Achieving superior performance, embracing engagement, and enhancing efficiency brings the stability in development teams through variety of projects while simultaneously nurturing their professional capabilities.
Statistics from a Gallup poll reveal that development teams with greater engagement levels are more productive than their counterparts by approximately 21%. Yet, there are some questions that need to be answered, such as:
- Will the developers maintain consistency with the communication?
- Do they follow a productive approach while working remotely?
Takeaways for companies that have previously worked together on a personal basis before the pandemic, which requires work to be done remotely: this method of working is still alive and well. The importance of the ability of leaders to effectively act on communications, schedules and ensure that they continue to function while separated from each other is ever greater.
In this post, we shall delve into the most exquisite practices for managing remote teams. These practices will help you make a progress towards reaching your business goals while building and deploying the end-product.
10 tips to handle remote development teams
1. Make sure the teams are trustworthy
Trust is something which you should consider on priority. As you hire remote development teams for your project, you should know that the resources are reliable when it comes to meeting promises and expectations.
You won’t need the developers who take things casually just after one week of the progress or make excuses out of their mistakes. You’re looking for experts who can handle things without even getting you to know or making you hassle about the progress.
Moreover, being trustworthy is not only about being true towards your project but it also includes all the crucial activities that can help you rely on them – regular communication, sharing daily progress report, marking the milestones, and overcoming the challenges you face.
All these factors are crucial to maintain the performance of remote development teams. So, it is crucial to look for trustworthy resources while hiring and investing in them for your next big project!
2. Focus on quality onboarding
According to the Glassdoor, an impressive onboarding makes employees happy and more engaged towards the company by 80%. Hence, you can do the same and see a precise hike in employee retention.
Welcoming your new remote development teams through a professional and process-oriented onboarding makes them feel confident about joining your project. By doing so, you can give what they expect from a good company.
A good onboarding process should include:
- Introducing them with company’s members
- Sharing the goals of the business
- Providing insights about their culture
- Explaining the perks, they provide to the employees
There are a lot more ideas to think upon and implement. Just make sure that you make their experience better. As a result, there will be more enthusiasm in their approach towards your project.
3. Explain goals & expectations with workflows
The simplest method to help remote developers collaborate, achieve project objectives, and produce high-quality outputs is through an effective workflow where each team member is open and honest about their responsibilities, expectations, and desired outcomes.
Define manageable milestones and break the tasks into smaller activities. Organizing the work into small pieces makes it easier to monitor progress and helps developers to concentrate on certain deliverables.
Additionally, you should plan frequent stand-up meetings and check-ins to talk about accomplishments, obstacles, and impending responsibilities. Developers can discuss updates at these sessions, ask for assistance if necessary, and stay in touch with the team.
4. Prefer AGILE development approach
The Agile Methodology is one of the best management strategies for IT teams. Being Agile can increase your ability to communicate, work as a team, and deliver projects based on customer input when you manage remote teams.
You must identify workable aspects of the program you intend to develop since agile operates in a horizontal team dynamic. Set up stand-ups, which are quick daily meetings where everyone on the team may speak.
Create a team to assess each project update and determine what needs to be changed, added, or removed. To deploy the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as soon as feasible, these efforts will continue in conjunction with planning and development.
5. Make communication & interaction process better
Maintain the most precise and clear manner of communication and there won’t be any gap between interactions among the team members. It's best to deal with misunderstandings from the beginning with the appropriate tools and procedures because they are extremely frequent, particularly on remote teams.
Discuss current initiatives, areas that need improvement, whether someone needs assistance with a particular work, or simply catch up on personal issues. These are elements that promote communication openness as well as trust. This factor becomes more crucial when you
choose remote developers from different countries, having different time zones.
In remote teams, over-communicating is the best way to check if everyone is clear about everything related to the development rather than spending all day in meetings or emails. Develop an interaction method since development teams require attention to do their task.
6. Ensure work-life balance among teams
Taking care of the mental health of software engineers is part of understanding how to manage them. Burnout is one of the main issues, particularly in IT. Developers are more prone to burnout when faced with strict deadlines and long work hours.
Establish set work times (or let them create their own) and make it clear that no one has to ping them while they are off the clock unless it is a "Life or death" emergency. They will learn the value of fostering their lives outside of work because of boundaries.
7. Prefer performance reviews regularly
Make time for regular performance evaluations that may be used to evaluate team and individual performance, offer constructive criticism, and pinpoint areas for development.
Encouragement of 360-degree feedback is another suggestion. Peers and stakeholders should also offer feedback on a developer's performance so that you can get a more complete picture of their strengths and potential improvement areas.
Action plans, or the "what happens next," are a vital component of performance appraisals. Work together with each developer to design unique development plans based on feedback, laying out precise objectives and next actions.
