There is absolutely no doubt that the benefits of hiring an offshore software development team outweigh the drawbacks. That being said, one disadvantage, at least what most businesses think, is the time zone difference.
Managing time is a crucial role in business. More so if you are working with an offshore development team. Time could become a distinguishing characteristic if not managed efficiently and strategically. Collaborating with teams across various time zones can result in miscommunication, delayed delivery timelines, and missing milestones and sabotage the whole project, ultimately putting a dent in your pocket. Hence it is recommended to predetermine the corresponding location’s time zone before hiring an offshore software developer.
As a spearhead company with the best offshore software development teams, Emveep has picked up a few tricks and tips along with the way that will assist both the offshore teams and businesses in managing the time zone difference.
7 Tips to Handle Time Zone DIfference With Offshore Software Development Team
Intense Communication
First, you should understand that intense communication differs from micromanaging your team. Frequent communication with your team enables better coordination between the manager and the developer, leading to better communication with the other team members. This ultimately will help both parties to avoid miscommunication and error.
You can create a schedule of calls according to their time zone. Even if your offshore development team is far from your office, you can still deliver the brief effectively by doing scheduled meetings.
Use General Vocabulary
In offshoring, we are discussing geographical terms, so there will be some common errors regarding sophistication during the conversation. However, to avoid any misunderstanding or overlooked event, you can give large credit to precise words and short statements explaining your proposal.
It is not faint-hearted to say that managing a dedicated offshore team is a difficult task. However, with the right mindset and clear approach level, you can easily take heed of the suggestions and alleviate your company to another level.
Expert Hiring
We all agree that we need someone capable of skill to achieve the project’s goal. But in the context of offshoring, you will need more than just a skillful developer. You will need to hire a developer capable of working under minimum supervision, with a dedicated software development team who are reliable and self-motivated to manage their task efficiently.
Without the characteristic of self-motivation and the capabilities to work with low supervision, the developer you hire will take ages to deliver the expected result of the project.
Time Zone Tracking
To manage a meeting and schedule with your offshore development team, you must keep on track with the time zone. You can try to memorize the time zone of each of your offshore developer teams, but be careful because time zones can be confusing, and even the slightest mistake may lead to rescheduling or canceling a meeting.
“We suggest you track the time zone on your radar. You can use a memo on your mobile phone or program assistance to keep the visual format of the time zone in your field of view”.
Use Reliable Management Tools
If you need help scheduling meetings/calls, coordinating with other team members, and other management issues, you are not using the right tools. A better way to handle and manage the time zone difference with offshore development services providers is by utilizing efficient management tools.
How do these tools help? Most time zone management tools come with an easy-to-use interface that lets you keep track of the local time in the regions where your offshore development team is located. This will enable you to plan and schedule the meetings seamlessly.
Use Cloud Tools
You can use cloud tools like Google Drive to share and collaboratively edit important documents, projects, and other files without sending multiple versions back and forth.
Cloud tools for documents are crucial for working in different time zones. Also, allow to commenting feature allows multiple editors to debate and brainstorm right in the document in a seamless conversation that doesn’t grind to a halt when one team member clocks out of a day that’s just beginning for someone else.
Practice on Agile Method
More than 70% of companies across the globe are implementing the agile methodology in their projects. For example, the project manager can divide the tasks into minor activities and assign them to the teammates. After assigning, all tasks can be tracked via efficient project management tools such as Trello and Jira. With the help of reliable management tools, scheduling meetings like daily scrum calls and other essential planning will be easier and lead to better offshore software developer management.
Avoid Micromanagement
When you are already setting up an effective communication strategy, be it the management tools and scheduled meets, you will step to the next objective. Which is the point of the contract. The objective of this post is to avoid confusion caused by having more or unnecessary people.
What’s the point in hiring a competent development team when you cannot trust them and end up micromanaging everything? Hence try hiring offshore remote developers who are reliable and experts at what they do.
Wrapping up
Thanks to outsourcing, businesses can focus on core activities and have more opportunities for growth and access to skilled talents. But on the other hand, the time zone difference in software development offshoring is often challenging. Therefore, you must be flexible, open-minded, and decisive to use suitable tools and procedures and turn them into a smooth, cost/time-saving experience.
Conclusion
After understanding how to manage the time zone difference for your software developer team, you may be interested to know more about how to hire a qualified offshore development team for your project. Here are our tips for hiring suitable offshore for your project.
