Offshore development management is not an easy job. IT companies are actively hiring offshore and remote employees to fulfill their projects. After COVID-19, offshore hiring has become common in a wide range of industries. However, there are times when offshore management can be very difficult due to unexpected problems. The following article discusses some of these problems in detail and how companies can deal with these issues:
Tips for Effective Offshore Development Management
Before thinking about how to manage offshore development team, consider this fact – in 2020, the IT offshore industry stood at $333.7 billion, and by 2025, the industry is expected to grow up to $397.6 billion, according to this article by ProCoders. This shows that IT outsourcing is becoming a norm today, with more and more IT companies hiring offshore employees.
After all, offshore hiring has a lot of benefits for the company:
● Offshore development teams make hiring more cost-effective as compared to hiring in-house workers.
● Offshore hiring means workers can work with flexibility at their own convenience.
● Companies can access a wide pool of talent from across the world and hire professionals with different skills and expertise.
● Companies don’t have to waste time recruiting and training the individuals for extended periods of time. Outsourcing allows companies to select different specialists from the talent pool and start on the project right away.
However, companies also face various challenges when hiring and managing offshore development teams:
● Time Zone Differences:
Managing offshore teams effectively can be challenging if your team is located very far away.
● Language Barriers:
Unless there is the right flow of communication between the employer and the team, it can be super difficult to work proficiently.
● Cultural Differences:
Western developers have different priorities when it comes to working. Asian developers have their own requirements. If you don’t understand the culture of your workers and if your employees don’t understand your way of working, then it can be difficult to work together.
● Poor Communication:
Managing offshore teams become a bigger challenge when the project details, main requirements, and daily tasks are not communicated effectively to the team.
However, all of these challenges can be resolved if the employees know how to work with offshore developers. So let’s discuss how to manage an offshore development team effectively.
1. Set the Right Milestones & Deliverables
If your team does not know what to do and when to complete the task, it can be very difficult for them to work effectively. Accordingly, when assigning a task, make sure your team knows what is expected of them. Provide proper milestones and deliverables to your team before the work begins. Make sure they have the space to ask questions and get feedback on their work as well.
2. Use Communication & Productivity Tools
WhatsApp and Emails are not enough to work with remote teams. You need to have the right communication tools to manage your teams effectively and ensure they are working productively.
Tools like Slack, Google Meet, and Zoom are quite effective when it comes to communicating with employees and holding meetings. On the other hand, companies can also use tools like Asana and Trello to assign work.
3. Provide Benefits to your Teams
If you are hiring development teams for long-term purposes, you need to ensure the team is benefiting by working with your company. Sure, you must be paying them a good package. But a good package is not always enough to retain top talent.
Make sure your employees have opportunities for training and growth when working with you. By providing learning opportunities, your employees will be open to working with you in the future because they will see value in it.
Moreover, make sure you are providing a flexible working environment to your team because offshore teams don’t like to be bounded by the time when working remotely.
Final Takeaway
Effective offshore development management is the backbone of offshore IT projects. Companies can face various challenges when managing their remote teams. However, the right tools, ways of communication, and transparency with the team can help in working proficiently with your offshore teams.
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