What is team upskilling?

Team upskilling is the process of enhancing employees' skills, competencies, and knowledge through structured, continuous learning initiatives such as workshops, mentoring, peer-to-peer coaching, and customized learning programs. Upskilling an engineering team enables companies to adopt new technologies and best practices within an organization to catch up with innovations and emerging tech market demands. Businesses can fill the tech skills gap within their existing engineering teams and apply this knowledge to daily workflows.

Benefits of Team Upskilling for Engineering & Product Teams

The tech field is highly dynamic, especially with the rise of AI, which requires continuous learning. According to the 2023 IBM survey, 40% of the workforce may need to reskill over the next three years due to the implementation of AI and automation. Having an effective learning and development strategy brings many proven benefits both for tech companies and engineering & product teams, including:

• Improved employee retention and engagement. 59% of workers express interest in team upskilling to advance in their current career. By investing in a team upskilling strategy, tech companies boost internal team scaling and employee motivation.
• Accelerated product development. Companies that invest in upskilling their team members report a 25% increase in developer productivity. With smarter approaches and tools, engineering teams can reduce the time-to-market and optimize their efforts.
• Ability to implement innovations. Custom tech training workshops for teams enable engineers to use more advanced technologies, improve coding practices, and achieve stronger data security within their organizations.  
• Enhanced collaboration and remote team enablement. Regular training and workshops help team members build cross-functional skills and better align their efforts, improving overall efficiency.
• Business agility and adaptability. According to PWC, 30% of CEOs report that upskilling accelerates digital transformation, helping their companies stay ahead of market demands through internal capability building.

Team Upskilling Strategy: 5 Steps for How to Upskill a Team 

When investing in upskilling your team, it is essential to clearly identify the skill gaps and goals before launching any learning initiatives. Here are the steps to use as a team upskilling plan template:

1. Identify skill gaps

The format of training for building custom software solutions or implementing new engineering approaches depends on what skills the team lacks. There are several key approaches to finding it out, such as:

• Work breakdown structures (WBS): List the tasks and skills required to complete them.
• Role-based analysis: Specify key competencies for each role.
• Benchmarking: Establish professional growth expectations in line with industry standards for specific roles.

2. Set measurable learning goals

Define achievable learning outcomes in accordance with the competencies the company needs to develop. Make sure these goals are specific and relevant (e.g., "Develop practical skills of GenAI use for automating workflows in 1 month").

3. Build tailored learning paths

Design an optimal talent development program tailored to the goals and preferences of engineering team members. Typically, tech companies use on-the-job training, mentorship programs, instructor-led workshops, self-paced learning platforms, or a mix of approaches. Those who lack the required expertise in-house can invite external trainers to upskill their teams.

4. Deliver training

Run the program for the specified period and gather feedback. The reviews show what can be improved and help optimize the team upskilling program next time. 

5. Measure progress and adapt the program

Measure the real impact of learning initiatives through skill assessments, tracking project delivery timelines, employee retention and engagement metrics, and customer satisfaction surveys. 

Challenges of Team Upskilling & How to Overcome Them

Team upskilling requires substantial resources and may be difficult to implement, leading some companies to delay investments in training. The best practices below can help overcome the core challenges and successfully upskill the dedicated development team:

• Lack of time → Integrate learning into workflows. When upskilling is a part of the working process, it happens smoothly and doesn't require separate gatherings, which considerably saves time.
• Poor knowledge retention → Implement hands-on training and mentoring. Practical training through real projects and simulations improves retention and the use of acquired knowledge.
• Difficulties measuring ROI → Track KPIs. Measuring changes in delivery speed, defect rates, and employee retention enables companies to see the impact of implemented training and evaluate its effectiveness.

Real-World Use Cases of Upskilling Team Members

Information and technology companies see a growing importance of AI and big data skills (97%), creative thinking (75%), and networks and cybersecurity (74%). Other fields that heavily depend on continuous learning include automotive and aerospace, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, insurance and pensions management, and energy technology. These are common domains for team upskilling, among other use cases:

• An e-commerce company's team requires training in UI/UX design to implement an accessible website design and expand its target audience.
• A HealthTech company trains engineers on secure data processing and software development practices to maintain regulatory compliance.
• An enterprise runs a series of workshops to implement green coding practices for low-impact development.

Summing Up

Upskilling of engineering teams is an optimal way to build new skills within a company without hiring external specialists. Businesses run workshops, mentoring initiatives, and customized learning programs to nurture the professional development of their employees and gain other benefits such as a competitive advantage, increased retention, and faster software delivery. Continuous learning enables tech companies to implement innovations using internal resources and stay up-to-date with the best industry practices.