Say, I am given a list of 5 developers, and I have to choose 3 of them for my project. What will be the best way to do so?
Currently, I just give them a basic module from the current project and assess the code and the time taken. Is there a better way that does not require 2-3 days of work from all the developers?
So as I understand, you would not like to invest 2-3 days in assessing their skills (of course the best method is the code writing efficiency) to make selections?
I feel one of the most important skills for a programming guy is the ability to debug programs. Better the debugging skills, better the efficiency of the programmer. I have always assessed the skills of a developer that way. So, get some programs (of the platform your team is working on) with some issues and ask each one of them to debug and find the reasons. This should not take more than 4 hrs and will provide you an answer, which will give you a good assessment of their programming skills.
Another remote option is to make the assessment based on the analytical ability. It may not be directly linked but can be a good way of judging their ability to be a good programmer. There are plenty of analytical ability tests available on the internet but be sure to choose questions, which requires the programmers to use their analytical skills.
Check their CVs and look for experience and other talents that will add value to the team. Also, keep in mind which skill sets are key to your project
Get feedback from previous project managers and tech leads because mastery in technical subjects not always translates to a good team member. Important to check timely delivery and if possible, code quality/defect rate
Check if they have worked together before and ask each one (if possible) out of 5 developers who would they pick to form the "A" team
Remember that the project is good as the TEAM that work on it, not the individual.
Follow your instincts
If you're going to base it on code, then why not take code they've written already? That would save the 3 days. ;-)
Assuming your company (like all companies) hires only the best people, the quickest would be to have the team decide. Put them all in a room, outline the project (and skills needed and milestones/deadlines) and tell them you want a team of 3. Walk out and give them 15 minutes to pick a team.
This way you won't spend any time on team-politics. They chose to work with each other, so they won't complain about having to deal with each other.
They also agreed to the deadlines, so they hopefully feel a sense of responsibility to meet them.
If you're really paranoid, you could meet privately with each member of the new team, and check that they really want to work with the other 2 on this project.
