More and more businesses are now warming up to the possibility of building a development team in another country. And with the Covid-19 pandemic urging businesses to operate remotely, there has been a sharp spike in the number of global remote teams.

The fact of the matter is that working with remote developers can prove to be extremely advantageous. Offshoring development processes to countries with large talent pools and lower operational costs provides businesses the ability to scale their team without undue stress, hassle, and cost.

However, optimising your offshoring process is crucial to get the most of your development teams. From presenting your business requirements to working with the right partner, and hiring skilled engineers, every stage matters. So here are five things to consider when hiring a remote team.

1. Choosing the right people

Though this may seem like a no-brainer to many, it is the most fundamental step to establishing a stellar remote development team. First things first, it is essential for you to know your hiring requirements. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, then the chances are that you’re not going to be able to find it. So take a step back and really assess what you wish to gain from offshoring. You can even discuss this internally within your organisation to get a clearer picture.

The next step is to partner with the right offshore development company — a company that has a history of building successful remote teams. Narrow it down based on geography, verify potential partners through their offshore development case-studies, schedule calls with them to understand how they operate, and always prioritise value over cost. Through this process, you can find the best offshore development partner that works for your business.

Once you’ve picked the right offshore partner and established an operational roadmap for the next course of action, all that’s left to do is hire the right developers. This is where your requirement analysis will prove to be beneficial. What kind of offshore team do you want? What technical and non-technical skills are you looking for? Make a short job description if needed, highlighting all the ‘must-haves’ and all the ‘good-to-haves’. This checklist will act as a benchmark for your hiring process.

While your offshore partner establishes a bulletproof recruitment process and scouts the right talent for your organisation, you get to focus on the core competencies of your business. And at the end of the day, you can interview the selected candidates before making an informed decision.

2. Establish open and secure communication channels

When working with a remote development team in another country, especially in a different timeline, it is essential to establish the right communication channels. The channels you choose must primarily be efficient, secure, and transparent. For instance, instant messaging tools like Slack and Skype work perfectly for quick catch-up sessions. Similarly, a video-conferencing application like Zoom can be used for weekly meetings and scrum sessions. The key is to find the right tools to help make communication simple yet effective.

Apart from communicating on the right channels, make sure that you’re also communicating as clearly as possible because things can get lost in translation.

3. Choosing the right project management tools

Using the right project management tools when working with remote development teams is crucial to your projects’ success. The use of cloud-based tools has become increasingly popular, and for good reason. When working with Agile methodology and scrum teams, collaborating on the cloud ensures efficiency, transparency, and agility. It also ensures that all data is stored in one place, making access extremely easy.

Some of the popular project management tools for remote teams include Zoho and Jira.

4. Practice time-management

Assigning defined timelines for multiple sprints in a development project ensures that the team can adhere to it. It also makes it easier to track the progress of the project and ensure that your team is setting achievable targets. Tools like Google sheets or Odoo are simple but effective ways to track the project, assign team members to different tasks and update their progress every day.

5. Establish a synchronised workflow

Once you have the right tools and processes in place, your remote development team will perform like clockwork. Team building processes like rewarding team members for good performance will help elevate life at work. Allow your remote development team to be flexible — rigid workflows and procedures might curtail creativity.

Even though your offshore development team’s geography is different, mutual respect and shared goals will help you establish a synchronised workflow.

Summing up

Remote development teams can be as efficient as working with local developers. All you really need is organisation, effort, and the right offshore partner to help you.