[LRUG] Freelancers pairing with existing developers on short term projects - this common?

[Luis Correa d'Almeida]

On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 12:21 AM, Chris Adams<mail at chrisadams.me.uk> wrote:
> Hi there,
>

Hi

> Is it unheard of for more experienced freelancers to be brought on for
> a few days to pair with less experienced in-house developers, working
> together to implement features, and transfer knowledge, instead of
> sending the less experienced developer off for sheep-dip style rails
> bootcamp training sessions?

Pairing is much better. We have done this, be it with freelancers or
consultancy people, and it works well. We do it from two perspectives:
enablement and delivery. The goal with enablement is to transfer
knowledge of a particular area to the resident team, whether technical
or process related. We also bring people in to increase delivery
capacity and these are typically longer term engagements. Different
dynamics apply.

>
> I ask because I'm working in a very small team working on a rails
> based web app as the front end developer and community manager, with
> an embarrassingly small budget, and I'm looking for a more experienced
> developer to pair with for the next phase of development which is
> beyond my own skillset.

It needs to be fairly focused and you need to know what you want to
get out of it. Not everyone will be a good fit. Also, remember that
domain knowledge varies and will impact - specifically on delivery
engagements - how fast the external resources become net positive
contributors.

>
> I'm have enough experience with Rails to be happy implementing fairly
> simple features on apps, or using gems like hominid and paperclip, and
> I know enough on a command line to be fairly comfortable setting up
> linux virtual machines for running rails apps, but after losing
> depressing amounts of time hunting bugs introduced by stupid coding
> mistakes that would be caught by a second pair of eyes when pairing,
> or a well thought out test suite, I know that trying to maintain and
> develop a rails app further by myself is folly.
>
> In cases like this, would be the most cost-effective way to improve
> the quality of the code in the app, to allow for more sustainable
> development over the coming months?

It seems like you could benefit from pairing with more experienced
people with complementary skillsets. Think ROI. Without knowing the
details it is difficult to say whether it is cost-effective, but it is
generally a good idea.
>
> Thanks
>
> C
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Adams
> mob: 07974 368 229
> tel: 0207 558 8971
> skype: chris.d.adams
> twitter: chris_d_adams
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