Tips on Managing Offshore Teams Effectively

In the IT sector, collaborating with remote teams is common. Outsourcing to overseas development teams, especially for web and mobile app development, has become common practice. 

One possible option for the lengthy and costly software development process is by outsourcing the IT project to offshore teams. This way enterprises can stay successful in the market by merely hiring dedicated development teams from other countries where salaries are significantly lower.

If you want your company to succeed while using an offshore development model, this article will go over the most useful tips to manage your offshore teams. 

1. Challenges in Managing Offshore Teams

Usually, when there is offshore outsourcing, businesses come across several issues that may arise during such collaboration, such as inadequate communication with offshore software development companies and data protection. Let’s explore some of the common collaboration challenges faced by businesses.

1.1 Lack of Communication

Many businesses are concerned about communication issues. There will be time zone differences if you and your offshore team are on separate continents. Lack of communication can cause project failure, delays, as well as misunderstandings of goals and needs.

Solution

Technology has advanced so much that there are apps like Slack, Gmail, or Skype that allow businesses to effortlessly communicate with each other cost-effectively. 

1.2 Inappropriate Resource Management

Managing resources, infrastructure, hiring them, training them, payroll- managing everything is not easy. Businesses on their own cannot manage all tasks and that’s the reason they turn towards someone who can manage this task for them and who is trustworthy.

Solution

Hiring an offshore team is the one-stop solution for this.

1.3 Data Security

Working with offshore teams presents challenges due to the lack of face-to-face communication. As a result, you may be concerned that your data, such as a project concept or company needs, is vulnerable to theft.

Solution

Sign an NDA with your software vendor. This contract discusses development issues such as data gathering, transmission, and access, among others.

After discussing a few challenges, it’s now time to see how to manage offshore teams located at distant locations. 

1.4 Lack of Quality Control Leading to Poor Output

When you’re not used to the team you’re working with, quality control becomes more difficult. Developers working remotely or overseas may have different views on best practices for project management and company operations. If this continues, you may end up with a product that falls short of your standards. 

Solution

To manage your team efficiently, conduct weekly meetings and discussions. By establishing clear communication, you will be able to monitor your team from anywhere and their output.

2. Tips for Managing Offshore Teams

Your offshore team is not a one-time project development team. You may need to add some value to your offshore software development team, which is dedicated for the long term. This implies that giving tasks to them without providing context and expecting completion is not the most effective strategy.

Managing a team remotely can be difficult. When managing offshore teams, it’s important to follow a few best practices. Consider these tips for efficiently managing offshore teams. 

2.1 Discuss Goals with Offshore Teams

Once you hire a dedicated offshore team, your business needs to communicate the requirements clearly with the team. At the very beginning of the project, your offshore team should know what they are developing. So, the first step in the software development process is to inform the offshore staff about the goals. This ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Your offshore team must be able to view the larger picture. This process will allow them to invest enough time into the vision for the product/service. Now they would understand what you hope to achieve with it, and where you envision your firm in the next five or ten years. That is why it is critical to discuss your company’s long-term goals with your offshore partner and ensure that it is in sync with you and your project manager.

2.2 RoadMap of Product

One of the most misleading points is when the clear road map is not transparent and communication is weak with the remote teams. They tend to just do what they are advised to do. The product roadmap is a step-by-step development strategy for a quality project. Each team member must know the plan, the development process, offshore models, and how team members can contribute to the process. Essentially, they must know what offshore software development is.

If you have a question about what the roadmap should contain then it is quite simple. The blueprint of the project development plan contains upcoming features and technological aspects, depicting how the product will grow in the future. The product plan is essential for securing funding. Although this process involves offshore developers, their contribution is significant to the project. There are communication tools that help companies gain an advantage by transforming their ideas into features and translating technology into a business language that investors can understand. These tools also help them in project management.

Communicating the roadmap with the offshore employees is very important, it will help them bring multiple perspectives to the table, resulting in the implementation of the best ideas for app development. 

2.3 Clear Communication With the Development Team

Communication is the key aspect of the offshore team management process. Technology innovation has its perks and businesses no longer have to worry about managing offshore team members on a different continent. There are various tools to manage communication nowadays. These tools ensure end-to-end encryption and data protection, which helps in keeping the data safe.

The management of offshore development teams requires meticulous and regular communication. There are several tools and apps for increasing team communication, including

• Slack
• Gmail
• Outlook
• Skype
• Google Hangouts – a video conferencing service provided by Google.

2.4 Overlapping Work Schedules

One of the most common problems of working with offshore development teams is time zones. When your in-house team and your offshore team have gaps in their work schedule, it can work in your favor. However, businesses may have the misconception that they become laggards in the global market and that their work schedule will negatively impact them.

Communication is easy and you have the added advantage of working 24*7 for your business. You may also discover that you only need to speak with your staff either early in the morning or late at night. You don’t have to change your work schedules due to different time zones. You can work as you want, and your offshore development team can work as they want. In reality, these are misconceptions and there is no interference or cultural differences, these are just myths that obstruct businesses from outsourcing.

