Forming an Ideal React Development Team

React.js is a front-end JavaScript library and one of the most popular frameworks for developing interactive user interfaces and web apps. Stack Overflow Trends show its consistent demand growth over the past few years. React.js has a 36–37% popularity as a web framework and around 70% of developers work with it on a rolling basis, making it the second most wanted tool. 

Given these dynamics, there’s a good chance that forming a skilled development team will significantly contribute to the success of your business. 

In this article, we will:

• explore use cases of React and define when React.js is the right choice;
• point out the advantages of React for web development;
• shortly define the difference between ReactJS and React Native;
• break down a typical React development team in terms of balancing;
• highlight the best practices and challenges in hiring, team, and workload management of React development.

React Essentials

React Applicability

React.js can be a UI technological basis for both simple one-page websites and much more complicated apps.

Large-scale web applications

Instead of working with a UI as a single unit, React.js developers break down a complex UI into individual “blocks”. So, React acts as a sort of construction set to assemble the entire UI from reusable components. And changes developers make in one of the components do not ruin the architecture and logic of the whole app.

Single-page applications (SPAs)

Single-page apps (SPAs) are websites displayed as a single web page and imply interaction with its UI without refreshing it.

The UX is more user-friendly and easier to navigate, as users can see all the content at once without redirections to new pages. With ReactJS, it’s possible to build an SPA within a few hours (by the way, it depends on complexity). 

The SPA concept is suitable for social media and messengers, so many popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram developed their web and mobile versions with ReactJS.

Server-side rendering

Client-side rendering (CSR) involves rendering through the user’s browser. When the user requests a route (clicks the button), the browser retrieves a minimal HTML page, renders JavaScript, and fills it with the page content (UI).

Server-side rendering (SSR) implies loading the website content not in the browser, but on the server. Simply put, there’s a single HTML page generated and sent from the server (initial HTML) to the browser (rendered HTML, known as DOM) without loading extra JavaScript or CSS files, and the page reloads.

Collaborative development

ReactJS’s component-based architecture and well-defined data flow make it easier for teams to collaborate on large-scale projects. Developers can work on different components of the application in isolation, reducing the risk of code conflicts and making it easier to test and deploy changes.

Benefits of Using React for Web Development 

Fast development and reusable components

React.js allows developers to split a single UI unit into individual components each developer can work on separately. And changes made in any particular component do not affect other parts and do not ruin the logic of the whole app.

Also, developers can pick up ready-made generic pieces from various continuously updated third-party libraries (like this or this) without creating equivalent features from scratch.

High performance

React.js is a lightweight framework and delivers lightweight apps as well. SSR and virtual DOM ensure fast rendering which makes React-based apps run super-fast. Websites that run on SSR load pages at least 1–1.5 seconds faster than those on CSR. Apart from that, React utilizes JSX, an optional syntax extension with code shortcuts that also accelerates the app execution.

Easy-to-start

React.js is pretty easy for learning compared to other popular front-end frameworks like Angular and Vue and requires basic knowledge of JavaScript to start working. So, an experienced JavaScript developer can gain an initial insight into React in 1–2 days.

SEO-friendly 

SEO results correlate with the speed of app execution, as well. The search engine can access only the already rendered HTML which is ensured by React’s SSR element. So, the less time it takes for the search robot to analyze the page, the higher the website ranks on Google.

Useful and diversified set of out-of-the-box tools

Facebook added React and Chrome development tools to the framework that allow developers to optimize their workflows by accessing child and parent components, observing component hierarchies, and inspecting their current state and props.

Declarative DOM

The declarative state of ReactJS’s document object model (DOM) makes it easier to understand and follow the code, as well as integrate people into the project. It also implies that the UI is automatically adjusted when developers change the code by interacting with DOM.

Huge and active community

React.js is open-source since 2013 and over the ten years, it surrounded itself with a huge community of developers. It has obtained 205k stars on GitHub and has involved 1,610 regular contributors so far. Developers add new code pieces to the library that any other developer can use, share tutorials, discuss problems together, and, basically, exchange knowledge and experience to make React better.

Advanced testing capabilities

React has a pre-built testing library with tools like Jest and Enzyme for testing React apps and separate components. React can test the application on various types of devices, track data, and debug.

ReactJS vs. React Native

In a word, React (React.js) is the library and framework for building web apps while React Native is for Android and iOS cross-platform apps. React Native allows mobile UIs development with JavaScript only.

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Forming and Managing the Ideal React Development Team

Typical Roles in the React Development Team

A complete React development team consists of:

Workload Balancing in the React Team

Smart workload management is one of the keys to team productivity and high performance.

So how do we combine different roles within a team and distribute their workload to achieve the maximum result? 

