What Is An Offshore Team? How to Make Offshore Work!

Most people hear “offshore team” and think cheaper developers in another country. That part gets all the attention, and it is the part that gets companies into trouble. I have hired offshore engineers in several countries and built teams in the Philippines at both Stackify and Full Scale, so I have seen the version that works and the version that quietly falls apart. The difference is almost never the talent. It is how the team is set up and run. This guide defines what an offshore team really is, walks through the real advantages of offshoring, and shows how to make one productive instead of just inexpensive.

When you build an offshore team, you also have to decide how its members are employed, which is the crux of choosing an employer of record or a staffing agency. Whichever you choose, for a Microsoft-stack team it is how you hire dedicated C# developers who work as part of your org.

Since the advent of technology, companies have seen the advantages of telecommuting. Qualified professionals from all over the world can work away from the traditional corners of the company headquarters. 

The pandemic has underscored the importance of this flexibility, as the person only needs a stable internet connection and digital resources to become part of a remote team. This adaptability, which fosters employee loyalty by accommodating their circumstances, has been especially helpful for many international organizations who find it hard to find local talent during such disruptive times. Loyalty like that is part of why our own team rates Full Scale a great place to work.

This is especially true for industries seeking specific qualifications, such as software development or data management. Thus, it is unsurprising that business owners hire an offshore team for expansions. Aside from access to a wider talent pool, it significantly reduces your overhead costs. 

But when you say “offshore team meaning,” what does it entail? How do you ensure they are efficient and productive away from the headquarters? Take note of the key facts discussed in this article.

What Is An Offshore Team? Defining What It Is

There is an increasing trend of companies partnering with offshore service providers in leading countries, such as India, China, and the Philippines. But before you delve into choosing a team, it’s better to understand what an offshore team is first.

An offshore team, dubbed your offshore one, typically comprises offshore engineers from the Philippines and other professionals employed by your company and work remotely from faraway locations relative to your headquarters. It constitutes a strategic method of offshore outsourcing, enabling teams to operate in various time zones or necessitating shift alignment with your business demands. 

For example, hiring an offshore company in the Philippines is prevalent among U.S.-based businesses looking for offshore teams to ensure close onshore collaboration. It works because software development talent is spread across the globe rather than concentrated in the US.

However, managing offshore teams presents unique challenges and should not be confused with the general term “outsourcing.” While outsourcing refers to entrusting business processes to external employees from a partner company, offshore employees are integral parts of your company despite not being present in the main office.

Onshore vs. Offshore vs. Nearshore

The differences among the three terminologies and their associated norms are simple. Their definitions are straightforward, making any business decision easier to process later on.

As mentioned, an offshore team (also referred to as an offshoring team) comprises company employees working in another country. Businesses of all shapes and sizes from various industries can take advantage of offshoring. This is viable when your country has a talent shortage—which is especially immense for the software industry.

But when you say “onshore,” you hire employees to handle business processes and other tasks within the same country. Doing so ensures everyone is on the same workday schedule. You don’t need to adjust to any time zone or cultural differences since you’re within the same region, so to speak.

Now, when you think about a “nearshore team,” it involves delegating some of your business processes to employees from a nearby country. The team usually works the same shift as your main office staff since you’re in a similar time zone. Due to geographic proximity, you can easily conduct onsite visits and other collaborative efforts.

Best Practices for Achieving Success in Offshore Projects

Hiring an offshore team has its pros and cons. Are you thinking about how to counter the challenges of managing a team far from you? Then here are some thoughts on offshore teams, alongside tips to keep them efficient and productive.

1. Talk about Clear Project Goals and Milestones

Guide your offshore team towards success by discussing your project goals clearly. Let them know how you want the results to look like.

Set proper expectations at the project’s start so everyone is on the same page. Most importantly, define project milestones to measure the progress of the project. It is also efficient if you appreciate every milestone accomplished by the team and give them rewards from time to time.

For example, you want to hire an offshore development team in the Philippines. Done wrong, that is how you end up working with bad offshore developers your team resents. In doing so, you must provide a full product brief detailing the necessary functionalities, deliverables, and deadlines. Moreover, you should define other specific requirements, such as the schedule of deployment, testing specifications, and expected deliverables.

Here is an example of a project timeline for a software development process:

2. Set a Scheduled Touch Base with the Team

To ensure better collaboration, schedule regular meetings with the team at consistent intervals. Set the schedule ahead of time so that everyone can manage their tasks accordingly. And find a time that is convenient for you and the team.

Before the check-in meeting, it is ideal to send an agenda, too. If you need any reports or other updates, you can discuss them during the meeting instead of putting them off until your next call.

