{
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    "title" : "Tips for building a small, scrappy digital team |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Tips for building a small, scrappy digital team",
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    {"title" :"Tips for building a small, scrappy digital team","summary" : "Explore hiring strategies, how to leverage contractors, and creative approaches for building your digital team.","date" : "2024-11-01T00:00:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"frances-carden" : "Frances Carden"},"topics" : {
        
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      "filename" :"2024-11-01-tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2024/11/2024-11-01-tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-01-tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-01-tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team.md","slug" : "tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2024/11/01/tips-for-building-a-small-scrappy-digital-team/","weight" : "1","content" :"\u003ch2 id=\"making-it-work\"\u003eMaking it work\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgencies with small, scrappy teams can implement big changes. How? Cross-functional, tightly-knit, and nimble teams can be a driving force.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis connection plays into an agency’s hiring strategy. Agency hiring managers may look for people who:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBring a diverse and unique set of skills to the team.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDemonstrate a keen desire to learn and work within the agency’s unique culture.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAre self-driven and resourceful in a variety of environments, including remotely.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEmbrace accessibility, inclusion, and creativity.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAre willing to take chances, work with limited resources, make mistakes, receive feedback, and apply lessons learned. After all, few great things are achieved through timidity.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeveraging this approach shows that you are willing to make compromises, have clear prioritization, and work with available resources. Additionally, adopting this hiring strategy shows that your goals benefit your agency’s end users and that you are thinking strategically and creatively — which is helpful when \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2024/05/20/a-five-step-plan-for-communicating-with-leadership/\"\u003eseeking support a​​nd approvals from agency leadership\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"dont-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help\"\u003eDon’t be afraid to ask for help\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe availability of intergovernmental resources (like Digital.gov!) are key resources for small, scrappy teams.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have a challenge in your agency, it is likely that others have faced and overcome similar circumstances. Take advantage of conferences, \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/\"\u003egovernmentwide communities of practice\u003c/a\u003e, mailing lists, and the broader federal community to gain expertise and channel creative solutions. You can benefit from what others have learned. While your team may be small, the overarching federal community is not, and there are many other practitioners ready to share their experiences and guide you.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"use-a-variety-of-approaches-to-hire-your-team\"\u003eUse a variety of approaches to hire your team\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow do you make the hiring process more accessible to find great candidates?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"creative-hiring-strategies\"\u003eCreative hiring strategies\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can uses different hiring strategies, such as posting opportunities on blogs, professional development networking websites, the Office of Personnel Management’s \u003ca href=\"https://openopps.usajobs.gov/\"\u003eOpen Opportunities\u003c/a\u003e program, and the State Department\u0026rsquo;s \u003ca href=\"https://careers.state.gov/interns-fellows/virtual-student-federal-service/\"\u003eVirtual Student Federal Service\u003c/a\u003e internships.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is important to make the hiring process clear:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWalk people through what is going to happen and what to expect.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBuild goodwill across and within your agency.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse internal rotations within an agency to facilitate cross-training.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBe transparent.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"contractor-support\"\u003eContractor support\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso consider contractors when staffing your \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2020/05/27/whos-on-your-digital-dream-team/\"\u003edigital dream team\u003c/a\u003e. When bringing contractors onto your team:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCarefully consider where your team needs contractor expertise.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMake sure your team has the proper resources to manage contractors successfully.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStay aware of fiscal year funds, appropriations, and budgetary requirements that may impact your contractor plans, and have mitigation strategies in place. These mitigation strategies may involve decreasing contractor support, or preparing your team for a future contractor roll-off.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"box \"\u003e\n  Review the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/delivering-digital-first-public-experience/\"\u003eRequirements for delivering a digital-first public experience\u003c/a\u003e for more detailed information on the policy framework.\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-can-i-do-next\"\u003eWhat can I do next?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoin a \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/\"\u003eDigital.gov Community of Practice\u003c/a\u003e to follow the advice of our members and use the resources available through these governmentwide communities of federal, state, local, tribal, and territory digital service practitioners.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n  \n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note dg-note--join\"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/uswds/img/sprite.svg#groups\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      \n        Who can join?\n      \n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  The \u003cstrong\u003eWeb Managers Community of Practice\u003c/strong\u003e is a group of government employees and contractors who manage government websites and digital services. They work to create a trusted, seamless online experience for all. \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/web-content-managers/\"\u003eJoin the Web Managers Community\u003c/a\u003e.\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note \"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/uswds/img/sprite.svg#notifications\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      Note\n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThis blog post was inspired by the first session of the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/event/2024/03/13/spring-2024-community-summit/\"\u003eSpring 2024 Digital.gov Community Summit: Delivering a digital-first public experience\u003c/a\u003e, which focused on standing up a digital team and the topics that relate to the successful creation and inspiration of that team. These topics included the kind of skill sets to look for, hiring strategies, how to leverage contractors, how to use creative approaches to get started, and how to effectively implement \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/delivering-digital-first-public-experience/\"\u003erequirements for delivering a digital-first public experience\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis session’s panelists included:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSession moderator, \u003cstrong\u003eVicki McFadden\u003c/strong\u003e — product manager, Service Delivery Team, General Services Administration (GSA),\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSession moderator, \u003cstrong\u003eGregory Your\u003c/strong\u003e — director of website management, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJacquelyn Dolezal Morales\u003c/strong\u003e — digital communications specialist, Inter-American Foundation (IAF)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLindsay Goldstein\u003c/strong\u003e — digital services specialist, Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRobert Jolly\u003c/strong\u003e — product manager, 10x, GSA\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n"}
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