AMA: I am a software developer lead for remote customers (USA, MENA)
Hi,
I am Akim Khalilov. I have been working in IT for 10+ years so far. I am a Software Developer Lead, focusing on developing software for mid. to large companies from the USA and the MENA region. I focus on the development, delivery, and support. I focus on e-commerce, marketing, sales, customer retention, and more.
I am also leading remote teams (3 counties, 50+ people), deliver software on a project-based approach with a fixed cost and fixed timeline.
Will be happy to answer any questions this community might have.
Hi Akim,
What gets me curious is the systems and processes in place that let you deliver products consistently and efficiently.
As we grow our product, i want to have good systems and best practices in place, so I can have a fully remote team.
Can you tell us more about what your system looks like, what tools you use and how you make sure that projects are delivered efficiently ?
Hi,
Well, there is a lot of what's going on behind the scenes for a customer.
The key to success is the right people. We spent 10 years to find people who stay with the company and maintain the interest to grow as a professional. With motivated people, you can achieve whatever you want. So rule #1 is the Core Team. 2-5 people who are the best and know the tech and the craft.
In terms of systems, processes, and tools — they vary. Some customers want to keep using their own system and process, some customers do not care and want the results only. If the customer does not care about the tools — let the lead to choose whatever the team feels comfortable with. So rule #2 the tool does not define your life - you define the tools. If the tool does not help you — change it. Find the one which will save your team time. (I will not tell you whether to use Github, or Atlassian stack, or Microsoft stack because it does not matter from the high-level perspective)
All projects have own challenges all the time. You will have to deal with that. To know the project is on track you need to have a Lead to be responsible for the whole process. You can call him/her a Project Manager, a Team Lead, or just have no title for this position, but there must be a person who does care about the project. That person should not just forward emails back and forward, s/he needs to be fully hands-on and should understand both the tech and the business side. During the dark time, the team goes the extra mile. Or they don't. That's what define the best people. Our guys have proved they can solve problems. Only those who go extra mile could save the project.
I see, thanks sstude, appreciate your feedback !
How do you retain your developers?
Hey,
This is quite challenging. However, we managed to find the right people who stay for 5-7-10 years.
I believe the general rule is to keep everybody interested in what they are doing. There has to be a challenge all the time. We love solving challenges. That keeps us in shape.
The second rule I believe is a rotation. You need to have people work on different projects — one long-term project, multiple short-term projects. This way they see and experience more than if they just keep working on a single project for X years.
Next is compensation. You have to pay people what they earn. Do not look for the market level of salaries. If they deserve more — pay them more.
There are a lot of what to do in terms of making people happy and stay with you. You cannot make happy all of them. But at some point of time, you will have a core team who will stick together.
Are you looking at hiring a software developer at the moment? Whether for contract work, freelance or full-time.
It depends. We constantly looking for people to join our company. I personally screen about 10-20 people a month during the hire time. If you are asking because you want to provide some help — I am not sure that will work because of a jurisdiction we can hire in.
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Hey. A short comment: I think this is another job board and I am not sure how would you differentiate from other players here.
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I get the idea behind this. But you really have to think about marketing and customer acquisition. I believe there are many aggregators available now. So you need to find the way to "sell" yourself to a prospective customer.
Just an idea: if you can track somehow the number of seekers who found their job through your website and you can compare that against your competitors — that's something interesting.