The Importance of Aligning Goals with Your Developer

Software development is a complex and lengthy process. Problems can occur at every step of the way. Development projects frequently face delays, setbacks, and even outright failure. The key to ensuring that your project succeeds is to make sure that your goals are completely aligned with your developer.

It is difficult to say exactly how often software projects fail. The Standish Group estimates the rate could be anywhere between 15% and 70%, depending on how you define “failure”. Many projects complete, but are glitchy or don’t offer needed features. Others are canceled before completion, or discarded immediately afterwards.

Software projects fail for a variety of reasons, including:

• Lack of funds
• Lack of time
• Unclear requirements
• Unrealistic expectations
• Not understanding the needs of the business
• Lack of coordination and planning

While the first two can be solved with more time or money, the others boil down to one simple problem: aligning your goals with your developer. Companies that strongly align their goals with their developer have a straight route to project completion. Companies that don’t face a much bumpier ride.

Unclear Requirements

Sometimes developers and their clients have their goals only partially aligned. In this case, the developer has a vague idea of what their client needs. This tends to slow down production, as developers have to guess at what they are trying to create.

They also might make something that fails to fit the client’s real requirements. Sometimes the client has to make the project fit into a rigid technical framework. Without details of that framework, the developer cannot produce something that will work.

The solution to unclear requirements is simply to make your goals as specific as possible. When a developer and client are aligned on a specific goal, the team knows exactly what to make and how to make it. In the best case scenario, when goals are precisely measurable, there is no ambiguity about what counts as success.

The development team and the client can align their goals by creating and maintaining transparent communication. Rather than just writing code, the development team should discuss the client’s business goals to provide ongoing feedback about the best ways to accomplish their goals.

Unrealistic expectations

Projects with unrealistic expectations have a near zero chance of success. In the extreme case, when the expected outcome is completely impossible, the project has exactly a zero chance of success.

In order to set realistic expectations, businesses and developers need to align their goals. Developers can only determine if expectations are realistic if they understand the project’s goals. Developers are responsible for assessing their client’s goals from the beginning. They should suggest changes if the client has unrealistic expectations. In some cases, technical expertise from team members is necessary to determine if the project as a whole is likely to succeed. To communicate effectively, there must be mutual trust between the client and the development team.

Some developers overpromise, and inevitably, they underdeliver. Developers must know and understand the clients goals, in order to assess whether or not those goals are attainable. By setting goals that everyone agrees are attainable, the developer team and client can align their goals.

Not understanding the needs of the business

If a developer doesn’t know the needs of their client, they don’t know where to begin. They might build features that are not truly relevant to the client’s goals. It is also harder for the team to work together when they are unsure of what they are making.

Sometimes the client does not fully know their own needs. This should be addressed as soon as possible. Businesses should identify the most general and important requirements for the project. Then they should narrow down and identify more specific requirements. Developers who start with just a general idea of the requirements can succeed, so long as those requirements are clarified over time.

The solution to this problem is to make sure that all of the developer’s goals are relevant to the client. When the development team knows exactly what would be relevant for their client, they can align their goals to help make the project succeed.

Lack of coordination and planning

Software development requires communication between many parties, including:

• Designers
• Software Engineers
• Project Managers
• QA Engineers
• Client Representatives

The more information exchanged, the more opportunities for information to be exchanged wrongly. With so many parties exchanging information, it can seem like a miracle when projects go right. But it’s not a miracle. Teams who have their goals aligned with the client are at an advantage. It is easier for them to communicate about the project, because they are 100% on board with the project’s direction.

Coordinating tasks also involves planning. The key to planning software projects is to set goals that are time bound. When an entire team expects a certain feature to be ready by a certain date, they can all take steps towards their goals. Making goals time bound thus helps align goals.

Setting SMART Goals

One way for clients and developers to align their goals is to define goals that are SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

These features help to solve the problems described above. Specific and measurable goals clarify requirements. Attainable goals erase unrealistic expectations. Relevant goals help the development team understand the needs of their client. And time-bound goals help to coordinate tasks across the whole team.

Conclusion

A complex and time intensive process, software development requires ample planning and coordination. Projects have the best chance of success when the development team aligns their goals with their client. At JetRockets, this is one of our top priorities. It is one of the many reasons why we have so many happy clients.

Our unique business model gives us the skills needed to align our goals with yours. Because we are an English-speaking hybrid onshore and offshore team, we are able to communicate your goals accurately across the entire team. In addition, we assign one of our own Project Managers to each project. This means we have someone in charge of making sure goals are aligned for the entire project. Our model ensures that you receive onshore experience with offshore costs!