Doing Great Things Together at SJ Innovation

“Alone, we can do so little, together we can do so much.” This saying by Helen Keller is a quote I will always remember when I speak about one of the core cultures of SJ Innovation - 'Do Great Things Together.' After all, no truer words have been spoken. 

What constitutes a successful project? It isn’t about how experienced you are in your field or how reliable a person you are (although to an extent these are crucial elements too). One of the most important success factors for a project is how well you collaborate with one another in a team. After all, teamwork makes dream work. 

A Teamwork Experience to Remember

It's only when the distinct qualities of every individual person comes together do we achieve an all-round result. Teamwork in a software development agency holds the highest regard. I speak from personal expereince and would like to share one of my experiences of how working together as a team has helps put our company on the path to success.

Our team was assigned a task of migrating around 6 different sites (from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9). Our client needed this task delivered within a short span of time. Clearly, this was challenging, to say the least, as there were a lot of things that needed to be taken care of. For instance, each module used on the site was required to be compatible before the core was upgraded. 

Nevertheless, we took up the responsibility even though we had less knowledge on the subject. While we focused on success factors for a project to do well, we had our trusted seniors who made the path less cumbersome as they guided us on the right path as and when we needed their assistance and tips.

How did we help each other do great things together? 

Our team conducted mindmap sessions to brainstorm, plan and divide the work accordingly. During the mindmap session, we devised a strategy on how we will proceed with the migration process and ensure it is a seamless and straightforward one.

Accordingly, we carried out the plan for each site.

No doubt, during the migration process, we faced a few hurdles but we were able to overcome them as a team. As the sites were later given for QA testing, we were nervous but also confident that we had done a good job. We were so happy to know that the QA tests were passed with minimal issues.

If we hand’t worked together as a team, achieving the results within such a short span of time was next to impossible. It was only through our constant and dedicated efforts that we could meet the expectations the client had in mind as well as accomplish this feat within the tight deadline set. Really, teamwork makes dream work!

How good teamwork has the power to foster change 

Good teamwork is one of the success factors for a project. After all, it:

Helps you enhance your skills

Lastly, I would say there is a palpable difference in the motivation level of good teamwork compared to bad teamwork. It helps enlighten and build up enthusiasm for generating ideas and also inspires creativity. Every teammate has their own educational background, skill, and experience. When collaborating together, it’s but natural for knowledge to be shared. 

Increases your productivity levels 

When you are doing great things together, it has a cascading sort of effect. The better a team can work together, the easier it becomes for the team to function well together. As teammates gain an understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they know how to tackle problems accordingly and approach them in a manner that enhances everyone’ productivity levels.

Minimizes stress

Success factors for a project rely heavily on your state of mind. When you're trying to manage a project on your own, you have to think of many roles and responsibilities. Right from project management and product design to market research and customer satisfaction. When you are part of a team that moves forward through effective teamwork, it decreases the responsibility of carrying the responsibility on your own. Ultimately, this works to reduce stress levels while keeping high quality as the goal.   

Encourages innovation and creativity

When there is an issue that becomes difficult for the team to resolve, they will constantly be thinking about it. When they find an effective solution, they get rid of that obstacle and can open up new pathways for their coworkers to investigate. This can lead to them researching products and techniques to bring about some innovative approaches and unearth hidden solutions. 

Ways to Foster Improved Teamwork 

There are wise ways to improve teamwork among members in a company.

Set up leadership and culture 

Setting up a culture of consistent communication and collaboration opens up doors to seamless collaboration within team members. Teams can only collaborate optimally when there is a culture of collaboration that begins with leadership and company culture as it becomes the strtcure for the rest of the organization to follow. Having frequent meetings is a good idea to keep everyone in the team well aware.

Meetings should be frequent 

How often should you have meetings with the team? In order to ensure you are on the right path and are following all of the success factors for a project, your team should be on the same page. Ideally, huddles are best conducted once or twice a week. Marketing and programers can schedule huddle meetings to quickly go over what is being developed and why it is being developed. In this way, developers get responses on customer usage scenarios and the product in the market. 

Follow rules and processes 

For every project, establish clear processes and rules for every task. Follow specific principles in the workflow so that you can communicate effectively in case of any issues and work on delivering quality solutions in a timely manner. 

So there you have it! Doing great things together really works wonders and is one of the most important success factors for a project as it helps you achieve the impossible.