Remote Development Deadline Failures and 5 Steps to Avoid Them
Imagine this: You are scheduled to present a unique personality testing app for iOS at a psychology conference in three days. You’ve hired a top-rated developer on UpWork and delivered your specs to him or her long ago. Everything is lookin good…except the app hasn’t been delivered yet and your offshore (or even local) developer hasn’t been online for the past few days. Not cool right?
Let’s break this scenario down to see just how easily it can happen, what consequences it would have, and what steps you can take to avoid it.
Your first thought is that your developer must have gotten caught up with other projects and couldn’t complete your app in time. Now they are staying offline to avoid you instead of own up to their own incompetency. Or maybe your developer got hung up on a technical issue related to your app. Or maybe your guy drowned himself at the bar and is taking his time to sober up (this one actually happened). No matter what the excuse is, the developer failed you and left you in a position to fail. Your entire presentation is based on software that is as of now non-existent.
At this point you have to plan your next steps very carefully. You can cancel the presentation but this comes at a cost. You’ve already invested a lot into getting the chance to present at the conference and risk damaging your reputation by pulling out. This could also translate into fewer app installs when the product is finally released.
You could hire another developer to get the job done for you. This will definitely be costly and it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to get it done in time and meet your specifications. You run the risk of getting bailed on, just like the first time around.
You can also hope that your original developer will finally appear and deliver your product in time to show the public.
Basically, there are no good options. The best way to handle this situation is to avoid it completely. So what are the best ways to minimize risk and prevent delays in the process of developing an application?
#1: Two Heads are Better than One
It is always better to work with a dev team then a single developer. If you hire a team you will have the luxury of redundancy. Even if disaster strikes and some developers are unable to continue working on your project you will still have other people who are already familiar with your codebase ready to pick up the slack. You will also have access to a project manager who can act as a go-between for you and the developers, working to translate ideas from lay-speak to actionable code plans.
#2: Reporting and Daily Updates
Have daily check-ins with your developer over skype or, preferably, email. You will be able to monitor progress on your project and offer ideas and suggestions. By creating a system of accountability your developer will be less likely to neglect your work or take it lightly. With your project manager you can set up a schedule for regular updates to your application build or live server of your website. This way you will be able to have a hands on way to see if your team is meeting your expectations.
#3: Use Source Control
Source control software is a great way to keep track of your developer’s work. Currently Git is the industry standard so you should have accounts on GitHub, GitLab, GitBucket etc. You should have your developer push updates to a private repository on one of these services. In the event that a developer disappears you will be able to download the latest version of your app and hand it over to a new developer.
#4: Clearly Describe What Needs to Be Done
Always provide clear specifications for the work you want done. This should include a list of pages or screens that will be shown to a final app user, a list of features describing what the app or website should do and a few use cases demonstrating how the final product will be used. Additionally, you can provide design wireframes drawn with pen and paper, and possible tech stacks your app will be based on.
You need to have these documents prepared before the project begins. Anyone is capable of producing specification documents, you don’t need to be a tech expert. We will be publishing step by step instructions for writing specifications for your developers so be sure to keep an eye on our blog.
#5: Payment Culture
Sometimes developers will ask for a certain percentage (usually 20 to 50 percent) of their payment upfront. Upfront payment is perfectly fine as long as you have a clear agreement on the scope of the work to be done and a means to have your payment refunded if the work is not completed. Payment systems like PayPal and Stripe allow you to file a dispute claim and get your money back in the event that anything goes wrong. When you pay developers upfront it shows them that you are serious about the project and will incentivize them to prioritize your work. If you are looking for ongoing work you can set up a monthly payment plan for your dev team. This will give a sense of security to your workers and drive them to consistently work hard on your project.
Conclusion
By following these guidelines you can avoid getting stuck in a no-win situation. Building a company is difficult enough on its own, don’t let bad practices with your developers make things any harder for you.
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