How to find, hire, and build a Remote Software Development Team for yourself?
Remote software development teams can help businesses move through the challenging stages of building a new product. If you haven’t started on it or don’t have enough expertise to build everything yourself, you might need to hire remote developers.
Questions that would come to your mind would be :
- How should you hire your first remote software development team?
- Where do I search for remote developers?
- How will I manage a team of remote developers?
Worry not, we’ve answers to all those questions in this article.
Remote working is getting popular. The trend is only getting stronger. Hiring a team of remote developers could certainly benefit you!
Some stats to back our thinking :
According to the 2021 State of Remote Engineering Report, compared to 19% previously, 86% of software developers work remotely.
More than one-third (34%) of software developers surveyed believe they should work from anywhere with flexibility resulting in being more productive and efficient.
In this article, let us see how to find and build the right remote software development team. Before we do that, let’s look at what differentiates a remote development team from a regular in-house development team.
What makes working with remote development teams so lucrative?
Building your complete in-house development team is a fantastic idea. Most of your team members are likely to speak the same language having similar backgrounds and values. The cultural fit would unquestionably be beneficial to a project and will aid in the integration of new employees into your operations.
Building an in-house development team has great advantages. Still, a considerable disadvantage is that the cost of an in-house team is quite higher as compared to a remote team since it includes paying overhead costs, training costs, perks, and more apart from their salaries.
As you know, the IT industry is changing rapidly; therefore, the scope of your project may alter due to market demand, but not all of your present professionals are ready, willing, or able to update their skill sets swiftly.
Also, keep in mind that top professionals tend to switch companies due to strong demand and more excellent pay packages. As a result, you will always be at risk of losing a member of your full-stack development team, for example, during a critical stage of a project. Who would want it to happen? You want a team of developers who can work as per market demands; this is where remote development teams come in.
Why should you hire or build a remote development team?
The Covid-19 virus made it nearly impossible for people to meet in person to work on projects. This forced many companies to adapt to the remote working trend and make a drastic change in their business policies. It has been considered a successful move, with high employee satisfaction due to the better work-life balance that remote work offers.
Here are the advantages of having a dedicated team of remote workers:
Gaining access to expertise:
Sometimes it’s simply hard to locate the necessary software developers locally, or you have to pay them a wage that exceeds your budget. If you choose to engage a remote development team to supplement your existing staff, you will have access to the most excellent talents from all over the world.
Reducing costs:
Hiring an in-house dedicated development team may require you to spend hundreds of dollars building up a suitable IT-based infrastructure. However, engaging with a remote development team for your project avoids paying for office infrastructure, hiring and training expenditures, costs of technology which adds to the overall costs. Hiring a remote development team not only saves infrastructure costs but also saves money on commuting, daily meals, working space, and so on.
Scalability:
Working with a remote development team allows you to add, remove, and replace people as needed and never compromise on your project’s requirements. A more straightforward remote team model makes it easier to shift resources around than an in-house team.
Working with a remote development team means that you have the freedom to be more flexible when it comes to the people you add and remove from your virtual office space. With an ever-growing remote workforce, you’ll always find someone available to lend their expertise in your area of need — making collaboration much simpler and more convenient for everyone involved.
Simple hiring:
By choosing a remote software development team, you can eliminate the burden of competing to acquire the top talent in your industry. Furthermore, suppose you work with a firm that has experience developing tech products; in that case, they will pre-select individuals based on your desired candidate profile, so you don’t have to go through hundreds of resumes each time you need to fill a position.
So now you have the idea of why remote development teams are preferable for start-ups; let’s say you have everything in place for your upcoming project but lack a remote development team. How will you find the best remote team for your company?
We would like to suggest some tips to consider while hiring a remote team.
How to hire and build an efficient remote software development team?
Businesses all around the globe are looking for the finest remote managed team to assign some of their most important work to. But, how do you select the right team, and where do you start looking at it?
