The Landing Party

At Kilterset we have a way of doing things that we’ve refined over the years. One of these is our “landing party” concept. This approach lets us deploy one or two seasoned engineers into the early phases of a project to help get it off to a successful start. Since this is so standard to us, and perhaps not so much to new clients, we want to share how this works.

The Landing Party

At the outset of every engagement it’s critical to discuss team composition. The outcome of this is what we like to call the “landing party.” Its composition can be different from engagement to engagement but the team footprint is often small (two people) and seeks to answer a number of different questions:

• What is the overall goal?
• What are our objectives?
• What are our key results?
• What’s the first problem to solve?
• What will the architecture be?
• What kind of team is required to deliver?

Beyond answering questions, this landing party also seeks to engage in exercises, such as Design Thinking, to explore and understand the problem as well as the solution space. Tackling these questions and exercises not only helps us fully understand the issue at hand, but also ensures everyone is on the same page as the project kicks off.

After this phase is completed, the team will grow from one or two specially selected team members into what we like to call the “Small Team, Best Team.” This next phase is where development will kick off in earnest and you can expect to see a team organized to tackle precisely what’s needed.

Why Design Thinking?

Over the years our team has come to highly regard the benefits of Design Thinking. It’s a system for exploring a problem space, understanding what issues may be at play, and iterating on that through various exercises. Finally, once an understanding of the problem is synthesized, the team can begin moving through the solution space to refine what the ideal outcome may look like. Using this approach early on is tremendously helpful to ensure everyone is on the same page as well as ensuring the actual problem needing to be solved is tackled. Without the understanding gleaned through these early-day exercises, the chances for project failure increase.

Benefits of The Landing Party

Why a landing party? Simple, it helps both parties de-risk a new project. Software is difficult. Even after decades of collective learning and iteration projects can still fail. The “Landing Party” is one of our ways of working to reduce risk in new projects. By exploring the problem and solution space with two or three seasoned engineers, both us and our clients can feel all the more comfortable that what has been asked for can be delivered.

Another benefit is that it allows us a staggered ramp-up to accommodate changing engineering needs across our clients. As the landing party works its magic, we’ll be able to better understand what skillsets we need and can hire, or tap other existing teams, for the required experience. All of this helps us de-risk projects to ensure the right people are placed in the right positions for the right reasons.

Intrigued?

Let’s talk and start exploring how a Kilterset landing party can help get your project off to a great start.

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