Dunham building new ways of development
At Dunham we have always believed in the value of team work but we are taking that to a new level.
The web has become one of the most complex created realities in the entire existence of humanity. As a consumer, there are myriad of choices. The first choice of course is the developer with whom you wish to work. Once you have arrived at that decision, the choices only get more complex. What kind of technology is the best for your website and for your budget is a basic choice that must be addressed. Of course your developer should help you to make that informed decision.
Once the developer has arrived at a “technology” direction with client then there are many choices to be made at the development level. It is at this stopping point that we have decided that the creation of websites will not be an “individual” effort on the part of any developer here, but a team effort on the part of all. To that end we’ve been making a lot of changes at Dunham which will help us to make the right choices for each of our clients.
The first change is a strange one. We have purchased stand-up/sit-down desks for everyone on the team. Throughout the day various people will be standing and others will be sitting. We are aiming for a minimum of 40% standup time. Studies show that this helps with productivity and certainly, there are health benefits. We’re convinced that we are all much more alert and thinking just a bit better (on our feet!)
Secondly we have setup some very detailed and powerful tools for team sharing. All day we are logged into tools that allow people to choose various tasks that remain on the books for our clients. People can choose to work on what they do best. Software changes are now carefully logged and successful scripts can be used by the various developers on staff. It has taken a couple of months to put these systems in place, but it’s well worth it.
Thirdly, we have always been conscious of a team mentality. The principle partners in this firm have not called themselves the “bosses”. I suppose the buck stops at our desks, but much more importantly the responsibility is at everyone’s desk. Our new systems are allow people to log more successful hours doing what they do best. And… they get to do it by choice.
In my next blog, I’d like to share some ideas about what makes or breaks a successful team. The most important thing in all of this, is that we think that by moving to this higher level of team functionality in our group, we are able to more accurately and effectively meet the needs of each and everyone of our clients, whether they are startup businesses, not-for-profits, or established corporations.
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