Freelance Marketplace:
If you want to develop a short-term product, hiring freelancers might be a great decision. All you need to do is post an ad on multiple freelancer websites, and in no time, you’ll have access to numerous service providers!
However, if your project is long-term, it’s best not to hire freelancers but instead companies. Short-term projects require flexibility along with quick development times, but if you’re looking for long-term plans or something that has the potential to grow or even become the next big thing, then utilizing services from dedicated companies can offer you more in terms of stability as they are likely to stick around no matter how long the project lasts.
Top freelance marketplace
B2B portals:
Use B2B portals to gather information on firms that assist in hiring remote developers. B2B platforms like Clutch are one of the best ways to acquire information about certain businesses and the services they offer.
For instance, our RaftLabs Clutch account can show you how a business account appears on the platform. Additionally, as a project manager, you may wish to visit websites such as Goodfirms to get information about possible remote developers. Using and sharing knowledge is the most effective strategy to locate trustworthy businesses.
LinkedIn Network:
LinkedIn is one of the most crucial yet straightforward headhunting platforms that everyone seeking fresh talent should be aware of. Although it is primarily a tool for recruiters, you may use it to discover a remote development team regardless.
After narrowing the list of teams to those that meet the company’s specifications and needs, the next step is to determine which team is the best. Interviewing is the way to go, and we’ll go through the most critical components of the procedure to ensure that it goes smoothly.
5 steps you can follow while hiring a remote software development team:
1. Get clarity
Before the interview process begins, you need to make sure that you understand what type of developers you’re looking for. The process can begin by identifying a few key characteristics that will reflect favorably upon your brand and the type of business image you want to project into the marketplace.
2. Conduct an interview
When it comes to building a winning team, you want to be sure you choose the right members for your project who will operate as one harmonious unit. Conduct interviews for all the teams, and It’s always best to have a few options at hand so that you have other choices in case one team isn’t able to meet your requirements. Also, by interviewing many teams, you can get a sense of which ones you click with the most — meaning it should be much easier to determine who the best fit is for your hiring. There are certain questions you should ask a developer before hiring them, which can lay a strong foundation for the hiring process.
3. Set objectives
You must establish clear objectives for the applicants. It means that the team must be aware of the tasks that are about to be assigned and be prepared to face the challenge. Ensure that they are aware of their objectives and expectations and, are prepared to meet them.
4. Technical screening
The next step will be to examine if the teams can meet the requirements. This is where they pass the selection process and demonstrate how competent they are at their jobs, which helps in the selection of the top candidates.
5. Final interview
This is the final phase in the entire process, and it is when you meet and interview the most suitable team. At this stage, both you and the candidate should be aware that they are already on the safe side. You must do final assessments before deciding to begin working together.
One of the benefits of hiring remote professionals over in-house employees is hiring the best-fitting candidates available. Some companies are already successfully embracing this approach.
3 highly successful companies with a completely remote team to get inspired
- Zapier — Zapier’s mission is to build the tools that connect people and software to be more productive at work. Co-founders Wade, Bryan, and Mike moved to different places, but all lived in the same city so getting together was always tricky — especially since their schedules never seemed to align. So, they decided they’d spend most of their time working independently instead — a concept that has now grown into Zapier, a side project with more than 2,000 integrations used by millions of remote employees to help with workflow automation.
- Basecamp — Basecamp has been around for over 20 years, making it one of the longest-running remote companies — a veritable grandpa to the current remote work movement. The company takes pride in its teamwork, creative culture, and inspired leadership, which are all at the heart of what makes them so successful. Their success is something that they’ve built into their workflow by blurring the line between work and life.
- Github — Whether you live next door to your coworkers or are not, GitHub allows you to work remotely. This is great because it affords one the opportunity of working from wherever they feel most comfortable. One of the reasons the company encourages this sort of arrangement is because it saves them overhead costs even though employees can choose whether they want to be paid for their time or not etc.
