If you take in consideration to hire a WordPress developer, your main focus should be on the skills they have in order to meet your business needs and how they can help you.
It is very important for them to know HTML and CSS. They need to understand PHP and Javascript in detail. If they have to do backend development, they neet to have larger database knowledge.
All these skills are mandatory for being an efficient developer, but we, at Team Extension, consider there are other skills that a developer needs to perfect in order to deliver a mature product.
We are not talking about technical skills in particular, not even skills related to WordPress, but about indispensable abilities that are as important as knowing how to code.
- Planning
“Planning” is a real quality for WordPress developers. When the revelation of creativity begins, developers usually make their work without any sort of strategy in mind. Of course, the enthusiasm is something to be appreciate, but the lack of a plan can cause trouble.
For example, will the new project hinder other projects the developer or the team might have? Maybe a deadline comes to mind? Is that deadline achievable? Do they have the requested tools to complete it? What will they do after the plugin or theme is finished?
They should want to delineate their goals – no matter the size – and establish some deadlines for them. For some, separating a big task in micro tasks will help them maintain focus and be more productive.
Also, good developers don’t forget to report on their launch plans. What is going to happen once the project is completed?
- Marketing
The next skill developers need is the ability to market a product productively. It doesn’t matter if the product is developed for a customer – they still need to know how to promote themselves if they want to value every second of their day.
Marketing must be a thing that needs to be on the radar, too, just like their technical skills. For beginning, they need to first think about what they want to achieve with the development project and then foresee who might most benefit from it. They represent the target market and should be a model person to whom the developers direct all of their materials.
- The Ability to Delegate
Developers have many responsibilities during the day.
There will come a time when developers need to delegate some tasks, even though they are well known for enjoying having full control over their tasks and the projects. Inevitably, the situation will occur and the developers should look at it as an opportunity to make more space for other projects. It means their development business is growing.
Knowing when they need to delegate is a sign of good leadership. Choosing qualified people to be on their team is an even greater sign of leadership ability.
- Moving On (The Understanding of it)
Not all the projects will have a successful ending. Nothing works perfectly, this is a harsh reality but one they need to accept if they want to find success on the long-term. Holding to a project long after it’s done and gone is not only a waste of time, it’s also a waste of resources. The time wasted on a dead project can be used to create another product that will work out.
We think that knowing when to move on is the proof you are no longer an amateur, but a professional developer.
- A Thirst for Things to Come
The main quality for developers is being curious.
They like to keep up to date with the latest technology. They want to know about the latest inventions and innovations, whether in WordPress or development as a whole. Even if that takes work, but they strive to be successful and it’s imperative that they are constantly pondering “Hey, what’s next?”
This hunger for new technologies leads to creating better and more interesting projects to set higher standards. More, if they look for the newest trends in the domain, it will be easier for them to foresee what are the features their products need to have and what is outdated.
Drawing the line
WordPress is always a growing product. We will always have hard working teams, striving to increase the functionality for the business they work for. The best developers in the business know this and they do their best to conform. This makes for technical skills but they need general business methods, too.
