How To Survive A Developer Shortage
Some wise man said that nowadays every company is a software company. In the software era, developers are treated like fuel or life-giving water. Without this element, the company goes mad and its activity starts to resemble an existence in a wasteland. It becomes reduced to the basic instinct: survive. But hey, as they say, there’s always a rainbow after the fallout, and here’s our short survival guide:
1. Keep calm and shift to no-code
No-code is a simple answer to the market’s growing demand which traditional coding can hardly address. It’s obvious that in a supply crisis people tend to look for substitutes. No-code constitutes such an alternative, a good one. It’s easy to start and use, it can not only replace code but even outperform it by increasing the speed of development, deployment, and update. Start using no-code and sooner than you might think you will find yourself the master of the citadel.
2. Don’t wait for the rescue, act
When your business needs surpass the company’s resources you can either extend the IT department’s backlog and wait, wait, wait… or you may try out some outside solutions. I know what you’re thinking: „Our workflow is so unique that an adequate, customized tool doesn’t exist”. That’s what #1 advice was all about. In the no-code universe, there’s no such thing as too complicated workflow and a proper modification is always a matter of days. It’s possible to outsource specialists who will do the customization, still you can make use of your own resources as well…
3. Don’t recruit, train
In a post-apocalyptic world, there’s usually you and a limited bunch of other survivors. What can you do? You assign roles to the members of the group, train, develop new skills, adapt to the circumstances. The same goes for a company. If you’re short of developers, why not „grow” them from the existing employees? Almost every organization employs tech-savvy power users eager to learn more and more advanced things like programming. It only takes some trust, schooling, and tools to transform them into citizen developers: there has never been a better time for them to flourish.
When you’re busy with survival, the last thing you may think of is innovation. Remember what they say, though: necessity is the mother of invention. Bearing that in mind, it may turn out that the lean years are the best moment for you to innovate, make mind shifts and introduce business changes. That’s the survivor spirit. Keep up with this approach and you will overcome all obstacles you are facing! Good luck!
