How to Hire an Offshore Development Team
When looking for an offshore development team, you need to consider several things to ensure success. An experienced and communicative offshore team is going to play a crucial role in your success. Here are a few things you need to know before looking for your offshore team.
Difference in Culture, Language, and Time Zone
Offshore developers can be found all over the world. It can be challenging to find someone who can work effectively with you and your team due to cultural differences, language barriers and different time zones. We recommend looking for individuals that meet your standards or working with a company like Allshore Virtual Staffing that works through these issues for you.
Cultural differences are definitely something to be aware of and respect when considering hiring offshore. Often you will find these developers observe different holidays and may not view work / personal life balance in the same way U.S. clients do. It is very important to find someone you can work with and that understands the core values of your business. This will ensure your offshore team is motivated and fully committed to accomplishing the goals you have set for them successfully.
English communication is a huge factor in success when working offshore. However, it shouldn’t be a reason to avoid working with an offshore team. There are several practices you can follow to avoid confusion and misunderstanding caused by potential language differences, which you can read more about here. It is also very important to consider any slang or jargon you may be accustomed to that your team may not understand.
Different time zones are another hurdle often faced when hiring an offshore team. To overcome this, negotiate a fixed schedule that everyone follows to ensure productivity, efficiency, and consistent communication when you need it. At Allshore, we require our team members to work U.S. business hours to accommodate our stateside clients. This allows our clients direct access throughout the day to work with their team.
Focus on Goals
Focus on what you want to achieve and how to achieve it. It is so important to be clear and concise with your requirements and expectations when considering your team. Working with someone virtually makes this even more important. Differentiate between ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves’ in your task list and make sure to communicate those expectations clearly so your team has a good understanding of priorities. Providing job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities for your team will help establish a firm foundation for a successful relationship.
Look for Expertise
Find someone with the knowledge, expertise, and motivations needed for success for you and your company. Testing your team through technical assignments that require real-time coding is an excellent way to judge a developer’s knowledge and skills. Giving these tests will help you analyze how potential team members’ approach a problem, deal with it using their skillset within a given time frame, and ensure there are no bugs or errors before finalizing it.
Contract Details
It is crucial to have an explicit business agreement for successful outsourcing. It must reflect the scope of the project and the expected outcome and be agreed upon by both parties. Furthermore, a business contract will promote trust and help establish a successful professional relationship.
These are a few of our best tips for setting you on the right path and finding the right offshore team for you.If you’d like to learn more about working with a remote team through Allshore Virtual Staffing, please fill out our contact us form here!
