more than any other business process, software development is based on collaboration rather than on the output of individuals, however talented they might be.

As we have seen in an earlier post, software development is a complicated ball game involving the entrepreneur or investor; the software architect, who serves as a sort of middleman between the client and the developers; the software engineers, among them

front end (user interface) designers, back end developers (in charge of data management), middleware or application experts and so on. To complicate things further, if some parts of the process are outsourced offshore or shared in an international collaboration, the team could be split between countries or scattered across continents.

Diversity Fuels Success

Now, according to asset management expert Sallie Krawcheck, the secret of every successful team is diversity. Research has shown that diverse teams regularly outperform their counterparts with a more homogenous composition, even if, in the latter ones, every team member is more competent in their field.

Human nature might suggest otherwise: if we have to row in the same boat, we prefer doing that with like-minded peers. We tend to assume that people whose background, mentality and set of competences is closest to ours are the best partners to complete a task or to tackle a problem, because in any given situation, they would react and reason like us, and come to the same conclusion. But believe it or not, a boat full of identical rowers would capsize pretty soon.

Instead, Krawcheck suggests assembling teams from the widest possible range of characteristics and backgrounds, professional or personal. Teaming up experienced seniors with enthusiastic rookies, employees who are new to the field or the industry of the client with those who know the ropes encourages dialogue and mutual enrichment. Furthermore, every successful team should have its fair share of visionaries, skeptics, workhorses, client’s advocates and so on. Regardless – and this is important – of their technical role in the process, at which they may well be the best around.

A Team Is More Than The Sum of Its Parts

It really takes no more than a shift in mindset, from “the best person to do the job” to “the best team for the assignment”. Not only does this greatly enhance company performance, from software development to asset management or, say, product design consulting. It’s also a significant step forward in providing opportunity and creating a diverse, multi-faceted workplace.

Liemur is one of the few software development companies in London to maximize the potential of diverse teams, in a collaboration with its Budapest-based branch. Contact us or learn more about our services.