How to Hire a Successful Remote Software Development Team?
A startup’s chances of building a successful product directly depend on its software development team. Early-stage startups usually have at least one tech-savvy founder but little money. Often, they can’t afford an office and build and fine-tune their product themselves, working remotely.
However, remote employees may be a startup’s oyster. Instead of relying only on the local workforce, startup founders can hire top specialists from more affordable foreign markets.
Eventually, they can open a physical headquarters, but more and more startups opt for distributed workforce models. It’s even more reasonable during the COVID-19 crisis that makes teams shift to remote work anyway and puts budgets under increasing pressure.
Established companies are increasingly relying on offshore outsourcing too.
This article outlines the benefits of remote software development and procedures to hire the right workers. The management of such teams differs from managing software development teams in-house, so we’ll offer some tips as well.
Distributed Workforce Models and Examples
In the software industry, two team compositions are typically distinguished: on-site (co-located) and virtual teams. These latter are subdivided into distributed and remote teams. These terms are often used interchangeably, but there is an inherent difference between the types.
A distributed team is a hybrid model combining co-located and remote workers and practices. Any business managing remote teams in different locations can be called a distributed company. It may have a physical office or offices located in different cities or even countries, but the team members can work from anywhere, e.g., their homes, co-working spaces, cafes, or while traveling, using digital collaboration tools.
It’s suitable for startups looking to augment their teams with remote talent while downsizing their office, transitioning from a physical office to the all-remote model, or just exploring the pros and cons of virtual teams for their business.
A totally remote team doesn’t need any physical headquarters, only a virtual office built with digital tools. Colleagues that may live all over the world and work from home or other places, nevertheless, collaborate using videoconferencing and other technology.
Many tech companies began remote-first and are still driven by a distributed workforce. Here are several examples:
1. Automattic
The people behind WordPress, WooCommerce, and many others have been managing remote teams for over 15 years. Without any physical headquarters, around 1,300 Automatticians collaborate across 77 countries.
2. Basecamp
Where Ruby on Rails was born, is another original remote-first company. Starting with four people, now they have about fifty located in 32 cities around the world. They love working remotely so much they wrote a book on it.
3. Buffer
Is a fully distributed team of 85 people living in 15 countries. Grown from humble beginnings, they are now serving over 73,000 customers.
4. GitLab
Is arguably the largest all-remote company. Convinced that all digital product companies will operate similarly eventually, they also have published a handbook about managing software development teams remotely.
5. InVision
Has 700 employees distributed across the world. When a fully remote team was building InVision Studio and spotting gaps in their workflow, they applied their solutions to ensure the platform’s intuitiveness, accessibility, and efficiency for other remote workers.
6. Zapier
Is based in Sunnyvale, California, but employs 300 people across 17 time zones. Deeply concerned about remote team management, they created their own applicant tracking system and The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work.
Naturally, remote software development is not a magical cure for all startups’ problems. Like any practice, the model has its pros and cons.
Software Developers Working Remotely: Pros and Cons
Many startups are afraid of hiring remote workers for two reasons. First, most people are used to going to the office to work. The second reason concerns building a remote and co-located team together, which would require the optimization of all processes for both teams.
Along with the fear of changes, the following disadvantages are usually cited:
- The remote team’s inadequate knowledge of your product.
- Remote employees may not know much about your product at the very beginning.
- However, proper onboarding, communication, and project management can solve this problem quickly.
- Lack of personal contact with and among remote developers.
- Candidates usually can’t come in for an interview, and some companies have difficulty trusting someone they haven’t met face-to-face.
- Others believe that when developers work miles away from them, it’s impossible to manage, control, and motivate them.
- This myth is refuted by numerous successful companies outsourcing their software development.
Moreover, at some point, you will be happy that your project manager (PM) relieves you of the burden of daily interaction with every team member. As for the perceived lack of interaction between remote workers, modern technology can make them feel more connected than employees who work in the same office.
Different time zones, languages, and cultures significant time differences may cause delays, inconveniences, and distractions to the startup leadership and the distributed team.
However, the right communication strategy and tools will mitigate the inconveniences and risks. As long as remote developers are willing to communicate during your business hours, a time difference poses little problem.
The right attitude and vast international experience also eliminate the problem of language and cultural barriers. Major outsourcing software companies guarantee their developers’ English language competence. Moreover, their cultural diversity can benefit a project or product.
It may take a while to find a suitable team.
Hiring the right remote software development team takes more effort and time than hiring a single freelancer, to say nothing of a local specialist. However, once contracted, a reliable partner will boost a company’s productivity and growth significantly.
Thus, each problem either has a well-known solution or a “silver lining.” Moreover, they are fully offset by the following benefits:
1. Access to the best talent
Instead of hiring professionals available nearby, entrepreneurs can select from the global pool of talent. They can hire the best experts to suit their unique project goals and needs at reasonable compensation.
When you work with outsourcing agencies, they typically offer pre-screened candidates that have met a prior quality standard. These professionals have rich expertise and experience in implementing various features, employing multiple technologies, and solving issues for international clients. They are interested in positive feedback and references from clients, keenly aware of corporate policies, and quickly adapt to dynamic work culture. Remote work environments, with more freedom and less pressure, increase their creativity and productivity.
2. Faster start and continuous development
It’s common to hire for projects a whole outsourced software development team rather than recruit professionals one-by-one. Clients get all the amassed software development expertise they need for a complex project. The team, which is already fully staffed and has gone through a vetting process, is accustomed to working together and can set off on the project immediately.
As distributed team members are located in different time zones, it’s fair to say that remote developers work for you around the clock. According to several industry surveys, remote workers tend to be more engaged than their peers working in offices. A developer who works from home experiences fewer distractions. Outsourced teams that have an immediate need to remain on the cutting edge of the industry also have greater development capabilities. All of these factors accelerate a product’s time-to-market.
3. Minimizing administrative tasks
Offshore team members are essentially your employees that are managed and housed by your outsourcing partner. You don’t have to find space for them, make payroll, etc. Remote team leads and PMs take away most of your headaches associated with the product development process. This frees up your resources and enables you to focus on acquiring and retaining customers, increasing sales, and more.
Once the work is done and the team is paid, there are no more obligations. It’s up to you to continue the cooperation, order support, or part ways.
4. Saving money
An offshore team has a lower burn rate. For example, in Eastern Europe, it’s possible to secure high quality at much lower prices than in Western Europe or North America. Startups typically pay for the hours spent working on their project or a fixed service fee. They don’t need to pay health benefits, taxes, equipment, or insurance. All-remote teams don’t have to pay for office rent and maintenance either.
Outsourcing agencies help startups avoid expenses associated with recruitment, personnel management, payroll, infrastructure, accounting, and financial management. They also help estimate the development budget so the startups can plan ahead.
5. Expanded market reach
Closely connected with your product, the remote employees will become unpaid brand ambassadors in their respective areas. Thus, by collaborating with outsourcing companies and web or mobile app developers located across the globe, companies are indirectly expanding their market reach.
If you opt for working remotely, pros and cons, risks, and side effects should be considered. The following bits of advice may help you mitigate those risks when you build your distributed software development team.
Conclusion
The benefits of remote software development teams for businesses include access to the best talent out there, work around the clock, quick project completion, and exemption from the bulk of administrative and project management tasks. Startups that outsource software development offshore can achieve more significant economies.
Whether you decide to run as a distributed team or entirely remotely, you will need proper tools and work processes in place. Remote and distributed companies also need to know the nuances of managing remote employees located in different time zones.