6 Common Risks of Changing Team in the Middle of Projects

Assembling good members and forming a team is a challenge in itself. But, it hurts when a member leaves the group that has been together for a long time. Personal feelings and relationships aside, the consequences it brings are disastrous for a company. Unfortunately, the risks of changing teams in the middle of a project are even worse.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall employee turnover rate is 57.3 % in 2021. Looking at the figures, it is both devastating and costly for a company.

Changes are inevitable. They come and stay for a time. And talking about employee turnover in a company is unpredictable, and sometimes, it seems unavoidable. Not everyone associates themselves with a company for a long time. And when a member leaves or is changed, it is stressful and brings a lot of risks.

So, below we will discuss the risks of changing teams in the middle of the project.

Risks of changing team in ongoing projects

Project delay

When a member leaves a team, it is evident that the project will be delayed. Why? First, it won’t be easy to find a replacement in a short period. Even if you do manage to hire one, onboarding takes time. Moreover, they need time to be familiar with the project they are going to work on.

Second, what if they don’t find the working environment suitable? There are numerous reasons.

What if you bring someone from an in-house team to do the job? Still, there will be the problem of them being familiar with the project and the technology stack, which will take time. In such a situation, even a minute becomes a lifesaver for a company.

Miscommunication

The synergy the team had before will not remain the same. Working on a team for a long time has many advantages, like collaboration, coordination, faster delivery, faster development process, etc. However, these strengths might not be there after the members get changed. Miscommunication will occur and hampers the project’s progress. The understanding between the members it had before will be lost, which might cause conflict between the team members.

Later the exact synergy can be rebuilt, but it might be too late if the problem occurs in the middle of the project. Members will not have time to get familiar with each other initially.

Hampers quality

The quality of work may not remain the same as before. It may decrease. However, it depends on the employees’ skills, experience, ability to tackle a problem, and how fast they can adapt to their new working environment. There will be no problem if these aspects are taken into consideration.

However, mistakes may occur during the projects more often as compared to before.

Need of extra resources

When a new member joins a team, someone has to lead them and onboard them. For that, you need someone within the group for the job. It means extra time and effort to make them as comfortable as possible. It also means one has to take double responsibility. This may create an increased workload on them, decreasing their productivity and performance.

Risk of employee turnover

Employee leaving the organization is never a good thing. When more and more people quit their job, it shows the incompetence of a company in retaining its employees. It not only creates project delays but also damages its reputation in the market. Moreover, it will lead to misconceptions, and people will hesitate to contact for a job or project.

Project failure

When there is miscommunication, productivity and performance decrease, the projects are delayed, work quality declines, etc. This means only one thing, the chances of project failure increases. When everything goes the opposite of expectation, the project is more likely to fail.

What leads to change in a team?

But, what leads to change in a team? Have you ever wondered? There is always a reason behind employees leaving the organization early, during, or after the projects. So, below we have listed those factors.

Poor company culture

The company hires an employee. But the job doesn’t finish there. It has to nurture them, give them opportunities, and help them become competitive. However, sometimes, it fails to do that. The working environment differs from what they had expected. They hardly have any free time to do their task. They are not acknowledged. Slowly, their work-life balance starts to crumble. As a result, employees leaving the organization becomes common.

According to Express Employment Professionals, 17% of the employees left the company due to not fitting in with the company culture in 2020.

Health issues

Sometimes, health issues are the primary reason for the change in the team. The employees leave an organization because their health condition is too severe or they have to take more leave, which hampers their performance continuously.

Lack of opportunities

Not getting enough opportunities based on skills and experience is another reason for the change in a team. People want to showcase their talent, and they want an excellent platform to do that. And when they don’t get the exposure they want, it is evident that they look for alternatives.

According to Express Employment Professionals, 21% of employees leave the company due to a lack of opportunities.

Workload

Not everyone can handle a heavy workload, mostly beginners. It pressurizes and affects them negatively, making them unable to give their best. Sometimes, they get overwhelmed seeing the sheer number of tasks they have to complete. And when it continues for a long time, and they are unable to manage the pressure, they quit the job.

Dissatisfaction

Dissatisfaction is the leading problem of employees leaving an organization. There are many reasons to be unhappy with the current job, like

• lack of opportunities
• insufficient pay
• lack of acknowledgment
• a heavy workload, etc.

Lack of flexibility

According to Express Employment Professionals, 20% of employees leave a company due to unsuitable work hours. When people don’t have the flexibility to work, they switch to another organization with flexible working hours. There are times when a worker can’t work during specific hours. And when their request isn’t approved, they tend to leave.

How to solve the risks of changing teams?

The risks of changing teams are terrible for a company’s performance, productivity, and reputation. Even though they are inevitable sometimes, there are ways to mitigate the issues.

Sign the contract

Before finalizing any employee, it is best to sign a contract so that they don’t violate the policies and leave. This way, the company will be successful in keeping track of their employees and taking on several projects. Moreover, the employees won’t break it since it will hamper their careers.

So, the contract between employer and employee is the best option to reduce employee turnover and the risks of changing teams in the middle of a project.

Strong company culture

The company culture should be flexible and robust, and the working environment should be suitable for the employees to reduce employee turnover. The company should always focus on its employees and care for them. Otherwise, employee turnover will increase.

Keep motivating

A company should always motivate its employees. The best way to encourage them is always to praise their skills and acknowledge their work and achievements. This way, they will give their best and find the working environment suitable for them.

Provide opportunities

A company should always provide opportunities to its employees based on their skills and abilities. Every employee wants to keep moving forward, improving their knowledge and skills. They want to involve themselves in projects, be competitive, achieve their goals, succeed, and grow their careers.

Every company should be responsible for nurturing talents by giving them the opportunities they seek. Let them prove their worth in the organization.

In Conclusion

The employees are the company’s most significant assets. They are the ones responsible for its growth. If it keeps losing its men at the last minute, the final result would be beyond repairable. Therefore, it should do everything from its side to retain employees and reduce the risk of changing teams to keep the momentum going and succeed.

At Truemark, to keep the employees’ morale high, we provide them with a suitable working environment to nurture their talents and skills. We keep encouraging them never to stop and keep improving their abilities. We make them capable enough to compete in the global market. And most importantly, to make sure that there aren’t risks of changing teams, we sign a contract before hiring them.

Also, Truemark is a software company with 5+ years of experience in developing software and apps. We have a proud history full of happy clients and a good track record. So, if you are planning to build an app, website, or any software, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to help you.

Reference: Mind Studios

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