What happens when someone leaves the team in the middle of the project? How we mitigate risks and ensure project stability

If you've decided on outsourcing your software development needs or are thinking about it, you might be concerned about the risks associated with employees leaving the project.  

According to industry reports, the tech turnover rate stands at 13.2%, the highest of any sector. Companies lose valuable expertise and knowledge when employees leave, which can lead to project disruptions, increased costs, and issues down the line if teams lack proper knowledge management.  

You can find out how we approach knowledge management in our recent blog post.

The fear of a key team member leaving during a critical phase can be unsettling — after all, this might lead to delays, knowledge gaps, and communication challenges if not handled correctly.

It is crucial to address this challenge proactively to safeguard the success of your projects, which is why we employ a multifaceted approach to project continuity, minimizing the impact of potential change within the team.

We understand the importance of building a stable and adaptable team, which is why we’ve taken several measures to ensure changes in team structures go unnoticed and don’t impact overall project success.

Additionally, it’s not just possible to avoid these risks, but also to benefit from new employees joining your project.  

So, how can you be sure the development team working on your project is built to withstand changes?

Some questions you might have:

• What happens if a team member leaves halfway through?
• How do we prevent the loss of critical project insights?
• How were these issues handled in the past?

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In order to answer these questions, we spoke to our Chief Knowledge Officer Boris Šijan, who is in charge of all things regarding knowledge and learning at Enlight.

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Q: Why is employee turnover risky for clients?

Fear stems from the fact that when team members leave, they could be taking key insights with them. Coupled with the change in team dynamic new employees can create, there’s a real risk of project momentum slowing down. Delays can also impact the overall quality of work being delivered, which is something that needs to be taken into consideration.

Communication issues are also a risk when new people take on existing projects, and clients may worry if this will cause more difficulties down the line.

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Q: How do you mitigate these risks?

There’s several ways we handle employee turnover risks at Enlight.

The first is defining a way of working on projects that entails constant collaboration. One way is having team members plan tasks together, discussing who does what. This joint participation in different project ceremonies helps everyone stay informed on all areas of development.

We believe knowledge should be shared within teams, which is why we steer clear of having people work in isolation. We want to avoid knowledge pooling in individuals by having the whole team involved in each stage of development. We see this as a form of peer programming, where everyone knows what their colleagues are working on. In the case that only one team member knows how to do something, another employee is invited to observe and try on their own next time.

The second measure we apply is knowledge handover, after an employee has been assigned a new project or is leaving the company. This knowledge transfer lasts about a month and covers everything a new employee might need to successfully start working on a project. More often than not, we invite clients to participate in this process and keep them updated on how it’s going — this way they know everything we plan to include and can see if we’ve missed any crucial information.  

If we are dealing with a new employee joining the company, this process is akin to onboarding. We also use knowledge sharing sessions, where different teams can work together to bring each other up to speed on project details and key insights. Then there’s shadowing, where team members learn by observing other people work.

Another way we make sure our teams are ready to handle restructuring is the Bus test. This test involves periodically positing a scenario where a key team member suddenly leaves the project, as if they were hit by a proverbial bus. While this might seem pessimistic, it's an essential exercise to assess the team's adaptability and knowledge sharing. We analyze how the team would respond to the sudden departure, identify any critical knowledge gaps, and address them. By conducting the Bus test regularly, we proactively strengthen our teams' resilience and ensure that no single individual holds crucial information.  

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Q: What happens when team members leave?

In our experience, people rarely leave the company. It’s much more common for them to have been assigned a new project to work on, which is a part of how we rotate roles. This means the person is still part of the company and available if any help is necessary.

However, when an employee departure does happen, we ensure proper knowledge transfer takes place so that clients don’t experience any loss of insight. These team changes haven’t impacted on the projects we’ve worked on.

While hiring new employees comes with risks, welcoming a new team member can bring fresh perspectives, diversified skillsets, and innovative ideas. This can have an overall positive impact on projects — someone new might find this new work much more interesting than someone who’s been in the company for years, possibly stagnating. This is an opportunity for employees to prove themselves and take on additional responsibilities, which ultimately benefits clients.

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Embracing the opportunities new people bring

While changes within project teams carry risks, it’s important to remember they provide ample opportunity for positive developments as well. With the right strategies and practices, risks can be mitigated, and the addition of new team members can benefit projects in their entirety. Each new team member can introduce fresh perspectives, fostering a culture of constant development.  

Collaborative environments promote cross-pollination of knowledge, allowing teams to learn and grow collectively. New team members often inject enthusiasm and motivation into the group, revitalizing the project's momentum and driving it towards success.

Embracing change as an opportunity for growth and learning enables us to harness the full potential of our teams, ensuring that every project is marked by progress, efficiency, and outstanding results. This is why we do the things we do, ensuring constant project stability and teams that are as reliable as they are qualified.