How to Run a Remote Development Team

Custom software development is at the peak of its inexhaustible demand, thus making more and more people involved in this sphere. Today’s global tendencies help this process, making specialists around the globe closer to each other. Now you can hire remote developers from another continent to boost your business. However, in order you can really gain from it and bypass the possible obstacles, you need to know basic rules on how to recruit and manage a remote team.

What Are The Advantages of a Remote Development Team?

• The wide range of qualified programmers at your service.
• Hiring offshore employees makes economic sense since collaboration with in-house developers is often more pricey.
• Advancing remote workflow, you make your employees happier. Many surveys showed that remote workers appreciate their positions due to the ability to create their own ideal working environment.
• If your developers are motivated, they do not need any “corporate culture” distractions. They get favorable conditions for the creative uninterrupted working process, and you can rest assured that the results won’t be long in coming.

Where to Find Remote Developers?

In the first instance, you should decide whether your remote team would be an onshore or offshore one. If your aim is to save on the salaries without detriment to the quality of your product, paying closer attention to offshore dedicated development team may be an apt decision. Eastern European countries and Ukraine particularly, form a competitive talent pool that is worth your attention.

Why Outsourcing to Ukraine is a Good Idea?

• One of the best quality-to-price ratio among IT global markets. You get more quality of products and skills for less money.
• Ukraine is Europe’s number one country by the number of IT professionals.
• A mature and reliable IT infrastructure in the country, which complies with the best practices and international standards.
• Fewer communication barriers: while having cultural peculiarities, Ukrainians predominantly communicate in a friendly western style.
• Simplified legal and tax systems.
• Suitable time zones: time lags with Western European countries and the US allow establishing effective communication without crucial inconveniences.

In spite of all the obvious advantages of hiring a remote development team, you may face some issues, so you should be ready to tackle them.

Possible Difficulties with Managing a Remote Team. What Can You Do To Minimize Them?

Although there are some hurdles, associated with outsourcing, they are quite overcomable. Let us look closer at the issues and their solutions.

1) Productivity issues. Some people easily distract, some are more self-motivated, but almost all of them can temporarily “fall out” of the working process if not being closely watched. It’s just the human nature. We are not going to be frustrated over it.

SOLUTION: Pay closer attention to time-tracking tools that help to elevate teams’ productivity. Time Doctor and Hubstaff are worth attention in this regard.


2) Management issues. Without any doubt, managing local and in-house teams is easier. Managing strategies are more difficult to be implemented among remote development teams.

SOLUTION: Fortunately, there are many viable project management tools, like Basecamp, Asana or Trello. Each of them has its peculiarities, but what they have in common is an ability to solve hardly any issue a remote team manager may face. These applications allow scheduling, tracking time spent on this or that task, compiling to-do lists and following them, assigning tasks to each member, sharing files, and offering many other useful options for remote managing. Each of them deserves your attention, you just need to choose the one that suits you best.


3) Communication issues. Complete dependence on online communication and time differences tools may lead to some uncertainties and delays. However, shrewd communication strategies are able to minimize these problems.

SOLUTION: Clearly agree about the frequency of communication sessions and the tools you will be using for this purpose. For example, you organize a virtual standup meeting very week by Skype, solve daily routine questions by Slack, make an expanded corporate mailout monthly and communicate by phone regarding urgent issues.


4) Security issues. For instance, you hire offshore Ruby on Rails developers for your project and manage them remotely. How to be indemnified from the unpleasant surprises, associated with legal aspects?

SOLUTION: Sign a contract with your team, which would articulate all the rights and obligations of both parties. It may contain an exhaustive info on terms, deadlines of fixing bugs, making updates, iterations etc. Besides, a Non-Disclosure Agreement regarding some sensitive pieces of information. These measures will help you collaborate with your remote team safely and transparently.


5) Social issues. In spite of the fact that many programmers work effectively individually, many of them feel they are excluded from the corporate social life and need closer communication with their colleagues.

SOLUTION: Remote team building should be a highly favorable option among your managing plans. There many ways to make people feel more connected, even if they are geographically dispersed. What exactly can you do?
- Allow some small talks. Often some personal chit-chat fuels their confidence in each other, energizing people and their work.
- Encourage your team to play some online game, organize a business book club, sing in a group karaoke etc.
- Encourage out-of-office communication — online communication after work, sharing interests, arranging events and journeys etc. Let people collectively devote time to their additional sources of inspiration. Let’s say, your Ruby on Rails developers may have much more talents and hobbies than their colleagues could imagine.

Some More Tips on Hiring a Remote Development Team

• Allow enough time for the hiring process itself. While recruiting and interviewing, pay attention to such personal characteristics as the ability to set priorities, self-motivation and communicability. There are many professionals to choose from, so prefer those who you feel comfortable to deal with.
• Check references beforehand. Portfolios and feedbacks are meaningful indicators of developer’s approach and professionalism.
• Organize local management as far as it is possible. Assign roles and set goals in a clear and concise manner.
• Organize regular online meetings. Provide adequate feedback and let people speak and be heard in return. Stay in contact with everyone and make every member of your team feel valued.
• Hire people you can trust and trust people you hire. This principle will invest much in the smooth flow of the remote working process.

To sum up, a well thought-out management strategy can turn a remote team into a cohesive and unbeatable crew of your business ship. Put up the sails and good luck!