12 January 2023

Right people, right place, right time: Key signs you're ready to scale your IT team

Scaling up any team or organisation can be a tricky business and, according to Forbes [https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/12/16/identifying-the-path-from-startup-to-scale-up/?sh=76b2ed026901] , only 30% of start-ups succeed in scaling their teams successfully. Evaluating the state of your IT and tech teams and determining if you

Shoaib Qureshi

Scaling up any team or organisation can be a tricky business and, according to Forbes, only 30% of start-ups succeed in scaling their teams successfully. Evaluating the state of your IT and tech teams and determining if you are ready to scale is crucial. So how do you know you’re ready to implement a scaling-up strategy?Key signs you’re ready to scale your IT teamThere are some clear indicators that will help determine if you are ready to scale up your IT teams, including:

Your current team is struggling to deliver projects or deadlines
The major sign your IT team is ready to be scaled up is if they are struggling to deliver major projects or meet important deadlines. This could be a sign that they are missing certain skills and expertise and could benefit from additional support from either permanent or temporary staff. If you plan to begin a major implementation or project in the next few months, it may be worth reviewing your IT team’s capacity in advance.

Routine tasks are falling by the wayside
Perhaps your teams are meeting major deadlines but at the expense of routine maintenance, upgrades, and security tasks? Failure to complete these routine functions can leave your business vulnerable and make your teams less productive and less efficient.

You need access to specific skills or expertise
Keeping up with the most up-to-date tech trends and accessing those sought after, business-critical tech skills will ensure your IT teams are always capable of meeting tech challenges and that your business stays competitive. A skills audit is a great way to assess your IT team’s current capabilities and identify any skills or expertise you may be missing.

Your wider business is growing
If your goal for the year is to scale your business, then you will need to assess your IT capabilities and grow your network, software, and tech teams in line with your overall capacity. It makes sense that the IT resource needed to sustain 10 employees will be different from that needed to support 50 or 100. Big growth plans mean your current tech team need to be able to keep up!

Customer-facing applications are unable to meet demand
A struggling IT team will mean that it becomes harder to deliver a great consumer experience. Customer-facing applications will struggle to deal with consumer demand and slow networks or software will make it harder for other departments to deliver high-quality services. If your customer satisfaction is suffering, consider scaling your IT teams to meet demand.

4 tips for scaling IT teams successfullyOnce it becomes clear that your IT teams would benefit from a scaling-up strategy to help them grow and deliver on your wider business goals, you’ll need to carefully manage the process. Scaling successfully takes time, startups that scale up mindfully do so 76% slower than those who are unsuccessful. But that care and attention can lead to big gains in productivity, innovation, and efficiency. These four tips will help you scale up successfully:

Hire with growth in mind
Make conscious decisions to bring on board new hires with specific skills or cherry pick candidates with a view to their potential development. Would it be more cost-effective to offer training than hiring for certain skills? Being more deliberate about who you choose to bring on board will support growth further down the line.

Be clear about what expertise you need
Do you need people to boost efficiency and productivity at routine tasks in the short term? Or are you planning a longer-term digital transformation project or software implementation that will require niche skills and expertise? Having a clear IT roadmap and conducting a survey of the skills you already have available can help you get the support you do need.

Make your onboarding strong and agile
Good onboarding can help new hires and freelancers get up to speed quickly and provide them with the support they need to make their time with you successful. Good onboarding follows a set plan but can be tailored to individual requirements. This can increase productivity and set your business up as a great place to work, reducing turnover and hiring costs.

Consider accessing contractor or freelance support
Hiring full time employees might not be the best way to go. Freelance and contractor support can help you access key skills, expertise, and certifications to scale your IT teams quickly and in a more cost-effective way without losing any of the productivity gains that come from scaling up.

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