By Elena Ogneva, Head of Agile Delivery, Godel Technologies.


When a client chooses to partner with Godel, a certain element of trust is required. They have to put their trust Godel to create the best possible business outcomes for them, adding as much value to their business as possible, thus maximising their ROI. Godel values the relationship they have with its clients, and so are determined to deliver value to them. Transparency is an integral part in Godel’s operations, which is why they will not make promises they cannot keep. For true agile software delivery, this is not optional. Therefore, Godel are very selective about the partnership they take on – only onboarding new clients when there is full confidence that Godel can deliver the most positive outcomes. Not only is this morally right, but it makes good business sense for both sides of the partnership.

Godel understands that there are many factors which clients must consider before they make the decision to invest in a partnership, and one such factor is the value they will gain from doing so. This factor underpins a variety of different questions our client’s have when considering Godel to get on board with their development.

 
One of the most important and popular types of questions from clients underpins their concerns about the Godel team, and whether they will be able to see the ‘bigger picture’, recognising the business needs and prioritising tasks that will suit the needs at that specific time. It’s vital that the developers understand the whole application which they are developing, including where this feature will sit, and how it will relate and impact others. Consequently, both sides of the partnership are constantly involved in product sessions to understand what the client wants to achieve from the engagement, as well as to update them on the solution they have found in an endeavour to reach these achievements.

 
In line with this, another integral aspect of Godel’s operations is the velocity at which their teams can deliver new solutions without it being detrimental to the quality of their work. In an essence, it’s all about balance and achieving the best possible outcome in the optimum amount of time and doing so before it negatively impacts the outcome and therefore, the value, to the client. To address this concern, Godel works in an incremental manner, introducing changes in small pieces, so that they can be undone easily if necessary. It’s important that the client has visibility of this capability, and that developers are able to react quickly if any changes and implementations need to be carried out quickly. This is also ideal when there is a shift in focus, and the changes no longer suit the needs of the business.

 
When undertaking different projects, it can sometimes be a concern that developers may sway from the client’s business needs and instead tackle an issue in their own way in order to make it more exciting, which in turn could also make the work much more complicated than is necessary. Both the Godel and client teams contribute to frequent sessions, which provide time for the collaborative team to discuss what is working for them, as well as what isn’t. It is the perfect window of opportunity to ask questions and to be honest and transparent with one another, with the business needs in mind, so that they can then provide the best solution. During these sessions, all team members are actively encouraged to share any ideas they have which may benefit the product they are currently working on, perhaps offering a better solution, no matter what position or experience they hold. Our developers are nurtured in an agile environment, which promotes flexibility and co-operation in order to find the best solution. As a result of this, our developers become fully integrated with the client team, so they are then able to act on behalf of the client, making critical decisions and changes to the software, which in turn will benefit them as well as their customer base. Godel pride themselves on being able to approach their work with a caring attitude, which drives continuous improvement. This, together with the wider experience that Godel possesses, drives innovation, which enables clients to compete effectively against their competitors through a better user experience, which subsequently enhances the value of the product.

 
An additional element of Godel’s work which enables them to deliver value to our clients is the analysis of the client’s business domain, as well as their work with the end user. In addition to this, it is their thorough understanding the clients business which enables them to grasp the impacts of their own work and how it is impacting the client’s business at each incremental stage of development.

 
Another cause for concern that is often seen on the clients’ side, is that developers won’t ask ‘why’ they are being asked to make certain changes, and that they will simply go ahead write the code without understanding why the client has asked for it, and which business need it should fulfil. Part of the developer’s job is to make suggestions about how to further improve the product for the client, and by asking the question of ‘why’ it enables them to ‘think outside the box’ and apply their experience and knowledge to the task, enabling them to find an optimal technical solution for implementation. For example, can they formulate a plan which could save money for the client, or that could improve the experience for the end user? By doing this, it means Godel can make the best use of their resources, delivering in time, to the best of their ability and thus delivering value.

 
Godel ensures that all delivery teams have honest, transparent and predictable capabilities, which they are able to utilise in order to achieve the different goals along the client’s roadmap. This also makes it much easier to manage the expectations of the team, which therefore makes the relationship much easier to manage, too.