A special mention in this list goes to Raftlabs: We’re a group of dedicated people who believe that when the right people come together, anything is possible. Our diverse team members come from different backgrounds and bring a broad range of experience and skills to the table. Together, we share ideas, values, and goals to create better outcomes. We are a remote-only company with friends in every time zone of the world.
Pointers to keep in mind after hiring a remote development team:
When hiring a remote development team or otherwise, it’s important to understand that you’re managing a remote workforce — and as such, it requires entirely different management skills. To make sure that your offshoring implementation is viewed as successful and beneficial after the completion of development programs or digital marketing campaigns, you have to manage your team differently than traditional workers who are in-house at your internal headquarters.
Here are some important tips for making things work out smoothly with a remote workforce.
Managing remote teams:
When a remote team joins the company, it is important to establish a sense of mutual respect and transparency. In-house and remote workers need to understand that they are all expected to represent the same level of talent and productivity. Therefore, you have to ensure all employees have access to the same resources, including any benefits or opportunities afforded to those who work in-house. There should be no difference between the two groups because you don’t want anyone thinking they’re better than anyone else.
The bottom line is if your company has branches in different regions, then it’s necessary for everyone operating out of any branch to abide by just one set of rules; otherwise, there will be influxes in inconsistencies here and there which will create problems in how efficiently things get done.
Remote management tools:
One of the most underrated things you can do to keep to keep your team happy is to invest in quality project management software specifically designed for remote teams. Nowadays, there is a range of cloud-based solutions that allow you to manage staff at all hours of the day, which is especially important when one has a global presence and hires people from all corners of the world.
Some of the management tools include:
Engage with the team:
Encourage a strong team spirit and create a place where everyone feels like they’re second-guessing themselves. In the company, it’s essential to know that you’re all on the same page (even if sometimes people think they see things a little differently). Giving other people the freedom to share their opinions and ideas without being ridiculed or shut down helps foster an environment of growth and healthy creativity, which helps your business thrive. To get the best out of your staff members, it’s important to appreciate open conversation so everyone can feel comfortable in putting forward new proposals or initiatives!
Communication language:
One of the factors that might hinder communication with the offshore team is the language barrier. There have been cases where businesses or organizations are forced to cancel projects because of broken communication when working with remote development teams. To avoid having this kind of situation occur during your project, make sure you take the time to confirm they speak English so as not to lose focus on your primary objectives.
Trust:
Working with remote teams can strain trust as there are different channels you have to utilize. In most cases, people wouldn’t know they’re hiring others unless they visit their offices. So how do you build trust when there hasn’t been enough face-to-face interaction? Well, communication is critical here! It’s essential to get your messages across through various means of communication. Use technology to make sure your employees feel like you’re sitting inches away from each other and let time do the rest.
How to manage remote teams effectively?
Managing a remote team doesn't have to be hard, but having a plan in place will help keep morale high. We’re here to outline some of our’s best practices that you can put into action to make your workflow smooth!
At RaftLabs, we recognize that remote teams can present many challenges, and as a result, we have implemented remote-work principles inspired by influential companies like Hubspot, Basecamp, etc.
- We write everything in our project management tool. Our thoughts, assumptions, ideas, actions, and everything there is. Writing forces us to think better. It’s easy to search, read and act on.
- We avoid assumptions. We would generally ask or tell if in doubt. It prevents us from avoidable pains and chaos.
- We own the outcomes and not tasks. Helps us think beyond our tasks and enables us to be better product builders.
- We are prepared before we meet. It saves us time. So that we can also do what we love beyond tech.
- We work in async mode. This helps us focus and deep work in the age of distractions.
Final Thoughts
Finding and building a remote software development team to work on your product can be challenging. However, since these professionals are about to become a part of your product, it’s easier to figure out what you need to ask candidates. Your job is also much easier when overseeing the team if you are 100% transparent with them when they ask questions as they develop your product.
We hope this article has served as a detailed guide on how to find and build a remote software development team.
Originally posted on [raftlabs.co]
