Step 1 — Brief

We start by listening. You tell us what you are building, what skills you need, what working hours would suit your team and what the first months are likely to involve. We ask questions about your tools, your process and your culture, because they matter as much as the technical skills.

We also ask what has gone wrong before. If you have worked with outside teams in the past and been disappointed, the reasons are valuable. They tell us what to protect against.

What helps in a brief:

• The roles and skills you need, and how experienced the person should be.
• Your working hours and how much overlap you want with them.
• The tools and platforms the person will use.
• The likely duration, or at least a sense of whether it is short or open-ended.
• Anything unusual about your team or your way of working.

Step 2 — Match

Next, we propose people. For each one, we explain why we think they suit your work, what their strengths are and what support they may need to start well. Where possible, we arrange a conversation so that you and the person can meet before anything is committed.

We would rather present one carefully chosen candidate than a long list. If none of our people is a good match, we say so, and we do not stretch to fill the gap.

Step 3 — Work together

Once the team is in place, we help it settle. We agree a first-week plan, make sure access and introductions are arranged and check in frequently early on. Over time, the check-ins become less frequent, but they never stop entirely.

We hold regular reviews with you to discuss how the team is doing, how the workload looks and whether the size and mix still fit. If something needs changing, we change it early.

The agreement behind it

Everything above is written into a short agreement, in plain language. It covers roles, working hours, notice periods, confidentiality and how changes are handled. We ask you to read it critically and tell us what is missing. A clear agreement makes the working relationship easier for everyone.

What good looks like

A healthy dedicated team is one where you rarely need to think about the arrangement. People are working on the right things, questions are asked and answered, and problems are raised early. If you find yourself worrying about the arrangement, please tell us; something needs adjusting.