9 Tips To Manage Offshore Team Successfully

Quick Summary: Managing an offshore team can be challenging due to distance, language barriers, cultural differences, and time zone differences. However, with the right strategies and tools, it is possible to successfully manage your offshore team. Here are nine tips to help you manage your offshore team successfully, including hiring the right people, establishing clear expectations, and fostering a team culture that embraces diversity and inclusivity. By following these tips, you can build a more collaborative and productive offshore team that can achieve success together.

Offshore development is trending! With the world changing dynamically, an IT offshore model is becoming more and more popular.

Offshoring is a well-known practice that plays a crucial role for business in the long run. Though, one of the primary reasons is that keeping an offshore team is more affordable than an in-house team. And, that’s precisely the main reason why companies prefer to hire offshore developers. 

While it’s a great move, sometimes that’s not all!  Many have concerns about managing the remote team.

Managing an offshore team need not be stressful or difficult. But, all it needs is determination and a flawless strategy to ensure everything goes well. 

So, how to manage a remote team? How can you make sure that things will do well if you are not physically present to oversee the production?  If you have already mastered the skill of managing an in-house team, you might be thinking why would this not be enough to successfully manage your offshore development team too? Well, you are about to find out why isn’t it?  

Certainly, there are a few best practices that work well in both situations. I have pocketed tips and tricks to manage your offshore development team effectively.    

9 Tips & Tricks To Manage Your Offshore Team

1. Set Up A Standard Communication Channel

It’s mandatory for your onshore as well as an offshore team to be on the same page. And, this is possible when both teams use the same communication tools.   To put it simply, it’s necessary to deliver a better-defined framework – ”Cooperation Constitution” describing how communication and cooperation are done daily. The framework will include:

• Progress tracking tool
• Rules regarding invoicing and work management
• Defined means of communication (email, skype, slack, etc)
• Contact persons

As mentioned above, the cultural indifferences in most of the scenarios make communication the real challenge. So, the clearly defined rules for the team meetings, communication channel, frequency, and tools used for time tracking are important and will save a lot of effort and nerves later.  We, at Your Team In India, have integrated the best practices by commonly using email, skype, zoom, and Trello to connect seamlessly.

Recommended Read: In-House vs Outsourcing: Pros, Cons and Use Cases

2. Establish clear expectations

Establishing clear expectations is crucial to the success of any offshore team. Here are some tips on how to do so:

1. Define goals and objectives: Clearly define the goals and objectives of the project or task at hand. This can include outlining the purpose of the project, what the end result should look like, and any specific milestones along the way.

2. Define roles and responsibilities: Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each team member. This can include outlining the tasks that each team member is responsible for and the deadlines they are expected to meet.

3. Set deadlines and milestones: Establish clear deadlines and milestones for the project. This can help to ensure that the team is staying on track and meeting its goals in a timely manner.

4. Communicate expectations clearly: Communicate expectations clearly to each team member. This can include outlining specific requirements, expectations, and timelines.

5. Use project management tools: Use project management tools to help manage and track progress. This can include setting up a project plan, using task lists, and tracking deadlines.

3. Build Good Documentation Of the Product

With thousands of lines of code, software development seems to be a challenging venture, right?  Although, with changing people working on a specific aspect of the product, switching teams, and multiple reviewers, it’s no surprise that the code gets swampy. And, there is a term coined for that – “A Technical Debt”.  

In simple terms, technical debt is amassed when the company’s software is being constantly developed without a strong emphasis on the code quality and making the software future-ready. Keeping that in mind, the hidden dependencies or suboptimal solutions encompass and get hidden deep inside the code. 

Unsurprisingly, the value of technical debt is on average $3.61 per line of code.  Is that enough? It actually depends on the size of the project.  There are approximately 2 million lines of code in Hubble Telescope software, amassing over seven million dollars in technical debt.

Furthermore, taking into consideration the fact that a 30-year-old machine recently entered safe mode after a software glitch, the problem is more than that.  And not to forget – two million lines of code is not that much – Microsoft Office 2013 used 45 million lines of code and the socializing giant Facebook runs on 62 million lines of code. 

So, if the company wants to create a modern software product, comparable to Facebook or any other popular service, it’s important to prepare solid and informative documentation. It not only caters to the developer’s needs but also helps future team members to manage the technical debt and solve problems no one ever thought about when writing the code.  

4. Make Them Feel They Are Part Of The Team

It’s important to include your offshore team in company activities and keep them informed about the company’s upcoming events, plans, and announcements. Besides, it’s crucial that they know you will value them and also their career growth.  Not to forget, you’ll be surprised at how much more they will willingly give to the company when they feel appreciated. 

5. Stay Mindful Of Time Zone Differences

Probably, your offshore team may not share your time zone. So, ensure to inform them in advance of meetings and deadlines set in your time zone. Be mindful of how and when you can reach out to them, within and beyond their work hours.

An experienced global team could start any time of the day or night according to the requirements under special circumstances. We, at YTII, work with you to arrange the best time period to make your teamwork efficient and effective. 

6. Keep An Eye on But Don’t Micromanage

Honestly, micromanaging is not anyone’s cup of tea. Some things might not feel right to you, but for developers, it’s just part of the process of ensuring the project’s success in the future. Therefore, you should communicate any queries or recommendations you may have positively so that the developers will always feel appreciated.

7. Constant Communication With One Another

Please don’t allocate a task and hide it for a long time before checking it out. Besides, you should also hold meetings daily or participate in them. It may sound daunting and time-consuming at first, but who knows if things skyrocket in the right direction? 

Alternatively, your team may gradually lack concentration and excitement because they believe that you are unconcerned with the team’s growth. As an outcome, it’s important to have daily scrums regarding the project’s development.

Moreover, you can schedule a meeting every morning before the team starts work for a quick rundown of challenges and how they were addressed.  

8. Regular Updates Via Collaboration Platform

Notably, apps like Trello, Slack, Zoom, and JIRA have gained immense popularity globally, thanks to offshore work trending. Offshore development teams and product owners are more productive when they use the appropriate collaboration tools. 

As opposed to sitting in a room together, these technologies help keep everyone on the same page despite variances in time zones and locales. Moreover, to nurture a colleague relationship and to build trust between the two sides of the software development process, communicate regularly with your offshore teams through online meetings via popular communication tools like Skype, Google Meet, etc.

9. Embrace cultural differences

Embracing cultural differences in an offshore team can help to build a more inclusive and collaborative work environment. Here are some tips on how to do so:

1. Educate yourself: Take the time to learn about your team members’ cultural backgrounds and traditions. This can help you to better understand their perspectives and work styles.

2. Foster an inclusive work culture: Create a work culture that values diversity and inclusivity. Encourage team members to share their cultural traditions and perspectives.

3. Encourage open communication: Create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Encourage open communication and active listening to help build trust and mutual understanding.

Finally

Hiring dedicated offshore developers is an amazing approach to gain a competitive edge and deliver dynamic digital products for a pocket-friendly price. But, due to several elements like time zones, cultural differences, and different working methodologies, outsourcing can come with unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant surprises. 

That’s where offshoring comes into the picture.  Offshoring has had a history of ebb and flow. Adopted and practiced in many countries across the globe, it was and still highly impacts economies in a good light. So, if you wish to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of offshore development, or how to successfully manage it without any regret, don’t think twice to contact us now!

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