Our top goals as IMPACT’s web development team for 2020

With 2019 now officially in the rearview mirror, it is time to look out ahead to 2020. Being a web developer at IMPACT, it’s absolutely critical that you never stop growing and developing (no pun intended.)

That’s easy, though, since there is always something new to learn and build upon.

What I love about leading IMPACT’s team of talented web developers is they are always hungry to do this; to grow their own knowledge on new things, what they are experts in, as well as how they can make the websites we build for clients even better.

These traits all influence our goals for the coming year. 

Looking back on 2019

In 2019, our website team made significant changes in the way we go about building our websites — from how we develop a website strategy down to how we design and ultimately develop a site.

We’ve seen a lot of success with these changes in our processes, have produced better work for our clients, and we’ll only continue to iterate and improve in this new year.

That being said, we’re not only going to focus on what we’ve already worked on over the past year in 2020.

We also have other areas in which we want to improve, grow, and learn, so we can deliver a better product and reach their most aggressive digital sales and marketing goals. 

How we developed our goals

As you read on, you may have notice not all our developers have overlapping goals. That’s because we are focusing on the areas that we are experts in and, like any good team, we excel in different areas.

We at least meet weekly all together. 

In these meetings, we bring together all of our diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and discuss any new opportunities to adapt and improve our processes — or even how we can better develop how we build and deliver cutting-edge, lead-generating websites for our current clients and future clients.

🔎 Related: What should a website redesign process really look like?

Even though I may have the supervisor title, I don’t like to micromanage the team.

We all work together as equals for what is best for us and what is best for the company.

This is why I let the team come up with their own goals.

They all have the best interest of the team and company in mind — and our clients — when thinking of what we can (and should) be working on. 

When thinking about our goals for this year, we wanted to keep them inline with IMPACT’s overall goals and vision as a digital sales and marketing company to help thousands and thousands of people and companies succeed.

So, with that prompt in mind, I asked my team to think about what goals they wanted to focus on for 2020.

Our goals as web developers for 2020

Frond-end developer Morgan VanDerleest would like to focus on:

1. Using Vue.js more in a production environment.

In layman's terms, Vue.js is a progressive framework for building user interfaces — or how visitors interact with a website.

2. Becoming more proficient with VS Code, including staying on top of useful features and extensions.

VS Code is a code editing software that is used by some developers on the team when building websites.

3. Finding more use cases for SVG and CSS animation and standardize process where possible.

Sometimes it is nice to have some movement on your website, but not distract your visitors from converting. With that in the back of the mind, plus IMPACT being big on efficiency.

How can we grow our library of animations, so that we can easily add to your website that won’t take a tremendous amount of time and distract your visitor and fits within the design direction your designer is taking you in?

(Morgan is also known as the person on our team who brings dad jokes to the table. So, personally, I think it would be great if he brought the dad jokes back for 2020. It’s always fun to start off the morning with a laugh.)

For senior front-end developer Tim Ostheimer would like to focus on the following:

1. Creating a web tool with a suite of options that can easily perform bulk HubSpot API actions. (“Wait, what the heck is an API?”)

2. Expanding our library of options for the foundational website section.

If you have worked with us or are looking to work with us on a website project, every site we build is “flexible,” meaning you can rearrange sections on your site as needed without the need of a developer. This gives all of our clients complete control over their website.

That being said, we have a library of sections that our designers work with and draw from while designing your site, so we would like to work with them and grow this library.

3. Improving and potentially automating the process for handling accessible web design on our websites. (“Why does website accessibility matter?”)

Last, but certainly not least, front-end developer Danny Escardo would like to put his focus on:

1. Further developing and streamlining our WordPress capabilities and process to continue providing services for all kinds of clients and client needs.

2. Work towards getting one of our sites awarded / recognized.

For example on Awwwards and HubSpot.

3. Providing additional development assistance to a top secret project we're working on and rolling out at DSMW, wherever possible.

As our web developer team leader (and still part-time developer), I have a wide range of goals that I would like to focus on 2020.

1. Continuing to support the development team, so they can grow their knowledge base and in their careers.

2. Continuing to improve and document internal processes.

3. Continuing to improve on efficiencies to help streamline IMPACT’s website process.

4. Getting IMPACT into HubSpot marketplace. 

You may be thinking why isn’t IMPACT already in the HubSpot Marketplace? Well, we have been spending a lot of time working on improving our internal process, and now that that is off the ground it’s time to work on this.

Plus, being in HubSpot Marketplace is another way we can help marketers like you and meet potential clients. 😉

5. Just like Tim, continuing to improve and build upon the library of options for foundational website section designs. 

I may not have a module at the top mind that I would like to add to our library, but having more than one option of a certain kind of section (like a pricing section) for you to choose from when building your website with us, is always a plus.

6. Staying up-to-date on any new development trends.

7. Better familiarizing myself with website accessibility and schema. (“Uh, what’s schema?”)

Honestly, this list could go on forever, but these are the top focus areas for me this year. (And I hope to continue to add to this list over time.)

How these goals can apply to you?

If you are a leader (of a company or a team), I encourage you to listen to your people and work together to figure out your goals. Empower them to work and thrive within their given area(s) of expertise. 

If you are on a team where you aren’t a leader, speak up and present your ideas — don’t hold back.

You are in the one in the trenches doing the hands on work every day more than they probably are. You could be the one bringing something new to the table that they didn’t think of.