In-House Team Transition

Situation

Now Optics relied on an offshore development agency to manage multiple company websites. Turnaround was slow, quality was inconsistent, and collaboration across time zones was difficult. Meanwhile, the budget was fixed and unlikely to increase.

Task

I identified that an in-house team could replace the agency at the same budget with better speed, quality, and collaboration. I needed to build the business case, get VP approval, hire the team, and execute a seamless transition without disrupting ongoing work.

Action

• Built and presented a business case to the VP of Marketing comparing agency costs to equivalent in-house salaries
• Wrote all job descriptions, conducted interviews, and hired 4 team members: 2 web developers, 1 web designer, and 1 QA tester
• Designed a 60-day transition plan with progressive knowledge transfer while keeping agency contracts active during overlap
• Established team processes: daily standups, weekly 1:1s, task tracking, and code review standards
• Managed the transition alongside regular project delivery to avoid any gaps in output

Result

Team completed 200+ web tasks in 2020 (Stanton Optical and My Eyelab only, excluding ecommerce). Higher quality, faster turnaround, and better collaboration than the offshore agency. The team became the foundation for all subsequent web product work at the company.