Introduction
In the rapidly changing business era, the working pattern has seen a transformational change. Individuals are on the path of embracing remote work & freelancing. Companies are on the hunt to hire remote developers from across the globe.
As 16% of businesses are fully remote & with a staggering 1.57 billion freelancers globally, it is proof that remote work is here to stay. A tech giant like Google has seen a significant number of contract workers out of their workforce. A total of 54% of the workforce comprises freelancers which exceeds the ratio of full-time employees.
Firstly, it is necessary to understand the value that remote developers bring to your tech team. Remote employees provide flexibility, specialized skills & the ability to scale your workforce as per the project needs. Adopting remote teams enables you access to global tech talent available to work in different time zones.
Now, let’s start with the term Remote Team.
What is a Remote Team?
A remote team refers to a group of employees who collaborate to work from different geographic areas. The concept of working remotely has been around for a long time but made the buzz after the advancements in technology.
Today, a major chunk of the workforce comprises remote teams. The figures for remote work adoption are higher in the IT sector. Almost, every company is looking to hire remote developers to meet their software solution requirements.
Big companies like Shopify & Twitter are hiring remote developers by embracing a distributed teams model. Other players in the market are following this trend due to the perks it provides.
From an employee point of view, remote teams provide advantages like convenience & flexibility in work hours. From the viewpoint of the company, remote teams provide a potential reduction in costs.
Apart from the advantage stated above, remote teams offer an abundance of benefits for both employees & enterprises. However, if your business is still in its beginning phase, it is likely that will find it to to manage remote teams effectively.
Despite, the availability of technology, it will be difficult for your team to adapt to the changing needs.
Every team member needs to adjust to remote work. there are instances when their productivity will decline. Each member needs to have essential remote work skills to adapt to the changing needs.
They also need to adjust to the new roles of communication & collaboration. Remote work blurred the line between personal & work life, causing an increase in stress.
Now let’s first understand the advantages of Remote teams from an Employee perspective.
Hiring remote developers leads an organization to fulfill their project needs.
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What are the advantages of remote teams: From an Employee viewpoint
Enables work-life balance:
A study by PwC states that 67% of employees can balance their work life after choosing to work remotely. Work from work-from-home model decreases the commute time & increases the time for rest, thus allowing one to maintain a quality life.
Increases productivity:
As remote employees get a lot of time to rest, it increases their productivity. The number of distractions is less after working from home.
Improvement in Employee retention rate:
As organizations have embraced working from home, it encourages employees to stay with the company for a long time. One report by Owl Labs states that 74% of employees stayed in the same company when they were provided an option to work remotely.
Improved lifestyle choices:
Remote work enables a healthier lifestyle, as it allows an employee to enjoy their habit while at work. Doing this has shown a decrease in burnout which is as low as 26%.
Customized Work Environment:
Embracing remote work allows an employee to customize their work setup keeping their comfort & productivity in mind.
Now, let’s understand the advantages of remote teams from an Employee viewpoint
What are the advantages of Remote teams: From an employer’s viewpoint
- There are a bunch of advantages every employer gets by hiring a remote team. We have covered each advantage from an employer’s viewpoint in our previous blog.
- Check out our blog on Remote Team: A first aid to overcome project management
- Now, let’s understand the best practices for hiring software development outsourcing services for managing a remote software solution project.
- Before moving into understanding best practices for software development outsourcing let’s understand what the term means.
What are Software Development Outsourcing Services?
When any organization tends to build a remote team, they would choose any one of the two options. First, they will look to run through a hiring process to hire top-talent of remote candidates from across the globe. Secondly, they would hire external software development outsourcing services to meet their web development & software development needs.
Let’s understand the term Software Development outsourcing services.
When an organization outsources its software development project to an Outsourcing Company it is known as Software Development outsourcing.
In the next step, every organization will work towards integrating their in-house team & remote team.
Let’s understand how any organization can seamlessly integrate its in-house team development with remote teams.
Steps to achieve seamless integration of In-house team & remote team
An in-house development might benefit a lot when integrated with a remote team. This integration might not be for the long term but it would give fruitful returns. The integration can help the in-house team improvise their soft skills like communication skills & teamwork & problem-solving skills.
Let’s understand how an organization can achieve seamless integration of both teams.
Establish effective communication channels:
While integrating remote & in-house teams it is necessary to build systematic communication channels. Make a detailed plan of what communication tools need to be used, and what are communication channels to be used.
An organization can use tools like Slack, Skype & Google Meet, & Zoom to maintain a smooth flow of communication.
Stating diversified communication channels like Emails, & social media can help achieve a hassle-free communication flow. It is also necessary to define the mode of communication to be used like video calls, audio calls, etc.
Using Project Management or Collaboration tools:
Defining what project management tools you need to use for managing each proejct activity is necessary. Popular project management tools like Asana, Wrike, Zoho, etc. can help manage software development projects smoothly.
These project management tools will help in smoothening the collaboration process and add value to your tech stacks.
Regularly providing feedback & reviews:
Constructive feedback can help you improvise. It is important to provide constructive feedback to your team. Based on the set KPIs, giving proper feedback can help a team member improve. Continuous feedback can help achieve a successful project deliverability.
Initiating team-building activities:
Including your remote team in various team-building activities can help you achieve & build a harmonious work environment. Conducting virtual team-building activities like online games, & virtual coffee breaks can help in achieving team unity. Building interpersonal relations is the secret to achieving a successful integration.
Providing equal opportunities:
After delegating the development project to outsourcing teams it is important to utilize the skills of an in-house team. To do this, the organization should assign the task of working on core job responsibilities. By doing, this the organization would be successful in achieving a sense of equality in the workplace.
Closing Notes
To meet the skill shortages, companies & enterprises are looking to hire remote developers to meet their project management needs.
Organizations can either choose to hire an Outsourcing Software Development Company or build a team of remote developers.
Based on the size & requirements of the proejct, the organization can choose the best fit for their software development project.