Building a Culture of Openness in Dev Teams: The Hidden Driver of High-Performance ERP Development

In high-velocity development teams, technical prowess often steals the spotlight. We celebrate the developer who masters complex integrations, the architect who designs elegant solutions, and the team that ships ahead of schedule. But behind every truly productive sprint is something less visible yet equally vital: a team that knows how to communicate openly.

When developers feel safe asking questions, surfacing blockers, or admitting mistakes, everything runs smoother—delivery accelerates, quality improves, and morale stays high. It's about building the psychological infrastructure that enables technical excellence.

At ATSOURCE, we've learned this through years of placing and mentoring talent in NetSuite and ERP teams worldwide. Here's how fostering openness transforms development teams from good to exceptional.

Openness Isn't Soft—It's a Process Multiplier

Many leaders mistakenly view open communication as a nice-to-have, something to address after the "real work" is done. This perspective misses a fundamental truth: openness directly impacts your team's ability to deliver.

Consider what happens without it:

• Silent Struggles: Developers stay quiet when they're stuck, burning hours or days on problems that could be solved in minutes with the right guidance. They'd rather struggle alone than risk appearing incompetent.
• Fear-Based Development: Team members hesitate to ask "simple" questions, worried about judgment from peers or leads. This fear compounds, creating knowledge gaps that widen over time.
• Delayed Feedback: Critical feedback loops get postponed or avoided entirely. Issues that could be caught early snowball into major problems discovered late in the development cycle.
• Checkbox Reviews: Code reviews become passive, rubber-stamp exercises instead of collaborative learning moments. Reviewers avoid pointing out issues to maintain harmony, while developers miss growth opportunities.

We've witnessed this firsthand with one of our placed developers. They held off asking for help on a NetSuite customization, unsure if their question was too basic for a mid-level role. Instead of raising a flag, they quietly struggled through the task—only to realize too late that they had misunderstood a core requirement. The result? A key feature didn't make it to UAT, the sprint goal was missed, and the entire team's momentum suffered.

The problem wasn't technical ability—it was the absence of psychological safety to simply say, "I'm not sure about this."

How We Build Openness Into Development Workflows

Creating an open culture doesn't happen by accident or wishful thinking. It requires intentional structure and consistent reinforcement. Through our work with global ERP teams, we've identified practices that systematically build openness into daily workflows.

1. We Normalize Questions (Especially in Public)

The quickest way to kill openness is to let important discussions happen in silos. That's why we advocate for transparency in communication.

No DMs for "quick questions." Instead, we encourage teams to use public channels or pull request comments. This approach delivers multiple benefits:

• Searchable Knowledge: Answers become part of the team's collective memory
• Collaborative Learning: Others can contribute additional insights or alternative approaches
• Shared Growth: The entire team learns from each interaction

We explicitly tell teams we work with: "If you're asking, there's a 90% chance someone else is wondering the same thing." This simple reframe transforms questions from admissions of weakness into acts of leadership.

2. We Prioritize Clarity Over Politeness in Code Reviews

Kindness without clarity is ultimately unkind. In code reviews, vague feedback wastes everyone's time and creates confusion. We coach teams to be constructively direct.

Instead of dancing around issues with excessive politeness, we encourage specific, actionable feedback:

❌ "This is wrong" or "This could be better"

✅ "This might break if X happens. Should we add a validation check?"

The goal isn't to avoid discomfort—it's to remove ambiguity while maintaining respect. Clear feedback accelerates learning and prevents the same issues from recurring. We’ve found this approach to be highly effective in our own work: Conventional Comments.

3. We Use Retrospectives for Process AND People

Most teams run retrospectives focused solely on tasks and timelines. While important, this misses half the equation. We encourage teams to explicitly address the human side of development.

Beyond the standard "what went well" and "what could improve," we ask:

• Was anything unclear during this sprint?
• Did you feel stuck and unsupported at any point?
• What knowledge gaps are holding us back?
• How can we make it easier to ask for help?

This isn't venting or therapy—it's proactive process optimization. When people feel heard and supported, they perform better. It's that simple.

‍The Measurable Impact of Openness

In teams where openness becomes embedded in the culture, the results are tangible and significant:

• Accelerated Onboarding: Junior developers ramp up faster when they feel safe asking questions. They don't waste time pretending to know things they don't.
• Confident Delegation: Senior developers delegate more effectively, knowing that team members will speak up if they need support rather than struggling in silence.
• Higher Code Quality: When feedback flows freely, bugs get caught earlier, technical debt stays manageable, and code quality consistently improves.
• Sustainable Pace: Collaboration becomes less emotionally draining and more energizing. Teams maintain higher velocity over longer periods without burning out.
• Innovation Flourishes: When people aren't afraid to be wrong, they're more likely to propose creative solutions and challenge existing approaches.

High-Performance ERP Teams, Powered by Openness

At ATSOURCE, we don't just place talented developers—we help build resilient, high-performing teams grounded in both technical excellence and open communication. Our experts bring not just skills, but a commitment to collaborative growth that transforms team dynamics.

Let's discuss how ATSOURCE can help you create development teams where openness drives innovation. Schedule a consultation with us today to learn more about building your ideal ERP development team.

Meet the Author

Jona has over a decade of experience in SuiteCloud Development on the NetSuite platform. She specializes in implementing advanced solutions and has led teams in creating high-quality software. Jona holds multiple certifications and has been recognized with awards like the Summit Award and Quality Champion Award.

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