Balancing In-House and Augmented Teams

Introduction

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, many companies are combining internal talent with augmented teams to stay competitive, expand capabilities, and scale quickly. This approach combines the expertise of a company’s core team with external resources from outsourcing or team augmentation services. While this hybrid model offers many benefits, it also comes with challenges, particularly around communication, knowledge transfer, and team dynamics. Maintaining a harmonious balance between these two groups is critical to ensuring smooth operations and successful project delivery.

This article explores strategies for achieving balance between in-house and augmented teams, ensuring that internal and extended team members collaborate effectively, share knowledge seamlessly, and maintain a unified vision.

Understanding the Benefits of a Balanced Team

Combining internal teams with augmented teams allows companies to leverage specialised skills, scale faster, and meet project needs with greater flexibility. Here are some key benefits:

• Access to specialised skills: Extended teams bring specialised knowledge that may not be available internally, allowing companies to access niche talent for specific projects without the commitment of long-term hiring.
• Scalability: Extending allows companies to quickly scale their workforce to meet project needs without the overhead associated with hiring full-time employees.
• Cost-effectiveness: Augmented teams provide flexibility in terms of budgeting, as companies can hire employees with specific skills for a fixed period of time, reducing long-term costs on salaries and benefits.
• Fresh perspectives: Augmented team members can bring new ideas and approaches that improve problem solving and innovation.

Despite these benefits, the blended team model also creates challenges in communication, collaboration, and integrating augmented members into the company culture.

Key Challenges in Balancing In-House and Augmented Teams

Communication Barriers. When team members are spread across different locations, time zones, or even companies, communication can become fragmented. Miscommunications or delays in passing information can slow progress, reduce efficiency, and lead to misunderstandings.

Knowledge Transfer Gaps. In-house teams often have deep institutional knowledge that is critical to project success, while augmented teams may be unfamiliar with company-specific processes, tools, or goals. Failure to effectively communicate this knowledge can lead to duplication of effort, errors, and longer adaptation times.

Team Dynamics and Integration. Reconciling different work cultures, values, and processes between internal and extended teams can be challenging. If augmented members feel excluded from the team’s core activities, or if internal members view extended workers as temporary outsiders, this can lead to a lack of cohesion, trust, and collaboration.

Strategies for Maintaining a Harmonious Balance

To create a collaborative and productive work environment, companies need to adopt specific strategies that address communication challenges, ensure smooth knowledge sharing, and foster positive team dynamics. Here are some effective approaches.

1. Create a strong communication structure

Effective communication is critical for any team, but it’s especially important for hybrid teams with a mix of internal and extended members. Establishing clear communication protocols ensures that everyone is informed, aligned, and connected.

• Use unified communications tools: Use digital communication platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom to facilitate real-time communication across the team. Ensure that all team members – both internal and augmented – have access to the same tools and information.
• Set clear expectations: Be clear about communication expectations, such as response times, meeting schedules, and channels for different types of discussions (such as technical issues and project updates). This helps prevent confusion and keeps everyone on the same page.
• Encourage transparency: Encourage open communication within the team to build trust and collaboration. Transparency about goals, objectives, and progress helps build a sense of shared responsibility and ownership.

2. Facilitate a smooth knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer is essential to ensuring that both in-house and augmented teams operate effectively. Without it, external participants may feel disconnected and important information may slip through the cracks.

• Create a structured onboarding process: Establish a formal onboarding process for augmented team members, including training on company culture, tools, and workflows. Providing comprehensive documentation and access to key internal resources ensures that they can get up to speed quickly.
• Encourage mentoring and buddy systems: Pair augmented team members with internal mentors who can guide them through company-specific processes, answer questions, and facilitate knowledge transfer.
• Document processes and systems: Maintain detailed documentation of all key systems, processes, and workflows. Accessible, up-to-date documentation allows both in-house and augmented teams to work independently and reduces the need for repeated explanations.

3. Develop a collaborative team culture

Creating a unified team culture is critical to building strong team dynamics and ensuring that both internal and extended members work together effectively.

• Encourage inclusion: Treat extended team members as an integral part of the team by including them in key discussions, meetings, and decision-making processes. This helps prevent feeling like an “outsider” and fosters a collaborative environment.
• Host team-building activities: Organise virtual or in-person team-building activities that bring internal and extended teams together. Activities such as workshops, brainstorming sessions, or informal social gatherings can help build and strengthen relationships.
• Recognise contributions: Recognise and celebrate the contributions of both internal and extended teams equally. Recognising the value each member brings to the team boosts morale and promotes a sense of unity.

4. Establish clear roles and responsibilities

Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations is key to preventing misunderstandings and ensuring that both internal and extended teams understand their scope of work and accountability.

• Define ownership and accountability: Clearly outline which team members are responsible for specific tasks, decisions, and deliverables. This prevents duplication of effort and confusion about ownership.
• Encourage cross-team collaboration: Encourage cross-functional collaboration by encouraging in-house and augmented teams to work together on joint initiatives or projects. This not only improves knowledge sharing, but also ensures that team members learn from each other’s experiences.

5. Review and adjust team structures regularly

As project requirements and team dynamics change, it’s important to regularly evaluate and adjust the structure of your mixed teams to maintain balance and harmony.

• Conduct regular reviews: Schedule periodic reviews to assess team performance, communication, and collaboration. This will help identify any potential issues early on and allow you to make timely adjustments to team processes or structures.
• Solicit feedback from both teams: Encourage feedback from both internal and augmented team members on working agreement, communication effectiveness, and collaboration. Understanding pain points from both perspectives allows you to make improvements that will benefit the entire team.

Conclusion

Balancing in-house and augmented teams is a dynamic process that requires careful planning, communication, and team management. By implementing clear communication protocols, facilitating effective knowledge transfer, encouraging a collaborative culture, and regularly reviewing team structures, companies can create a harmonious environment in which both internal and extended members thrive. This balanced approach not only improves project outcomes, but also ensures that the team as a whole remains agile, innovative, and aligned with the company’s long-term goals.

With strategic planning and conscious effort, companies can successfully integrate augmented talent while maintaining a cohesive, productive, and motivated team.

If you have any questions or an idea for a project, contact us via sales@instandart.com or fill out the form on the main page of the site to discuss. We are always ready to help!

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