Managing projects in the IT industry now has a new and very complex resource landscape. Increasing preference for working remotely in the job market has elevated staffing models to a global scale, affecting the traditional staffing structure of businesses. This booming demand for remote opportunities requires modified HR policies in order to address concerns about worker compensation in the gig economy. 

Further compounding the resource challenges, high demand for complex skills has created opportunities for resources across the world to begin taking on additional responsibilities outside of their day-to-day employment commitments. There are positive and negative aspects to this growing trend.

Companies may be able to obtain skills at a more affordable rate, and staff members are able to cover more work (adding income) as they use most of their downtime to serve multiple stakeholders.

The downside can be worker burnout, higher attrition, less quality, and trust challenges when resources are less responsive to key stakeholders. This is a risky proposition as companies begin opening and expecting more from their existing teams. Proper planning needs to begin well in advance to mitigate the risks.

To plan and address these challenges, there are three key activities that should begin prior to fully opening offices_

1)      Modernize your recruiting strategy_ Ensure that you have a proper pipeline of skills and candidates before you need them. Ensure that your tools and processes can enable a steady stream of strong technical team members to keep projects moving and reach necessary deadlines.

2)      Grow from within_ Ensure that your employees are happy, always learning and growing; organizations need to take great care in helping them develop – especially new hires. This is the next generation of leaders, and an organization's future success will be dependent on them.

3)      Do your Due Diligence_  Gig economy's resourcing flexibility requires proper management and matrix models to ensure that work is completed based on project commitments. Companies will need to build a precise delivery model that best leverages all that the gig economy can offer without adding risks.

Strategic partnerships with existing or new vendors will help organizations scale during resource availability challenges. Aptimized has flexible resource models that can help you minimize risk while delivering complex technical projects. We have helped many clients scale their IT organizations as they face the pressures of stressed internal staff and difficult market expectations.

To overcome the pandemic, Aptimized has also adapted to the many business challenges produced by COVID-19 to counter this new complex landscape. We provide professional assistance with best practices within these circumstances, ensuring both the leaders and the employees collaborate to achieve the company objectives.