2.5 Regular Meetings With Offshore Development Team

You can do a lot when it comes to taking meetings. This is not an excuse to avoid outsourcing your services to a remote team at an offshore location. Usually, time zones are a reason companies consider when deciding whether to outsource. But when there is an advantage of working 24×7, these time differences should not be a barrier to outsourcing. 

You can start with daily stand-up calls or video calls, which are short, like 10-15-minute sessions. This is to understand what is planned for the day and assess what can be accomplished. You can hold these meetings every day where remote workers discuss their daily tasks. 

Weekly meetings – With all the core team members, including in-house developers, project managers, team leaders, and agile team members working in different time zones. During these meetings, they can discuss and communicate the previous week’s performance and set work for the next week; team members propose changes.

Monthly syncs —  This meeting will involve employees from both offshore and onshore teams of the company to summarize the achievements from the previous month, arrange future tasks, and discuss related matters.

2.6 Refrain from Micromanaging

Every business likes the freedom to work autonomously and dislikes being micromanaged. It is also challenging to grow your development staff if you do not empower and trust them to complete their tasks effectively. Your offshore team must have a competent senior developer who can function as a team lead. Offshore team management becomes healthier and more effective when enough autonomy is provided for work.

Consider whether your offshore team staff lacks senior-level leadership if you’re having trouble getting things done effectively. Many businesses make the mistake of just trying to employ a slew of low-cost remote developers. In such cases, consider keeping your project manager as a reporting manager for the tasks. This approach will ensure timely reports and help you maintain control over the project.

You and your offshore partner need to guarantee that your offshore workforce is self-sufficient and successful. You should regularly assess whether you have the balance of offshore developers and project managers for high-quality software projects.

2.7 Make Your Offshore Team Comfortable to Promote Friendliness

Avoid creating an “us versus them” atmosphere when hiring offshore employees. This could backfire and cause unnecessary problems, potentially slowing down or halting progress altogether. Make your offshore development teams seem like an extension of your staff rather than an external entity. Meet with them online regularly and involve them in all business synchronization and communications.

2.8 Use Maximum Visuals to Put Across Your Thoughts

Clear and concise communication is crucial in the software development process. To help your offshore teams understand your message without reading text, consider using a short video or snapshot with some drawings. You may save a lot of time by filming a clip and emailing it to your team. This works whether you’re giving comments on their work, teaching them, discussing changes to the development process, or introducing new duties. 

2.9 Use Agile Methodology

One of the most widely used approaches to managing teams nowadays is the agile methodology. The importance of reliability, effectiveness, transparency, and cooperation among remote team members is magnified when using agile methodology. These factors become even more critical when team members are located in various parts of the world.

To meet the demands of both in-person and remote team members as well as the market, the agile methodology provides a framework for managing teams. Constant growth and engagement are necessary since the process is not static. For this reason, it is ideal for outsourcing processes such as software development. Improving employee engagement and building a productive and committed team are both aided by agile methods. 

2.10 Pleasant Orientation and Information Sharing

Learning new technologies and services takes time, even for the most gifted developers. Therefore, successfully managing overseas teams requires focusing on recruitment and the skill acquisition procedure to guarantee that the teams comprehend the project’s goals and expectations, as well as the company’s values and work procedures. Hence, conduct their training on the best practices, technology stacks, and techniques used by your organization for software development and make your documents available for them to study.

Members of offshore teams can be productive and quickly integrated into the team culture with effective onboarding and information sharing. When team members are familiar with the project’s needs and procedures, there is less chance of confusion, leading to a reduced possibility of delays, errors, and misunderstandings.

2.11 Refrain from Placing Excessive Demands

Aiming for excellence is commendable, but it’s possible to have adverse effects when excessive pressure and compulsion are used. While some pressure might increase productivity, extra pressure can lead to unwanted results, lowering both performance and quality.

Organizations need to think about these things when they set objectives and deadlines:

• Define the task difficulty level.
• Set a practical project deadline.
• See for your employees’ capacities to picture the outcome.

3. Final Takedowns

For all the companies looking for offshore outsourcing, there are no obstacles as it can enhance profitability and performance.  Offshore teams can be beneficial, providing businesses with various advantages.  We hope this blog on managing offshore teams brought a sense of relief to your business teams, enabling them to develop apps with the help of the right offshore team. We understand the importance and challenges involved in managing an offshore development team.  Our experts can help you with unique solutions and the latest engagement models used by various organizations and their workforces.

FAQ:

How do you manage working with the offshore team?

To manage your offshore team effectively, share your vision, project goals, scope, and roadmap with your offshore team. Establish clear communication and hold regular meetings to monitor the work speed and avoid errors at each development stage.

How do you communicate with an offshore team?

To communicate effectively with an offshore team, it is important to create regular channels of communication, provide the necessary technology for smooth teamwork, and make sure that your offshore team is aware of the project’s objectives, schedule, and deliverables.

In addition to this, it is essential to stay in touch with the team frequently to get updates and provide feedback.

How do you collaborate with an offshore team?

To collaborate with an offshore team, ensure effective communication by being transparent, stating the obvious, and getting directly to the point.