Software is all pervasive and becoming a key driver of industries in the digital age. Everything you do today revolves around technology in some way or the other. Even the most traditional sectors like agriculture, mining and natural resource industries are increasingly adopting software and technology for day to day operations.

Software development is an innovative and creative art that creates technology to reduce human effort, increase automation and maximise output. The speed and agility with which a team can create world class solutions increases its chances of success manifolds. Speed matters because things change fast and no one wants outdated stuff in the digital world.

A world class software development team has the capability to create things that can disrupt the entire industry. Take for e.g. how AirBnB team created a room sharing portal that has transformed the travel industry, how ride sharing apps have changed the transport industry, how Whatsapp has changed the telecom industry.

Here we look at some of the traits of software development teams that create world class products and solutions:

1. Passion :

You cannot build anything great without passion and energy. Great software teams care for what they are doing. They put their energy and effort into everything they do. They are passionate about solving something, creating something that impacts people and do excellent work.

When teams are passionate about their work, it shows in the kind of products and solutions they build. They take extra care to ensure things they build, stand out. They also learn more, work harder and do everything they can to keep raising their level.

2. Ownership :

You cannot build anything significant, if you don’t take ownership of what you are doing. Great professionals and teams are accountable. They take ownership and pride in their work. When you are building something great, it occupies you all the time.

Great teams manage their work and never need to be told what needs to be done. They organise themselves to take care of everything that matters for the project. They do what brings true value for their clients. It creates a world of difference where you are focused on creating great value rather than just spend office time looking busy but not doing anything substantial.

3. Quality Solutions :

There are plenty of software solutions available for everything under the sun today. To stand out, you need excellence. Great teams understand that to achieve success, you need quality. These teams push themselves to deliver top quality solutions. They are always on the lookout for areas where they can improve.

A top quality solution solves a problem for the customer. The team that solves the problems puts effort in building the solution with absolute care and attention. The best teams are known by the products they built. For e.g. Mac team slogged day and night to build a device that put them on the world map. Amazon was built with lot of enthusiasm and zeal; it changed the way people buy things.

Great teams have the ability to deliver solutions that are meaningful, creative and solve hard problems.

4. Technology, Tools & learning :

Software is constantly evolving with changing technologies. What is good today will get outdated tomorrow. The solutions that companies build need to adapt to the changing technology, else they become obsolete.

Great teams understand that the technology and tools that are required for building excellent products and services. They are aware of the industry trends, learn and share things with each other to keep themselves updated.

Learning is an integral part of successful teams; they are always willing to explore new technologies, tasks and challenges with an open mind. They experiment and learn all the time to improve things they are doing.

5. Trustworthy & Reliable :

A great team wins the trust by delivering what they promise and doing so with very high reliability. When a team shows that they can be trusted with projects and will ensure successful outcomes, they attract opportunities for greater success.

Software development is often driving critical elements in an enterprise, dealing with secured data and running end to end operations. Great software teams are dependable. They not only score high on ethics, but also complement that with exceptional execution. They meet the needs of the project day in and day out. Infact, they do everything they can to go over and above what is needed from them. They beat deadlines, understand priorities and deliver the goods with amazing consistency.

Conclusion:

This is an amazing time for software development teams to experiment and create world class products. The surge of mobile internet and cloud computing have increased the reach of products/services like never before. The best software development teams believe in their mission and build remarkable solutions that people adore.

Software development teams can create a massive difference with the work they do. If the teams are committed, work hard, love what they do and have the required skills, nothing can hold them back. The digital technologies are reshaping many industries and software companies are playing the lead role in this transformation.

The post 5 Traits of World Class Software Development Teams appeared first on Kreyon Systems | Blog | Software Company | Software Development | Software Design.

Culture, history, and business like to genderize. But software is neither male nor female. It’s just instructions that help get a job done.

Companies, organizations, and individuals have been using software to help address the gender imbalance felt across the globe.

Below I’ve explained how software development is helping women around the world.

