Follow These Tips to Bring the Best Out of Your Offshore Team

From my experience in working at an IT outsourcing company in the Philippines, I have seen clients from different countries who were happy and satisfied with the result of their offshoring venture. I’ve witnessed how they worked with their offshore staff and how they kept them engaged and motivated despite the distance. 

Take a look at the points I will enumerate below, and see which ones you can apply to your offshoring strategy:

Set KPIs

The simplest yet most effective way to track progress and measure success is by setting KPIs for your team. However, you should make sure that the KPIs you’re setting are aligned to the mission and goals of your company. Otherwise, these KPIs may, in turn,  lead your offshore team astray from what they should really be achieving.  

Make use of program management tools

Program management tools will be helpful in keeping yourself and your team updated on urgent tasks and processes. Specifically, they are useful in project planning, scheduling deliverables and deadlines, allocating resources, and updating all team members on changes. It’s important to have all your team members use the same tool so everyone will be kept posted.

Connect through instant messaging apps

Emails are useful, but instant messaging apps come in handier especially when you want to talk to your offshore staff directly without having to wait. Your staff will also be able to ask you questions and quickly receive responses, so the workflow will be faster and possible mistakes can be avoided promptly. 

Keep in touch with the customer services representative

Aside from the point person you’ve assigned within your offshore team, it will also be helpful for you to keep good communication with the offshore company’s customer services representative or director. 

At Cloud Employee, we have Account Managers and an After Care Team whom clients can contact whenever they have concerns regarding their offshore staff. We also give regular performance appraisals and report to our clients and make sure their staff are clocking in the necessary working hours. 

Visit your guys

Yes, they’re your guys. The most important factor in encouraging the highest quality of work from your offshore team is making them feel like they are part of your company. The distance may alienate your offshore team from you and your company, and this is something that you will want to address. 

If there is an opportunity for you to travel and visit your offshore staff, grab it. Spend time with your team: catch up with them, ask how they feel about their work, exchange ideas, but also take time to have fun and bond. An offshore team who feels connected to your company will be more motivated to work with you towards your goals. This is something we greatly encourage that is why we give our clients an opportunity to visit the offshore-site and taking care of the expenses.

Here are some more reads that can help you in working with an offshore development team: 

Get the most out of offshoring with these tips

5 Advantages of Hiring Web Developers Offshore

7 Tips for hiring top offshore developers in the Philippines

4 Ways Hiring Web Developers Offshore Increases Productivity

Tips to building (and keeping) your dream web team

If you’re looking for a reliable offshore company, Cloud Employee connects businesses from the UK, the US, and abroad to highly-skilled offshore developers experienced in a wide range of technologies. See how it works or talk to us for further enquiries.