8. Don’t over-manage their work
When you hire development teams, you might think of keeping an eye on everything they will be doing. But it won’t work for them as they might feel pressurized or being under surveillance, which can make them feel exhausted.
It goes without saying that metrics need to be reviewed (more on this subject later), but one of the common mistakes that causes skilled developers to leave their positions is attempting to micromanage and control them rather than allowing them do their jobs.
Developers don't work on code all day; they occasionally require downtime to brainstorm ideas, come up with new approaches to issues, etc. The results they create are the best gauge of their success.
9. Offer teams growth opportunities
The right salary and benefits are crucial and act as a hook to keep developers interested; nevertheless, as soon as they begin to feel that their work is a one-way street, they will start looking for other employment possibilities.
They will be able to get a better work in a couple of weeks if they have the necessary skills. In order to prevent losing your finest employees, make sure they can see a future with your business.
10. Also ask about their requirements
Every developer has its own preference, and for many, standing out may be difficult and uneasy. By fostering a climate where developers feel at ease asking questions and seeking advice, promote open communication. You may learn more about each developer and their objectives and expectations by having one-on-one conversations with them.
Meetings with the development teams are essential for giving the tools and resources required for developers to flourish in their professions. When developers feel encouraged and heard, not only does productivity rise but so does their opinion of the organization. This is true of both training and high-quality development tools.
11. Understand Your Team’s Dynamics
Some developers require to meet regularly to discuss the progress of each member, particularly if they are working on projects that demand frequent back and forth. Others, though, benefit more from sporadic gatherings.
Understanding how your development team functions best is essential for managing them effectively. You and your team may avoid burnout and unneeded stress by being aware of your team's speed, the best tools for the job, and the frequency of essential meetings.
Qualities of remote developers you should look for
A good programmer has an extraordinary work ethic that perfectly matches the team's processes. They believe in what they are doing and appreciate their colleagues. There's no need for constant supervision of great programmers. To achieve their tasks in a time frame, they possess the right skills and mindset.
Managing remote development teams won’t be an easy task, but you can ease the process if you find some crucial qualities in the developers. Have a look:
Experience with the tasks management tools
Developers with an expertise in using project management tools like Jira, Trello, Basecamp, etc. are surely the best choice for your business. They should possess a good understanding of these platforms and must have utilized them previously with different clients.
You should analyze their approach in handling workloads through these tools and how they communicate the progress with other teams to delicate the tasks. The developers should be able to track their deadlines without creating hassles for the managers.
Adaptive & learning attitude
In addition to technical proficiency, the developer must approach their task with flexibility. They must be able to change deadlines and its in accordance with the needs of the project, plan their schedules around deadlines, and adapt to changing conditions.
A strict approach to work may cause problems with teamwork and an unwillingness to accept criticism constructively, both of which can be detrimental to the growth process. Development teams need to take ownership of their work and have a keen interest in the app or website's success.
Curiously creative
Your developer needs to be skilled at creating well-thought-out, original code. In many occasions, they might not discover ready-made code snippets; in those situations, they might get creative to develop a workaround.
Enthusiasm and creativity for one's profession go hand in hand. These characteristics motivate people to explore new ideas, experiment with codes and designs, and learn new languages. Additionally, it would cause them to reconsider their work and look for potential failure modes for the program after deployment.
Innovative with technical skills
Knowledge of the numerous technologies needed for the project is the most crucial attribute in a developer. Ideally in similar projects, confirm that the developer has expertise working with a variety of technologies.
They must be able to identify appropriate solutions for problems and have a solid understanding of the industry standards. Make sure you look out for these aspects with the development teams. A candidate's personality, interests, and technical talents are clearly outlined in a portfolio, which goes beyond the essentials of a resume.
Capable of solving complex issues
One of a programmer's primary responsibilities is to solve problems. They must be able to quickly recognize problems, plan a course of action, and effectively cope with unanticipated mistakes. Your developer needs to be prepared to handle every issue, whether it be a coding error or a scaling problem during deployment.
This is more useful when working with a team and complicated programs. The issue must not only be conclusively resolved, but also accomplished without placing an undue burden on anybody or delaying the deadline.
Remote teams’ management helps in making your projects successful. These tips can help you optimize the process and bring the best outputs from the hired developers.
Key takeaways
Employees who work remotely are productive, and this fact becomes more adaptable if they have supportive management. Your encouragement, leadership, and trust will go a long way toward encouraging your remote workers to produce their best work and to feel a part of the team and the business.
Undertaking their communication and technical skills while giving them opportunities to work on your projects is a big investment. And it will only work when you know how to handle them remotely.
Various tools and technologies are now available, making it even simpler for remote workers to collaborate effectively with coworkers and bosses. However, this guide will help you standardize the management of remote teams and get expected outcomes. Each factor has its own importance for the whole process. So, make sure to implement them precisely!
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