Bootstrapping a remote ad hoc team

So someone from Devcenter Square asked some questions.

How would you assemble a team to execute several projects?

What attribute will you prioritize?

What roles must be filled to make an efficient technical team?

These questions resonated with me as I was also on a hiring hunt for remote devs (BTW I love remote work) for several projects. I decided to put some thought into how I have been doing it and what I look out for. Here’s the answer I gave (now edited for this post):

There’s no silver bullet for hiring…

Assembling a team

After going through their resumes and portfolios, I normally have a quick chat with the dev/designer where I give them a brief overview of the project scope.

We discuss about their previous experiences and how they can bring it to the project.

I also assess how much time(per day, per week) they can commit to the project — finding out if they are working full time, or they are freelance, usually, I prefer freelancers.

I schedule either Skype or Google Hangout — ask a couple of behavioural questions to gauge how they react to certain situations, I also use it to assess their communication skill after which I proceed to do a technical interview and ask a couple of questions (practical questions not all these CS BS like reversing a Binary Search Tree), it could be the dev’s workflow, processes or tools, their roles, accomplishments or challenges faced on previous projects, this helps me to assess the person’s level of experience.

A red flag would be a very terrible internet connection…a developer that can’t invest in good internet isn’t going to be a good fit for remote work — well, I like to take into account that the network might decide to f*ck up(Naija things), so I normally reschedule in a case of poor internet, if this repeats itself, it’s a NO NO…

We like to write tests, so I find out if the person does TDD or has some sort of experience, TDD experience is usually a plus.

During the chat, it’s also possible to assess the dev’s confidence and interest level, then I briefly discuss the terms of engagement…

After the interview I do some more background checks, linkedin, github, dribbble etc… then make a decision based on all my assessments.

Attributes

Good communication — I cannot over-emphasize the importance of over communicating, I like a dev who ask questions to clarify things and also communicate issues early enough

Big picture thinking — if you can clearly see where the project is going, you won’t get lost along the line, besides you’ll be able to see impending challenges and would’ve thought of possible solutions

Confidence — I like someone who knows his/her stuff and knows that he/she knows it… You can assess this on a skype or hangout call with the dev…if the dev keeps saying things like “I’m not sure of the technical term…” repeatedly, that’s a red flag. That kinda person might have a solution but would not be able to implement it cos of his/her confidence level.

Skills — You gatta have skills in this game, no time to start training or “learn on the job” especially if you’re trying to setup an ad hoc team. You must’ve gotten to a level of experience at least.

Humility — Inasmuch as I like a confident person, you must be wise enough to know that you’re not necessarily better than anyone else on the team and should be ready to take feedback from others and be willing to learn.

And many more…

Roles

Designer — These guys are so important cos they create what the finished product would look like and helps everyone(client and dev team) see the end goal clearly.

Frontend devs — maybe one or two depending on the scope of the project, must be able to translate mocks pixel perfectly. javascript ninja and css manipulator.

Backend dev — usually one is enough unless you’re building a complex system that requires extra hands…should understand the entire architecture of the system like the back on his/her palm.

Devops — Not necessarily a must, but if you like continuous delivery like Us and want to automate and push updates/changes realtime to production, go for it. One is enough.

Project manger — as always, the oga at the top!

Note: There is no silver bullet for hiring, not to mention building a remote ad hoc team, but it’s still possible to have a process that filters candidates with considerable accuracy.