In this Covid19 lockdown situation, where many businesses are working remotely, many are left with no option but to shut the business for sometime(or permanently). During these difficult times, the outsourcing is the new normal. 

An offshore expert or team can save both time and money for your organization. But managing the resources effectively can be a daunting task.

Or is it?

Here are 10 tips that can help you to manage offshore professional in the best way possible.

Imagine the huge cost and time benefit you can accrue if you have the flexibility to engage with a professional, without the need of hiring the person permanently, for a software project or a product/software development need. You can not only save the cost that goes in hiring a resource but also save the cost involved in training the person. You can also reduce the risk of hiring contractual resources who can leave during a critical project.

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How can you make a professional working remotely to deliver as desired?

There are some tips you can employ to effectively manage a person working remotely so that you can get the desired output and keep the person motivated to deliver the best. There might be many things that can go wrong. For example, different time zones, locations, lack of communication and misunderstood requirements are the topmost reasons because of which you may not get the desired output.

So, what can you do to get the expert to deliver as per your expectations? What can you do to make a professional to contribute in a proactive way?

We have the below-mentioned 10 tips to effectively manage virtual or remote teams:

1. Goal setting

The key to a successful working relation is to establish clear goals. Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly performance goals should be defined at the onset and so should be the means to monitor these goals. The professional working remotely should be clear about who will review the goals and what the expectations are.

2. Hire an agile team

If a virtual team is familiar with agile methodologies, they can maintain a transparent workflow and work towards collaborative working. The remote team will be familiar with Agile methodologies like XP or Extreme Programming and Scrum. If the team has ample experience of working on agile methodologies, they are well-versed with effective project management communication, design and developer tools.

3. Make accountability clear

You must make each virtual team member know of their role and responsibilities. It will make each of them clear on their work priorities and responsibilities. It will also set clear expectations from your end.

4. Set up a communication time

It is also important to set the communication paradigm right. This means to let the professional know the frequency of communication/reviews/daily stand ups, the time for the same and the channel for having the meeting. You can use Skype, GoToMeeting, join.me or flock.

5. Review and set a feedback mechanism

Daily meetings or weekly video calls are the most effective way to keep a close track of the progress. You need to closely monitor design gaps and changes in requirements, and use screenshots or visual aids to communicate things clearly. Verbal or face-to-face communication ensures that your instructions/feedback is understood and being incorporated. You also need to have brainstorming sessions to ask for new ideas, process improvements and analyze strengths and weaknesses of the team members.

You can use tools like Zoho, MeisterTask or Wrike.

6. Reporting

There are many tools (some of them free) available to monitor the resource and manage a remote time better. Daily and weekly reports are a proven and effective way to keep a track of the time that a person spends to complete an activity/ task.

7. Access to source code

Access to the source code, at any time, ensures that you have complete control on the deliverables. Be vary of companies which deny access to the source code. At the end of the project or at any time, you should have access to source code.

8. Recognition

Recognition of the team members is quite important as the person achieves key goals as it keeps them motivated. Sending an appreciation email is a highly recommended practice to keep the professional motivated.

9. Create a non-work-related relation

It is always nice to share pleasantries with the team members. Wishing team members on their birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions are simple gestures that can be highly motivating. It is also important to share the latest updates organization and how will the software project that the team is working on will make an impact in your organization.

10. Share the vision

Efforts should also be made to make the expert understand the vision of the company, objectives of the project and expectations from the professional. Sharing the bigger picture helps the expert to understand how they are contributing to the overall project and how their proactive approach can make a difference. These should be well-documented.

With the above tips and some management best practices, managers who are responsible for managing remote team can get their high performing and optimal outcome. If you wish to hire an experienced, skillful and diversified remote team, speak to us.