# Developmental best practices must change to ensure the post-pandemic recovery of financial services Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-07-15 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: The Future of Digital Development in Banks: Adapting Meta Description: Discover how banks must embrace software development best practices in the post-COVID era to stay ahead in the financial sector. Learn more here. URL: https://financedigest.com/developmental-best-practices-must-change-to-ensure-the-post-pandemic-recovery-of-financial-serviceshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/graphicstock-protect-company-finances-and-tax-optimization-company-investment-represented-by-dollar-symbolsuy7j2vgsg-1-1736838175271-compressed.jpg) _By **Perry Krug,** Director, Customer Success, Couchbase_ A banks’ digital development doesn’t just rely on tools and technology. It also relies on software development and the processes and best practices that should be used for the most effective, efficient performance. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a real shift in the way teams within banks work together and communicate, opening up new challenges when it comes to [digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/how-digital-is-transforming-finance-in-2023.html "How Digital Is Transforming Finance in 2023") and the recovery this will provide. **Hierarchy is changing** [Communication now relies on the speed of collaboration](https://www.financedigest.com/putting-collaboration-and-community-at-the-heart-of-the-metaverse.html "Putting collaboration and community at the heart of the metaverse") platforms like Slack or Monday. This means any banking or financial services companies that usually develop software in a traditional way, regardless of Open Source or [InnerSource](https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Open-Source-Insider/GitHub-What-is-InnerSource), will need to adapt and change their practices. Those with a ‘top-down’ [approach will require the biggest changes](https://www.financedigest.com/buy-to-let-makes-way-for-buy-to-net-as-april-tax-changes-approach.html "Buy-to-let makes way for buy-to-NET as April tax changes approach"). Any work that uses very protected territorial silos and is directed from higher up, will end up with a lot of [time tied up in virtual](https://www.financedigest.com/why-its-time-to-adapt-to-the-virtual-world-how-to-master-online-negotiations.html "Why it’s time to adapt to the virtual world: how to master online negotiations") meetings. Any banks or building societies utilising new management approaches to communication and computing technologies will instantly be ahead of the competition within the [financial sector](https://www.financedigest.com/boom-or-bust-how-the-financial-services-sector-is-coping.html " Boom or Bust: how the financial services sector is coping"). From cellular manufacturing practices to InnerSource, there are [long-studied methods of distributing authority and accountability](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/terracotta-army/news/2013/jan/toyota-and-terracotta-army-mass-production-and-mass-media) in ways that enable decision making at lower levels – which is now more of a necessity, especially within financial services. Doing so means [moving management](https://www.financedigest.com/managing-your-expenses-during-a-move.html "Managing your expenses during a move!!!") from decision-making to goal-setting and organisational structuring. **Working with Conway’s Law** “Any organisation that designs a system will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the [businesses’ communication](https://www.financedigest.com/business-texting-an-essential-communication-tool.html "Business Texting: An Essential Communication Tool") structure.” Conway’s Law can’t be fought, but you can understand its influence and work within its constraints. Essentially, you need to collaborate in order to successfully [develop applications for the finance](https://www.financedigest.com/what-skills-and-areas-of-knowledge-should-finance-teams-develop-during-2023.html "What Skills and Areas of Knowledge Should Finance Teams Develop During 2023? ") sector. For instance, if new ways of [working make close collaboration](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-based-bitfount-raises-5m-seed-to-streamline-collaboration-between-organisations-working-with-sensitive-datasets.html "UK-based Bitfount raises M seed to streamline collaboration between organisations working with sensitive datasets.") difficult, collaborate loosely. If shared resources are causing constraints and bottlenecks, couple software more loosely to its foundations. The popularity of microservices for instance, are an explicit recognition of these constraints, and should now be coming into their own. **A customer-first approach** In a socially distant world, product [managers within finance](https://www.financedigest.com/how-parents-can-help-students-manage-their-finances.html "How Parents Can Help Students Manage their Finances") are more important than ever. Developers will [know what needs](https://www.financedigest.com/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-mortgages.html "4 Things you Need to Know About Mortgages") to be done to create a solution – if they know what they’re supposed to solve. However, [solving these issues](https://www.financedigest.com/how-the-financial-services-industry-can-solve-the-issue-of-vulnerable-code.html "How the financial services industry can solve the issue of vulnerable code") means getting inside the customer’s head. Expecting developers to become psychologists is a step too far. Instead, there needs to be clear communication between product managers and developers over what issues [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/as-hackers-declare-cyberwarfare-financial-services-cannot-afford-to-be-complacent.html "As hackers declare cyberwarfare, financial services cannot afford to be complacent") customers are facing, and ideally what they want the end result to be. This means fast [communication is essential despite having distributed teams](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-maximise-your-virtual-communications-for-effective-team-meetings.html "How to maximise your virtual communications for effective team meetings"). If it isn’t in place, a priority for all teams in a [financial organisation](https://www.financedigest.com/can-financial-services-organisations-harness-data-and-bi-to-catch-up-in-the-digitalisation-race.html "Can financial services organisations harness data and BI to catch up in the digitalisation race?  ") should be making sure it is. **Less meeting, more workflows** This new normal should cause us to question the role of meetings. Meetings with more than a few people are not productive – at best, they are [announcements or at worst two people](https://www.financedigest.com/global-blockchain-project-fermat-announces-significant-alpha-release-for-the-internet-of-people.html "Global Blockchain Project FERMAT Announces Significant Alpha Release for the “Internet of People”") talking to each other while everyone else waits for their name. Every department within [financial organisations need](https://www.financedigest.com/cfos-need-a-focus-on-forex-in-financial-planning-tools-accountagility-reveals.html "CFOs need a focus on forex in financial planning tools, Accountagility reveals") to start taking note from developers and learn to adopt issue tracking, sprints, and a general workflow to make meetings run more effectively. Think of a meeting like a computer. The aim should be to make meetings fast – and to remove constraints on action. The aim should be to give people the [data and the power they need](https://www.financedigest.com/why-finance-teams-need-to-go-beyond-numbers-to-an-active-relationship-with-data.html "Why finance teams need to go beyond numbers to an active relationship with data ") to work more independently. **[Financial organisations must learn](https://www.financedigest.com/what-can-we-learn-from-financial-services-security.html "What can we Learn from Financial Services Security?") to adapt** The banks with the biggest rewards, will be the ones prepared to shift quickly to fit in with this new [way of working](https://www.financedigest.com/what-are-the-best-ways-to-become-more-productive-working-from-home.html "What are the best ways to become more productive working from home? "). The more [agile an organisation](https://www.financedigest.com/how-the-cfo-can-embrace-organisational-agility.html "How the CFO can embrace organisational agility") is, the more resilient they will prove to be when it comes to this new normal. It is vital [decision making is taken with data](https://www.financedigest.com/wage-data-dents-dollar-recovery-before-fed-rate-decision.html "Wage data dents dollar recovery before Fed rate decision") in mind. We must [share decision](https://www.financedigest.com/asian-shares-rise-dollar-dips-ahead-of-fed-policy-decision.html "Asian shares rise, dollar dips ahead of Fed policy decision") making and adapt tools and structures that power creativity and growth. This is what will prove [key to the post-pandemic recovery within the financial](https://www.financedigest.com/4-key-financial-trends-as-we-approach-2021.html "4 Key Financial Trends as we Approach 2021") sector. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. 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