Things you should know before you offhore your startup's Engineering Team

 Startups are focused on the ability to complete everything quickly and get it done in a timely manner. It's a race against competitors to keep what's relevant and to get customers to be interested. For large companies, as well as companies outsourcing engineering teams  has become a popular way to do things. This is not the situation! Although outsourcing engineering teams can be an beneficial to your business, it also presents new problems.

Choose the one source of truth.

This is a more catchy way to say "you're going need an efficient method of managing software development." Jira, a project management and software development application, is our "single source" of truth. The ability to trust only one source of truth could be a source of accountability. It's possible to cringe at the thought of saying, "The date said due here, but it wasn't completed," but as a project manger you are likely to do so.

Related: 6 Things to Do to Control Remote Workers Effectively

It is even more challenging to coordinate communications with project owners, owners or teams not in the same location. Slack messaging tools like hangouts Skype join.me and hangouts allow you to communicate in realtime, regardless of location. In a startup there is never a simple race to the finish line time so clear communication and meeting deadlines is crucial.

The key to effective management of remote workers, is communication. Remote management that is effective requires regular communication. This means that you must constantly be in touch with them regarding their job and what they're doing.

1. A team communication structure should be effective

2. Remote workers must be active

3. Remote workers must be involved in meaningful work

4. You are always reachable

5. Set the right expectations for remote workers.

6. Continuously examine problems

Expect a language barrier.

If you're thinking of outsourcing some or all of your engineering staff A new language usually is part of the deal. This does not mean that you should start Duolingo. While this is not a requirement, you'll want to make sure that there are employees working in your office abroad who can speak English as the local language. It is essential that this person be an administrator. In the event that code is not properly translated, it could be lost in translation. I am currently working with a Ukrainian team to create the U.S. engineering project. Do I have to learn Ukrainian overnight, or is that impossible? It's not my intention to learn Ukrainian overnight. I'm grateful that the lead engineer over there is able to translate (I think) the majority of what I'm trying to say.

Related: 3 Ways to Engage Offsite Employees in your Culture

The importance of trustworthiness is paramount.

Your needs and your intentions will determine how you build a team in an offshore office. You can choose to focus on developing an autonomous group or develop auxiliary development offshore. If you want to build an autonomous team you need to hire the right person from the beginning, and then develop a team from more junior engineers. The senior person you hire should be your trusted counterpart. Hire an individual who is self-motivated and able to make informed choices. The engineering team in abroad will need your support, just as you would do if they were at the same place. It is difficult to make effective use your time when you need approval for every minor modification.

It can be hard to keep employees engaged when you're away from the same workplace. There is a number of ways to do this, but we'll focus on the three most crucial ones: the use of gestures, communication, and storytelling.

Video chat and social media are cost-effective and efficient ways to communicate. Gestures are very powerful as they let people know that they are appreciated by recognizing their work with simple gestures such as the coffee mug or office decoration. Stories are also important, as it helps people connect through shared memories and experiences.

Related: How do you know when it's the right time to introduce software development within your company?

It's not as cost-effective as you think.

On a spreadsheet, it may appear that you'll be able to reduce costs by outsourcing your team however there are other costs that definitely add up. You trade leaning over to inform the engineer next to you 100 times to "please stop blaring bassnectar!" with sending gifs on Slack, which always have the chance of not generating the desired response. Face-to-face meetings are essential for having a team that works well together. Your overseas team must be able to meet with your U.S. team, and your executive team should be used to earning airline miles. If you don't have the opportunity to interact with each other at least once, it is impossible to determine the tangible "vibe".

It's imperative for any business to take software development seriously. We'll explore the reasons why businesses need to have their own software development teams. If it's more feasible to outsource, we'll also examine when hybrid models are best.

Software development is no longer an afterthought in many organizations. Software development is an integral element of delivering benefits to customers. Each team is given a budget.

When you should outsource the development of software

There are a variety of factors that influence the decision of whether your business should outsource its software development work. One possible factor is the ability of developers to perform this task. It could be more cost-effective to have skilled developers competent to do this work.

There is no need to worry if you are thinking of using an offshore group to do engineering for a startup. It is best to treat them as if they were at work. Make sure you're able to connect with them regularly and regularly visit their location. Between instant messaging and high-speed wireless that is accessible in all countries, and mobile tools it's simple to cross the distance between them, as well as language and cultural barrier. Integration is the key to everything!