Managing a remote software development team: 3 key ingredients
Bringing a remote software development team onboard means bringing extra expertise while saving on costs and time. The idea of it has become even more appealing now that many businesses have been unable to keep working as usual. So, we share the best practices learnt during years of working together with companies worldwide. Read till the end to discover bonus tips from our clients.
Trust as the glue of remote work
The most challenging aspect of remote collaboration is trust — relying on your technology partner’ word and having confidence in the team’ expertise. It might take you a while to build that trust, especially if it is your first time managing a remote software development team or if you had a bad experience in the past. However, there are a few things you can do to build mutual trust and nurture a strong work relationship.
Select your remote team wisely
Remote work will not simply work if you doubt the professional on the other end of that conference call. Do some prep work and have a clear vision about what you are looking to achieve. Follow a selection process that will guarantee the best-suited candidates for the job or provide requirements and let an expert company do it for you. As a manager, you are not expected to be proficient in software development to call the shots when it comes to choosing a team of qualified developers for a specific project. Collaborating with a company like ours, for example, would make your life easier. It ensures your remote team is well-versed in global collaboration and flexible to adapt to changes. Follow our how-to-checklist to choosing your technology partner.
Focus on goals, not an activity
Management tasks, like employing, on-boarding, planning, have all evolved through applying the latest methodologies, such as goal setting. Over the years, our team has gone from an action-driven to a more result-driven style of working by implementing OKRs. What is the difference? As an example, in the first case, developers treat the process as the heart of the work. As long as they use the predefined by the client or the Project Manager development methodology, tool or technology, they can improve application efficiency. When driven by results, on another hand, developers can experiment with different tools and processes, compare them, and suggest the best one for building the specific solution.
Therefore, we trust that our team is going to accomplish these goals, rather than that they are doing a 9 to 5 job. So, ask yourself what you are paying for. Is it for your team’s time-in-the-seat or is it for achieving best-in-class website design? Applying a result-driven methodology will help you define clear expectations while giving your remote team the freedom to be creative. Thus, a real chance at winning your trust.
Get to know your remote team members
Social connections are a powerful way to build trust. In the office, getting to know your co-workers is done without thought. When managing a remote team, however, you need to be more intentional about connecting. You simply will not run into each other in the coffee area.
Consider allocating time for personal interactions like starting meetings with personal updates on off-work topics. Think about virtual team building activities. Since all of us, at Accedia, have been working remotely, we managed to bring successfully almost all our office initiatives online. A few examples are daily coffee talks, where we discuss anything but work, weekly after work-hours gatherings for a beer or quizzes, ongoing social challenges, and more. Before the lockdown, we also used to exchange regular visits with our clients. The aim was not only to working side-by-side during important project phases but also bringing the team together and getting to know each other outside the work context. We can say it for a fact that bonding with your remote team members will make them more invested in your vision for success.
Communication as the lifeblood of remote success
Even with advanced communication technology, such as instant messaging services and video conferencing platforms, you must put time into communicating with your remote team. Maintaining channels for continued, transparent communication is the most effective way to keep a team collaborating effectively.
Secure a main point of contact
As a manager, your responsibilities do not end with choosing the remote team and signing the contract. Project success has a great deal to do with deadlines and accountability. For example, the initial project set-up might turn out to be ineffective, whether it is the team size, the VPN, or the virtual machines selected. Discussing the problem with the selected technology partner timely can make or break your project. Therefore, committing to ongoing communication and responding to the remote team members frequently is a necessity.
Whether it is going to be you or not, make sure there is always the main contact point who can answer questions causing blockages. Vice versa, know who to turn to for all kinds of updates or feedback. For example, we provide a dedicated PM as a complementary resource, who oversees the team and discuss project progress with the client. They are the people clients turn to when comes to performance reports and conversations about team scalability opportunities. Having a main point of contact ensures the project moves forward and you have traceability of deliverables. Meanwhile, the developers can focus on the next big solution implementation, without getting distracted with questions all the time.
Keep your team in the picture
Keeping only on-site team members informed about decision makings, at the exclusion of your remote team, is a guaranteed road to miscommunication. Changes in the business, whether it is a new process, service, or technology, are critical for every project. That is why all parties should be aware of whenever such a decision is made.
To ensure everyone is in the picture, include the remote team in regularly scheduled meetings for discussions on topics like performance and use official channels, such as email when making official announcements. If you decide to work with a sourcing team, make sure to understand the communication flow of that team’s company. For example, we usually use two main email groups — one for correspondence on a project leadership level, concerning management matters, and the other including the whole team. Even simply using the right email group can help you avoid communication breakdowns.
We hope that these tips will help you navigate to making the most of your long-distance team collaboration. Now it is up to you to decide on a remote software development team that is proactive in helping you implement best practices by sharing feedback and ideas on improving day-to-day communication and processes. Discover the ways you can set up a remote team with us.
