Resource Teams Revisited

Resource Teams Revisited

So, in this post I want to revisit the Resource Teams post I shared last October. We’ve done a lot of studying around our business model here at Synergy - we come to the market with People, Projects and Products, all with technical resources as the key ingredient, and as we try to adjust to new models of engagement and a very challenging talent marketplace, Resource Teams seems to be the one new construct that often addresses our Client's problem the best.

I’ve done some time-boxing of how Resource Teams fair against Traditional models with regard to finding the right people with the right skills ready to work with a price point that allows Clients to move forward with their initiatives. I’d like to share some data with you now and invite you to weigh-in with your thoughts…

Traditional Model

So you have a technical need, maybe it’s a Project Manager or a UX Designer, or really any role along the software lifecycle path, and you set out to address your resource issue. As the IT manager with the need, you have a series of steps that you must complete. They start with the approval to fill the position and end when the resource is in their seat contributing. This next exercise will shine light on how long this could actually take.

Let’s take an example of a small project delivering an interface to connect one internal system to another, and let’s assume that the scope is achievable, the timeline is realistic at 6 months, and the budget is approved. The project is estimated to need a Project Manager (~20 hours a week), a UX Designer (~5 hours a week), a front-end Developer (~40 hours a week) a backend/API Developer (~40 hours a week), with a Quality Assurance Tester (~40 hours a week) rounding out the team.

The internal process after the project is green lit includes:

And finally, the process is complete and they show up on their start date for work….

Ah, not so fast my friend, COVID changed the world and the work landscape giving us several new steps to consider with each hiring event and introduced complexity for those that control them.

Let’s look at what I mean.

The Candidate has verbally accepted and though the Manager has always been on the hook for requisitioning equipment and onboarding them, they also now have the question of ‘where’ to answer. Where will the resource be working, where does the equipment need to go, where will we meet to kick off the project. It adds a few steps as you will see below.

Candidate accepts:

Contractor / Employee begins work.

Approximately 100 hours from green light to at work and this is a very happy path. Often these estimates drift significantly for one reason or another and I would be remiss to not mention that many of these are per candidate time boxes. I can also say with a high level of certainty that having an approved resource need and someone filling that need in under 2 weeks is a near impossibility and that 3 weeks in larger organizations would be very fast.

And even as you race from the Candidate’s “yes” to the actual start, yours wasn’t the only job they applied to and often the news of an impending offer speeds up the HR groups of the competing submittals. If any of your steps get stuck, you can lose the Candidate before they ever even start or worse still, a week after they begin, starting the clock all over again.

And this is where you might say “But James, everyone is dealing with the same issues” and while true, it is not affecting all roles the same. If you are one of the ones that suddenly has a variety of new and cumbersome tasks that take you away from your true job of completing the project or initiative, this next section will be interesting to you.

Nothing would please me more than to share there is one solution to this problem, but if there is a silver bullet out there to solve for the difficulties in the acquisition and engagement of technical talent, I have not come across it in my 30 years of doing this work. Talent, especially technical talent, is a scarce resource and highly skilled technical talent has many choices of where to share their gifts.

But this post is about Resource Teams, a new'ish model to ease some of the time lost in the traditional process and still get you the technical resources necessary to get the work accomplished. And, as a sidenote, we have also found that the model alleviates some of the pressures put upon the IT Managers working hard to complete their workload.

Resource Teams Model

Let’s look at the time boxes for utilizing a Resource Team versus the Traditional Model that we just walked through. We will use the same Project example with the same team make up.

The internal process after the project is green lit includes:

Hardly that simple though, so let’s unpack this:

• Discovery - walks through the work to be done, it’s timelines, the methodology and cadence, team make-up and ideal resume, project governance and reporting, and keys to project. Details on required and desired skills highlighted and any mandatory HR related requirements covered so that resource team submittals all fit within the compliance frameworks. Any interview mandates or churn requirements are also covered. All aspects of compliance and need are covered with the Vendors proposing to submit, additionally requirements regarding re-filling vacated positions and interview rules are also covered and become the responsibility of the Vendor and their submission.
• Questions - allows the Vendors to ask questions about any part of the team being built, the rules of replacement and any specifics from your HR or Procurement areas. Convening works best, as the questions asked by one may answer questions asked by another and it assures all respondents are working with the same information.
• Statement of Work proposals - will be solicited from the Vendors detailing their understanding and approach to the project. This critical document will be specific to how deliverables will be addressed, the engagement and management strategy for the project resources, and governance details.
• Statement of Work evaluation - becomes the key event in determining the resource plan for the work to be done. Measures not only of competence and comprehension, but also of confidence may be used to ensure that the Vendor chosen, in whatever form it takes will be performant.
• Awarding the contract - is the last step until the project kicks off, at which point all of the definition is translated into the works execution.

Keep in mind that these choices can be made well ahead of project kickoff, so once this last step is complete, it becomes time for your chosen firm to hold up their part of the deal. Technical resources and the way companies engage with them will keep evolving so whether you stick with a traditional approach or give Resource Teams a try, know Synergy will be there to help with your efforts.

And while Synergy participates in both forms of these services for our Clients, let me share a few of the reasons they shared with us about why Resource Teams has become popular.

• Planning – identifying which project has resource needs and having the Vendor you select be ready when you are ready to start saves days and relieves pressure. This lifts the burden in HR.
• Chain of Command- is in place for the Resource Team, so that a new team member or a replacement knows who and how to get answers or help when needed. This lifts the burden from the Manager.
• Onboarding/Offboarding – can be offloaded to the lead of the Resource Team and managed for the entirety of the effort. This includes ensuring all startup courses, required learnings and compliance paperwork is completed.
• Churn Management – and census governance as a part of the Resource Team services. A contracted worker leaving a team in a traditional arrangement kicks off the entire search cycle again and the time loss can be project altering.
• Governance Reporting – for traditional weekly reports, monthly statuses and quarterly reviews as well as budgetary and compliance reviews.

And the one we heard in nearly every case,

• Team Continuity - as working together over time breeds familiarity and domain expertise in the team.

So for the same number of contracted employees and all under the same set of compliance rules, you alleviate hours and tasks of the managers responsible for getting the work accomplished.

Is it the right solution for every technical need? Not by a long shot and frankly, if you are happy with the way your contingent workforce efforts are going, this may not be something you should ever explore, but if you have some firms you trust, that have strong partner networks and quality recruiting, it may be worth a try. ?

So today’s highlights and takeaways:

• Efficiency: The Resource Teams model significantly reduces the time and effort required to onboard technical talent compared to the traditional hiring process.
• Continuity: By maintaining team continuity, Resource Teams minimize project disruptions and ensure smoother workflow management.
• Flexibility: This model offers greater flexibility in managing resources, including easier onboarding and offboarding, and better churn management.
• Governance: Enhanced governance reporting and compliance management free up IT managers to focus on project execution.
• Planning and Readiness: Advanced planning with selected vendors ensures that resources are ready to start when the project kicks off, saving valuable time.

Now my hope is that you will take a few minutes and share your thoughts either here or with me directly…and look for my next installment on Resource Teams in the days to come, where I will highlight the capabilities you may look for in Vendors that could provide you with these services and how the billing models can evolve over time…..