Software companies improving access to education for women

Since 1972, US federal law demands that women and girls receive the same education opportunities as men and boys. While this has helped to bridge (but not close) the gap in the US, education still remains only a hope for women and girls in many countries.

Software companies are helping women around the world to turn hope into reality. One example of this is Intel’s She Will Connect programme. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of educational exclusion of all the regions in the world. One out of every six girls between the age of 6 and 11 is not in school, with 60% of girls between 15 and 17 not having access to education.

She Will Connect harnesses the power of software to give girls access to education. It improves girls’ technological skills and their digital literacy. The goal is that Intel’s software will give 5 million women better educational opportunities by 2020.

Access to software helps women to find jobs in the industry

Put simply, monoculture is bad for business. Workplaces with more men than women are unhealthy, less productive, and have lower revenue than those without a gender gap. The stats prove this:

• Businesses in the top 25% of gender diversity will have higher returns than companies that employ less women
• The sales figures at companies who have three or more female directors are 42% higher than those who do not

Despite this evidence, women remain severely underrepresented in the software industry. But there are a number of organizations working to address this.

Laboratoria tackles the problem of monoculture by training women from Latin America. Already, Laboratoria has been able to help 580 women to get jobs in the software industry – in roles such as UX designers and front-end developers – in companies throughout Latin America.

Social media software used as a weapon to end harassment

There were 118 years between New Zealand being the first country to grant women the vote and Saudi Arabia being one of the most high-profile countries to finally give women that right. Even if women around the world now have greater rights, there are still many battles to be had in the war to end female discrimination

Since 2011 Twitter has been perhaps the most public example of software being used as a weapon to help women end harassment:

This movement has empowered the victims of sexual harassment across the globe since its virality on October 2017. Through the vocal support of celebrities such as Alyssa Milano, Ashley Judd, and Jennifer Lawrence, women have begun shifting attitudes in the workplace and taking down the perpetrators of female harassment

#meNOmore

Memes gave the battle for gender equality in music fresh impetus in 2015. Festival posters with the male artists removed, exposing the gender disparity of the lineups, screamed across the internet:

In response to this, hundreds of Australian women have signed an open letter demanding that sexual discrimination, harassment, and assault is wiped from the music industry.

Featuring artists such as Camp Cope, Courtney Barnett, and The Veronicas, the movement has taken the hashtag #meNOmore to push the message

Ecommerce software helps tackle the gender imbalance

Since the Nisiyama Onsen hot-spring hotel was opened in 705, businesses have been run by, fueled by, and compensated men. But as technology has advanced and business software has developed, women have taken to entrepreneurship. And the stats confirm this:

• There has been a 45% increase in US female-owned businesses since 2007, compared to an overall increase of 9% in all US businesses  
• American companies run by women have increased revenues by 35%, compared with a 27% increase in all American companies

Ecommerce has been leading the charge in making talent, not gender, the driver of entrepreneurial success. Software has played a huge part in this charge.

Pet stores are a popular niche among female entrepreneurs because women tend to like pets more than men.

Alongside niches like party planning and babycare, pets are one of the many ecommerce niches flooded with ambitious and software-savvy female entrepreneurs.

Of course, it’s not all kitty whiskers and puppy dog tails. Women may be earning more than men in the ecommerce industry, but there is still a very real gender pay gap. While software can continue to help reduce this, the disparity must be kept in the public eye and decisive steps taken to make business truly genderless.

Software is genderless. However, this hasn’t stopped it from being a force for good for women all across the world.  Show your support by contributing to one of the many organizations or businesses which uses software to help women. Or take advantage of software you need to found your own organization or business.

Patrick Foster is a writer and ecommerce expert from Ecommerce Tips — an industry-leading ecommerce blog dedicated to sharing business and entrepreneurial insights from the sector, along with updates in the tech, software, and media used to advance online business. Patrick is passionate about erasing gender inequality. Check out the latest news on Twitter @myecommercetips.

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