Here is a preliminary and rough estimate based on a typical ReactJS development team:

• React Developer: 2–3 full-time equivalents
• Back-end Developer: 1–2 full-time equivalents
• UI/UX Designer: 0.5–1 full-time equivalents
• Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer: 0.5–1 full-time equivalents
• Project Manager: 0.5–1 full-time equivalents.

According to statistics, 85% of workers feel overwhelmed. So how to balance the work? Here are some tips:

• If there’s a certain imbalance within the team, analyze who is underperforming, and who is overwhelmed, and create a plan to solve those issues;
• Outline job descriptions to refer to when setting tasks and expectations. With a clear vision of their responsibilities, employees can work autonomously and self-assign specific tasks;
• Re-distribute the workload according to the project’s main goals and priorities and define which tasks to be done first;
• Assign tasks based on teammates’ capabilities;
• Communicate the imbalance to the company’s leadership. There are cases when imbalance within a team can’t be managed internally by just re-distributing workload. Some departments may lack employees to fill in all the gaps and reduce the burden, some processes could be automated, and some policies should be revised. So don’t hesitate to involve leadership in these processes if there’s a need.

React Team Management Best Practices

Code-Related Tips

Structure documentation and code properly
There are basically no clear native standards for structuring projects in React. So it’s crucial to sustain documentation in a clear way for others to follow.

Unify documentation and code-sharing practice 

Standardize and properly organize in-code documentation (publishing overheads, dependency trees, acronyms the team uses, folders, files, and document management system). This will simplify code sharing between team members, as well as the onboarding of new employees.

Maintain version control

Track changes in the code by keeping detailed README files of each app version in a database such as Git or GitHub. In case of mistakes, there’s a chance to compare earlier versions and fix the bugs faster.

Team Management Tips

Define roles and responsibilities 

It’s crucial to define the areas of responsibility and clearly communicate those to each team member to avoid task overlaps and ensure overall team productivity.

Set ground rules for the team 

Compose guidelines, policies, procedures, and practices and communicate key points verbally before kick-off to establish smooth workflows.

Establish alignment with project goals and objectives
Convey the goals and desired outcomes to the team clearly and consistently. Make sure the targets you set do not contradict the capacity of the team.

Build strong leadership
Assign a team lead able to set clear goals and tasks, share constructive feedback, guide, support, and motivate the team.

Set metrics for developers to track performance
Set daily, weekly, or monthly metrics (goals) and communicate those as specifically as possible and follow up on those accordingly to keep the project progress on track.

Organize teamwork and assign tasks smarter

• Ensure that high-priority tasks are assigned to different employees equally;
• Check if low-value activities can be canceled, delegated, or automated;
• Engage people with diverse skills in the project to diversify the overall team capabilities and re-ensure that the workflows are not disrupted and there’s a backup plan in case something happens with the staff.

Communicate

• Encourage employees to express their concerns and make sure they know it’s safe for them;
• Share constructive feedback;
• Set up a dispute resolution algorithm to resolve conflicts right away.
  

Invest in employees’ education continuously

Provide developers with tools and resources to keep their knowledge and skills in line with the evolving market and technology updates. Assign them new responsibilities and challenging tasks to develop their skills.

Maintain the work-life balance

Set boundaries that deter working communication after working hours without a special need to avoid burnout. There’s even a practice of forced company-wide shutdowns to prevent overtime.

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Hire ReactJS Development Team: Challenges and How to Overcome Them

“Let’s say you need a software development team of four engineers.

First, time to hire. It takes 49 days on average to hire an engineer, LinkedIn claims. And in reality, to hire 4 engineers, you need to go through 1000+ CVs and 50+ interviews, which alone can take several months.

Second, hiring costs. According to CodeSubmit, the average cost of hiring a full-time software engineer in the USA is $32,601, including recruiting, benefits, insurance, retirement, paid leave, and supplemental pay. So, hiring four engineers can cost you $130k.

With Expert Remote you can hire 4 pre-vetted engineers remotely in just a week. We work only with senior-level developers with good English and soft skills. The cost of hiring is zero. And the hourly rates are at least 2x lower than you would pay for local developers.

Fill out the application form and get 3–4 interviews scheduled in the next 2 days.”

Alex Chepovoi
Founder at Expert Remote

Conclusion

So, let’s recap our findings.

The React.js framework for building and testing web and mobile apps becomes more and more popular these days due to its simplicity, fast execution, and outstanding results. It can be applied for either big-scale complex projects or simple one-page applications. 
With Expert Remote, you can quickly form an entire professional React team with no hassle. Please fill in the form below, and we’ll offer you the first candidates just within a few days!