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HOW TO SOLVE COMMON REMOTE TEAM MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

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31
May 2018

Cooperation with remote teams worldwide is nothing new nowadays. The Internet technologies allow us to successfully work with partners and employees wherever country they are located in. The digital age has destroyed the borders as we know them and opened brand new opportunities for business development.

The special place belongs to the IT projects outsourcing. Entrepreneurs from the world’s top leading countries pick this option to save money and get high-quality solutions in short terms. In this case, such countries as Ukraine, Poland or India perform the tasks with different levels of complexity successfully.

Even though this type of partnership is quite attractive and beneficial, it has a number of problems and complications as well. We prepared this informative review on common remote team problems in order to prepare you for possible issues and get you rid of any doubts connected to this topic.

Cooperation with a Remote Team: Briefly about the Advantages

First of all, let’s take a detailed look at the benefits of the cooperation with the remote team. If you have not practiced it yet, you should start with something positive.

“Why do I even have to work with the remote team?”, you ask. Well, here are the most significant reasons to consider this option:

  • Cost

The prices for IT services in the USA are quite high. And if you have a good idea for an app, you have to think twice if it is worth it or not to start the development process. Cooperation with the remote team excludes this obstacle. Eastern European and Asian countries demonstrate the amazing level of performance and speed of software development with significantly lower costs.

  • Experience and Skills

The on-site development team may be limited to your region and built with the professionals with a lower level of expertise than you actually need. Remote cooperation allows you to work closely with the most experienced professionals that have developed tons of products similar to yours during their career.

  • Your Brand Development

While your remote developers create software solutions for you, you can easily focus on business development, investments, sales or other areas you would like to work at. Remote partners take the full responsibility for what they do and let you devote your time to something more significant.

  • No Recruiting Hassles

The essential part of hiring the on-site developer is recruiting. This means you need to spend time and resources on searches, interviews, probation periods, etc. A remote team consists of the already hired people that work together for years, that get used to each other and need no time to get prepared for the work.

Problems with Virtual Teams and How to Solve Them

In real life, it does not look so easy and pretty like described above. And of course, the entrepreneur that picks this option may face the challenges of remote team management.

The point is, you should not worry about these challenges too much. Every type of cooperation available has its own specific pitfalls. Your full awareness of the problems with virtual teams can take you to the seamless management, convenient processes and expected results.

Problem 1. Misunderstanding

Sometimes the communication is not flawless. Your business partners may not understand you correctly; your best friend may find something wrong with your words; you can misunderstand the needs of your customers. The consequences are always different, but never pleasant. People always look for someone who can cater to their needs perfectly.

This question deserves the highest attention when we talk about the challenges of managing remote employees. And as the experience shows, the further questions come to the entrepreneur’s mind:

  • Does My Remote Team Understand the Idea of the Project?

This is you who makes them understand the idea, concept and core of the solution. The thorough, detailed and time-consuming discussions are worth it. Try to explain it as well as possible and look forward to the results.

Tip: Here, the MVP would be useful. Start the process from the MVP development and make sure you understand each other.

  • How would Language Barrier Affect Our Work?

If you are a native English speaker, no doubts, you will feel a bit confused about the difference between your English and their English. But this issue is easy to solve, too. In most cases, the qualified software development has the certificate that proves the expertise in the English language. To succeed in IT, they need to speak it fluently.

Tip: conduct an interview with your developers or ask them to pass the international English certification.

  • Do They Understand How Important Is My Project?

Well, they do. Your project is their money, so they take it extremely seriously. If you have some doubts, schedule a meeting to discuss this topic once more and provide the information.

Tip: ask them to describe your idea in their own words, with their own vision. This is the way to check if the understanding is mutual.

Problem 2. Communication

This is the cornerstone of your cooperation. And from time to time, lack of communication may lead to serious troubles on the project. So pay as much time and attention as possible to effective communication with your team.

  • Why do They Do It All Wrong?

This is a common customer’s question. We believe it had come to your mind as well. The #1 reason the team has made a mistake or developed a feature you do not need is poor communication.

Tip: try to describe your requirements more thoroughly, use visual objects, images and presentations to increase the perception. Additionally, you may be too sensitive to the issues as you are a product owner. Try to look at the things with their eyes and make sure all goes well.

  • What to Do if Developer’s Mistake Causes the Deadlines Extension?

First of all, make the question of deadlines crucial when discussing the iterations and stages of the process. Let them decide how much time they need to implement your idea to a real solution that works. And again, the more you talk the more clearly you understand each other and improve the flow.

Tip: make your deadlines more flexible. Daily meetings may also be useful to stick to the deadline.

  • Do They Want Me to Pay More?

The question of rates needs to be considered at the very beginning of your partnership. So, even if development takes more time than it was predicted, you should not overpay for the services if the requirements remain the same.

Tip: analyze the Time and Material or Fixed Price contracts to choose the one that fits best.

HOW TO SOLVE COMMON REMOTE TEAM MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS - 30

Problem 3. Blind Development

This is another issue many entrepreneurs are worried about. This point has something in common with the above-mentioned misunderstanding issue.

Take a note that every experienced software development specialist pays much attention to you, your business, product and success. Your success and satisfaction is their reputation. So even if you consider the possibility of blind development, forget about it. Your project means to IT specialists as much as it means for you.

Tip: try to build more trustworthy relations, organize business trips and find out how the things look at the development office.

Problem 4. Control

And last but not least, most of the people that outsource their products worry about the lack of the control. Here, we would like to present you a few facts:

  • some software apps, like Jira, Hubstaff and similar, allow you to know for sure what your team is busy with at the office at the moment,
  • dividing the large project into the iterations lets you keep an eye on the progress,
  • as we have told you before, trust is the essential part of any business relations.

Tip: use the proper applications for managing and trust people you work with.

Conclusions

How to overcome the challenges of remote teams? Well, as you see, it is quite easy. Pay attention to the impeccable communication, build the trustable relations and use special software solutions to get the expected results.

Cooperation can be fruitful. Make sure it is the best option and contact us to improve your business!

Ilya Smyrnov

Author: Ilya Smyrnov

Position: CEO, Business analyst

Biography: Более 8 лет занимаюсь анализом бизнесов клиентов и повышаю их эффективность с помощью внедрения IT-решений.

Thank you for your interest!

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