How to Effectively Manage an Offshore Software Development Team?

IT outsourcing approach is gaining popularity as the world evolves. Because of the impact of COVID-19, worldwide expenditure for IT solutions is predicted to be around 1.2 trillion US dollars by 2022, representing an increase of 11.2 percent over 2020. COVID-19 also has a direct impact on the IT outsourcing sector, which is expected to earn $413.7 billion in 2022.

Outsourcing is a tried and tested method employed by companies to gain access to the world’s best talent pool, simplify their processes, and allow entrepreneurs to focus on their primary business goals.

Startups could develop a top-quality MVP (Minimum Viable Product) while also saving money and time by using an offshore team of developers.

According to a 2020 Deloitte study, businesses outsource development work for financial reasons roughly 70% of the time. According to similar studies from the past few years, cost reduction is a major but not the only reason behind tech businesses’ choosing to work with offshore software development firms.

Furthermore, it frees organizations from worrying about staffing by allowing businesses to explore, create new features, or tackle their backlog of immediate and future projects.

While outsourcing offers numerous advantages, such as cost effectiveness and quality of service, managing development teams overseas is a major challenge.

In order to help you get prepared for the challenges that come with IT outsourcing, we’ll look at some tips for managing offshore development teams.

What is an offshore team?

An offshore team is commonly understood to be a predetermined number of professionals who work for you remotely. These people can be found anywhere, and all communication takes place by phone calls, video conferences, and email. Remote teams are created to collaborate on shared objectives in order to take advantage of the top technical expertise. While this scenario offers many advantages, there are some drawbacks as well.

The challenges and the solutions:

Working with an offshore team may pose some issues, but using technology and the proper team structures, they are easily resolvable. Here are some of the most frequently encountered challenges and the ways to resolve them:

Different Time Zones: Coordinating with a team that works in different time zones can be difficult. But, it can be overcome by making use of the most recent collaboration tools, such as chat tools, shared spaces such as email, video conferencing, and email during working hours that overlap, among many others.

Delayed Deliveries: Unless the teams are working from different locations and not working together, there will be delays in the delivery. This is the case with teams operating from the same place as well. Utilizing an agile approach is the ideal method to tackle this issue. On top of that, you can make use of management software such as Jira or Asana.

Privacy and Security: Data security and privacy are critical and must be managed while confidentiality rules are followed. By getting the appropriate agreements and nondisclosures, it can be addressed.

Benefits

With the help of various security techniques, you are able to easily conquer the challenges. The benefits outweigh the issues that arise when managing offshore teams.

1. Quicker On-Boarding Process: Instead of hiring a complete team, it’s easier to employ an offshore software development company.
2. Enhanced Potential for Innovation: You collaborate with the top talent from across the world, which provides innovative and creative strategies to manage the project and complete the project within the specified timeframes.
3. Cost-effective: Offshore talent coming from different regions can be employed for much lower hourly rates or salaries. It is guaranteed that you will reduce costs by employing this approach. For instance, overseas developers from Europe, the US, or Western Europe often charge $60 to $200 for an hour, while Central European developers typically charge between $50 and $100.
4. Scalability: Hiring an offshore development company or team gives you the possibility of paying on a per-project basis. The team members are available only for the required time frame whenever you want to expand your project. In the process of scaling up, you have staff (offshore and onshore) operating round the clock.

Tips and Best Practices to Manage an Offshore Development Team

The management of an offshore workforce has several advantages and difficulties that can be skillfully managed. Transparency, proactive communication, strong team ties, ownership, and effective problem-solving are a few of the fundamentals. Here is the greatest advice on how to effectively manage an offshore team to get the best results:

Tips to work with offshore teams

1. Find the best talent.
   

   Focus on understanding the needs of your company, your product, and the technological infrastructure. It’s essential to translate your needs for the project into technology. Finding the right person will be easier if management is in agreement from the start about the skills needed.

   Also, remember that you’ve got the world’s talent pool to draw from. You must ensure that you are focusing on the necessary skill sets.

2. The goals and priorities should be described in detail.
   

   Setting specific criteria and requirements is vital in selecting the right offshore team. Prioritization is among the most essential abilities. Make sure to have prioritization in mind and be specific about what you need throughout the entire process. By setting expectations early, you will be able to significantly reduce the time in the future.

3. Make Clear Communication.
   

   If the entire team is in the same workplace, you will not have any trouble informing your colleagues about the status of your job or the current scenario. But, if you work in a virtual offshore team, you must rely on different forms of communication. Teams have access to various technologies that help facilitate efficient and effortless daily communication. Three of these are loved by users: Zoom, Skype, and Slack.

   Through an effective communication system, you will be able to remain on top of the latest developments, deal with issues that arise, and make the necessary changes to the project. Everyone in the team will be aware of their importance and how much depends on them.

4. Focus on improving the working conditions.
   

   Every business has faced the issue of talent gaps at some point in their operations. Managing a development team that changes in size constantly is a lot more obvious because you have to spend time, money, and resources on the process of on-boarding and orienting new employees.

   As a result, businesses recognize how difficult it is to find and retain skilled and knowledgeable employees. It is possible to build a skilled offshore team of developers by improving the working environment and providing opportunities for professional development, training, and equitable pay.

   Make your business attractive to skilled and new hires and encourage effective communication, which is essential for successful collaboration between teams.

5. Make sure you have enough time for training.
   

   Even the best programmers need time to understand the latest technologies and products. In the absence of adequate time or training, managers abandon offshore teams often. A development team with a better education is more efficient.

6. Get to know the people
   

   Although communication between your team members is getting easier, it’s essential to understand and be conscious of the human factor. If you don’t take into account the human factor, the cultural barriers and differing time zones are often difficult to overcome. To enhance your leadership skills, be patient and make an effort to get acquainted with the members of your team.

   When you think about establishing an offshore development team, remember that every team will face its own unique challenges. Offshore development is feasible by understanding your product and knowing how to prioritize, communicate, and get to know the team.

7. Use agile principles.
   

   The offshore agile development model is widely recognized as a reliable method for managing development teams. This approach provides a transparent framework that allows for incremental and iterative approaches and adapts to any level of market conditions or feedback. Efficiency and quality are the first priorities in the agile approach. Utilize this strategy in conjunction with your team management system to improve the efficiency of your offshore development team.

Impressico is a leading software development company with experts operating across several time zones. We have assisted numerous brands across various industries in realizing their dreams of developing digital solutions.

We provide a variety of software development services, like software consulting, enterprise software development, custom software development, and integration. We can assist you with your needs for software development and keep the burden of managing a software development team offshore as minimal as possible.