phone screens, and were able to start hiring against their open requirements in a couple of weeks.
So how can you make the most of your team by hiring the right mix of people? Before you start the search, ask yourself these questions.
Why are you hiring more people?
- Are you trying to get the current work done, or done faster? Can you use more of the same people, or could you use different skills, temperaments, or adaptability?
- Are you creating a new division, a new group, or a new project? Will it require different capabilities than the work you currently do?
- Are you trying to add something to the team-some spark, some
- competition, some new blood?
What is the current makeup of your team? Do you have all the right
personality and capability bases covered?
- How adaptable is your staff now? If you hired different types of people, what would be the effect?
- Having a combination of people on your team can make for more successful projects: planners and idea people, talkers and thinkers, visionaries and down-to-earth people, people who are sensitive to the mood of the group, and those who can analyze their way through any problem. Think about the temperaments and capabilities of those already in the group. I find that creating diversity across temperaments and adaptability, as well as gender and race, is key to creating a high-performing team.
I encourage you to take all these factors into consideration before going out to hire "another test engineer just like Charlie." A defect-finding dynamo like Charlie has indisputable value, but a team of Charlies is one-dimensional. Before you go down that path, maybe it's time to develop a hiring strategy.
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About the author
Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” helps organizational leaders see problems and risks in their product development. She helps them recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair. She is the technical editor for Agile Connection and the author of these books:
- Manage Your Job Search
- Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
- The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
Johanna is working on a book about agile program management. She writes columns for Stickyminds.com and projectmanagementcom and blogs on her website, jrothman.com, as well on createadaptablelife.com.
