Hire Offshore Developer: A Complete Guide
Whenever we buy something from our nearest market, it costs a bit more compared to the market that is specialized for it, and sometimes, we also have to compromise on quality.
What if I tell you can access the global market and you cannot even check their prices but also judge their quality?
Sounds great right?? So in this article, we will discuss about what is offshore developers, the challenges and solutions to manage them, and how to hire them.
Let’s dive into the article and find out how you can find your expert developer.
What is an Offshore Developer?
An offshore developer is a developer or a team of developers who are working in a different country and most importantly they are living in a country where the cost of living is less than yours.
Generally, businesses hire them to make the development project cost-savvy and to access the skilled developer to find the right one.
An offshore developer has multiple benefits some of which are mentioned below:
- Cost-effective
- Access to global talent
- Time savvy
This list doesn’t end up here. If they are working on the project then you can focus on the core business ultimately which helps you to grow your business.
Some of the Countries to hire offshore developers:
- India
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Vietnam
- Philippines
Challenges and Solutions
Everything in this world has some pros and cons so similarly offshore developers have some cons but you don’t have to worry about that we will also discuss the solutions.
1. Communication Gap
Maybe it seems normal but a communication gap can create a blunder. Well, there are multiple reasons for it but the language barrier is the most common the solution for it is to hire someone who has a great understanding and also have fluency in English.
2. Time Zone Difference
This is a major issue in the offshore development project because it can lead to project delay and create hurdles in communication some of the tactics you can use to handle it are:
- Project manager: You can hire a project manager just to trace the project milestones which can also lead to saving time and effort.
- Overlapping schedule: Create a schedule that overlaps with the developers ‘ table it will help you make real-time communication with the developers to know the project stages.
- Collaboration tools: You can use project management tools like Slack, and Jira to assign tasks, set deadlines, and much more which reduces the real-time communication needs.
3. Cultural Differences
Cultural differences can affect work expectations, and work processes, provoke mistakes, and ultimately misaligned goals. So to avoid these you can use these solutions:
- Training: You can train the offshore developers about your work culture. Tell them about your ethics, and communication style to increase awareness.
- Clear expectation: This is one of the most important that you should tell your expectations on the very first day. It will help them to judge whether they are capable of doing so or not. It also saves you time.
- Feedback: Create an environment of openness which will help them to give feedback and ultimately lead to improving the culture.
4. Legal and Security Issues
At this point, I personally recommend you hire a company for offshore developer providers like TechCospace. They follow all the guidelines and if your project is in the hands of TechCospace then you don’t have to worry about any of the following points.
But If you hire an offshore developer then they must comply with these points:
(a). Data Security Protocols: Your offshore team must use encryption, secure servers, and comply with GDPR, and other regulations.
(b). Non-Disclosure Agreements: It’s a good practice to sign a NDA before starting a project. It will help you to protect your information.
(c). Service Legal Agreements: You should clearly explain your expectations, goals, penalties for late deliverables, and most importantly security breaches.
5. Project Delays and Management Issues
Naturally, physical distance, lack of coordination, and some other minor issues will create delays in the project.
(a). Milestone Chart: Create a timetable for the project with multiple milestones and their deadlines. Along with this, you must create a list of penalties for the delay or mismanagement of the project.
(b). Trace the Progress: Use project management tools like Jira and moday.com, etc. It will help you to track the project where it is actually.
(c). Regular Check: It’s a bit hard if you are handling a business but if you regularly check the progress then it will help you to remove the misalignment, review progress, and help to identify the bottleneck.
How to Hire Offshore Developers?
This is the most strategic point where you must read every section without skipping any single line.
Because hiring an offshore developer without having these points may create a loop hole in your project so note it down properly:
1. Project Requirements
You must specify your project needs at the start it will help you to save time and you can easily reach your desired candidate.
2. Choose the Right offshore Location
If you ask me personally for this then I will recommend you India. Because India has more potential candidates I had a personal experience.
You can easily find the developer in India at reasonable prices as compared to other countries.
By the way, if you don’t find it convincing then there are other countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, etc.
You can choose as per your time-zone and other needs.
3. Hiring Model
It totally depends upon your project need, whether it is a small task, medium, or maybe a long-term project.
(a). Freelancer: If the project is small then it’s cost-savvy to hire a freelancer. You can hire them through Upwork, Freelancer.com, and many other websites.
(b). Outsourcing Companies: They are most suitable for medium or large-size projects. You can be totally tension-free because they will manage your project and its deadline. Most importantly by maintaining your project privacy.
(c). Dedicated team: They are most suitable for the long-term project. This will become an extension of your in-house staff.
4. Screen and Interview
Once you find the developers now it’s time to find the right one for your project. Whether they are a good fit for your project or not.
(a). Technical Skill assessment: Test their technical knowledge through coding tests, technical interviews, and portfolio assessment.
(b). Communication Skill: Check how articulate, and candid they are because this will tell you how they will interact with your team.
(c). Cultural fit: Ensure that they can easily adjust themselves to your work culture this will reduce the chances of misalignment of the project with the goals.
(d). References: Last but not least reach out to the previous employer to get information about the developer’s performance and ethics.
5. Small Project
First, take an example like buying a home theatre what would be the right procedure I am giving you two options.
(a). Just see if it’s good-looking.
(b). Check its brand, warranty and other details most importantly take a demo for it.
Maybe your answer is the second one. Just like this, we should also take a demo of the developer before committing to a long-term project.
Give him a short project with non-critical just to check his qualities and skills.
6. Clear Communication
As previously mentioned clear communication is important and you can use Zoom and Slack for this purpose.
Project management tools are also important to set tasks and deadlines.
7. Legal Contracts and Agreements
Before starting the project you must sign all the legal contracts and agreements with the developer.
It will help you in security breaches and save your data from potential damage.
8. Onboard and Integrate
Once you get your required developer and hiring is done so now its time to integrate it with your existing team.
(a). Onboarding Process: Provide the offshore team with all necessary tools, resources, and project documents so that they can start it as soon as possible.
(b). Role Assignment: Define the role of each and every member within the team so that they can not overlap each other.
(c). Regular Performance Review: Schedule regular performance reviews just to check the quality and performance of the team.
(d). Encourage Collaboration: Make sure your both teams onshore and offshore collaborate effectively. For this, you can use the tools like Slack, zoom, and Google Drive for file sharing.
Conclusion
Offshore developers are the best method to complete the project while cutting costs and maintaining quality. It has some challenges but with the appropriate method and the right strategy, we can overcome those.
Hiring the right candidate is the most important phase in this and by using the above-mentioned steps you can do it easily and perfectly.
If you are still confused between a freelancer and an offshore developer you can contact TechCospace they will guide you better.
