How To Manage An Offshore Software Development Team Effectively

Software outsourcing has become a popular choice for many businesses and is growing rapidly. One of the main reasons for this is the reduction in costs and the ability to focus on core business. In addition, services are generally performed in countries with much lower labor costs, which can be very convenient and profitable for businesses.

Additionally, offshore providers often have a wealth of experience and knowledge in the international market, which can be extremely valuable for established companies looking to expand their reach.

If you have decided to outsource your software development, you should first define your primary team management tactics. Although an offshore development company has many advantages, such as cost-effectiveness, speed, and excellent service quality, it can be difficult to manage an offshore software development team far from you.

This article will cover what challenges face by an offshore development company and how you can manage the offshore software development team effectively.

First, we start with knowing the pros and cons of working with offshore software development!

🌟What Are The Pros And Cons Of Offshore Software Development?

🌟Offshore Software Development Challenges

There can be some issues that come with offshore software development. Here are some of the most common ones👇

Fig 1. Offshore Software Development Challenges 

👉Continuous feedback can be harder than you think

Different time zones can pose a communication challenge for remote developers who may not see updates or be completely unaware of them until later. If there’s a pressing issue, in-house developers may find a solution or tweak it but forget to inform the remote team, causing them to develop something that isn’t similar to what is being created in-house.

Time differences are one of the most common causes of communication issues among team members. It’s easy to forget to pass along information that later turns out to be important, which can cause problems for your team members working in different time zones. 

👉Poor planning

Your project’s success is more likely if you have a well-thought-out plan. For example, suppose you don’t communicate your schedule or requirements properly with your outsourcing partner. In that case, it could lead to delays as developers won’t be able to deploy their skills and knowledge until they understand your goals and requirements on a strategic level. 

👉Cultural barriers

This may not seem a challenge initially, but remember that different cultures have different approaches to family, lifestyle, and work processes. For example, Swedish people usually don’t spend as much time specifying the tasks in a project.

If you are used to having your studies outlined before starting work, you may need to adjust when working with the team to find a compromise. 

Related Read: How To Achieve Project Success With Your Outsourcing Service Provider

🌟Tips On How To Manage Offshore Software Development?

👉Managing the offshore team

Managing a remote development team can be tough, but you have to keep a close eye on your team’s management. The same goes with your offshore team- you must be just as attentive. So how can you do it?🤔 

We have some tips to share👇

Fig 2. Tips On How To Manage Offshore Software Development 

1. Task management: Many applications help to distribute tasks between team members and monitor their progress. Using task management apps allows you to manage developers in different time zones and track the status of tasks. 
2. Meetings and sprint calls: Daily sprints, weekly meetings, and monthly sync-ups are important for a clear vision of the working processes and software development team management. 
3. Choosing calls over chats: If you can, aim for video calls with your developer instead of just audio calls this way, you can build confidence and create a more friendly working environment. Of course, having a video call is impossible, but it’s worth it if you can! 
4. Tackling time differences: Many clients working with offshore software development team are concerned about the time difference. Some worry about issues with the synchronization of teamwork, while others fear having less control. 

Related Read: 6 Things You Must Know Before Changing Developers

But in practice, we observe that different time zones may benefit your business and cooperation.

For example, 

‘If a company has a client of time difference being ahead by 7 hours. The advantage for the hiring company is that all the daily tasks are done by the time they start their workday at 9 AM.’ 

But how can you increase the productivity of the team? Here’s the solution👇 

1. Match your schedule: If your project demands a lot of time and energy to keep things running smoothly, you might want to consider finding a team that is okay with working fluid hours. 
2. Hire a ‘proxy’ teammate: If you are based in California, but your team is in Eastern Europe, communication can be challenging. We can solve this issue by hiring a teammate from a central location, for example, Germany. However, this approach is a little outdated, as modern management focuses on expertise. 
3. Advanced working plan: From our experience, the most reasonable approach is to plan sprints and use task trackers, so employees are always aware of their tasks. Teammates should send reports, links, contacts, etc., that everyone can reference when needed. This way, everyone knows where to find information or whom to ask.