Remember that regular, effective communication, fostered by openness, a cornerstone of employee engagement, is the key to managing your offshore team better. It helps you fend off major problems and resolve existing ones as soon as possible.

3. Hire a Local Project Manager for the Team

As much as possible, try to assign a project manager for your offshore team at the chosen location. Look for someone who has excellent project management and communication skills. A strong local manager also makes the first 90 days of integrating an offshore team go far smoother. 

This will help you solve most challenges working with an offshore development center, like language barriers, cultural variations, and time differences. And when it comes to project updates, having a chat with your specific point person will ensure smooth communication.

4. Establish Clear Roles and Designated Tasks

It is advisable to set clear expectations and requirements for each team member to enhance team integration. It enables them to focus on their specific responsibilities and prioritize their tasks accordingly. Moreover, it will also help them narrow down their concerns and look for possible solutions to problems surrounding their scope.

5. Organize An Efficient Workflow

Planning, creating, and improving a workflow will relieve headaches and stress. When you’re working with a team operating far away, the workflow will serve as their guide on how to accomplish things. This way, it won’t be time-consuming for you to explain how each task is related to the other one. And how one team member can proceed from one phase to the next. It will also demonstrate how the feed is provided so both you and the team meet eye-to-eye regarding the expected results.

6. Make Use of Project Management Tools

Use the available project management tools instead of a manual tracker. Tools such as Asana, Monday, or Trello are very helpful when assigning and monitoring tasks. If your team setup also involves handling timesheets, leave requests, or performance tracking, consider using a dedicated employee management app to centralize these functions alongside your project workflows.

It is also handy when setting priorities and deadlines for each task. Almost every process step can be automated, so the team can drag-and-click. It’s an efficient way of managing each of their activities.

7. Build a Good Offshore Workplace Culture

Treat your offshore team as if they are also working in your main office. That said, make sure you’re also building a supportive and open workplace culture offshore. Encourage the team to build good habits that elevate collaboration and communication, enhancing employee productivity.

Culture fit matters most at the hiring stage. It helps to assess an offshore team’s cultural fit before you bring people on, so the developers you add already work the way your team does.

You can also organize fun activities that promote teamwork between your onshore and offshore staff, which is part of building a successful remote development team. If you can, provide continuous knowledge sharing and opportunities for professional development, including employee feedback sessions. In addition, when providing feedback, consider your cultural differences and compromise on a style that fits both you and the offshore team.

What’s more? Remember to encourage work-life balance for everyone in the workforce, whether in your headquarters or an offshore location.

Top Offshore Team Management Mistakes

Managing offshore development teams can be complex, with numerous potential pitfalls. Across the offshore teams I have seen built and run, here are three of the biggest mistakes companies make:

1. Inadequate Communication Protocols

Communication issues in offshore project management are common and widely reported in business case studies and project postmortems. Real-world examples of these issues demonstrate the critical importance of clear and consistent communication channels between onshore and offshore teams.

A report by the Project Management Institute (PMI) found that organizations which communicate effectively are more than five times as likely to be high performers, with 80 percent of their projects meeting the original goals versus 52 percent for the weakest communicators. Companies often fail to set up clear communication channels with their offshore teams, and when time zones and language gaps go unmanaged, the result is missed cues that turn into rework and blown deadlines.

2. Poor Cultural Integration and Sensitivity

As a Harvard Business Review study highlighted, cultural misunderstandings, often stemming from different mindsets, can lead to significant delays and communication failures. For example, a US-based company working with an offshore team in India might not account for the subtleties of indirect communication styles indicative of the local mindset, resulting in missed cues and unclear expectations.

3. Misalignment of Expectations and Business Goals

The teams that struggle most are the ones with no real process behind the work. I have seen it firsthand: a company hands an offshore team a vague brief, skips the code reviews and the standups, then acts surprised when the code quality is all over the place and the project runs long. The fix is not more oversight. It is a clear process everyone follows, so the same standards apply whether an engineer sits in your office or works from another country.

These mistakes underscore the importance of proactive management strategies, meticulous planning, and accountability in fostering a culturally sensitive approach to utilize offshore teams effectively and prevent burnout among team members.

Mastering Offshore Management for Team Success

Offshoring is a rising trend, especially in software development. If you want the offshore software development definition before you go further, that’s a useful 10-minute read. Understanding the meaning of offshore teams allows you to tap into the global pool of tech talent and make better business decisions when recruiting more talent.

You can also take note of the tips on how to manage the team effectively. This way, you can lessen your worries about the challenges of managing an offshore team. It also pays to learn how to motivate an offshore team so the people you hire stay engaged for the long run. 

The teams that get the most out of offshore stop treating it as cheaper labor and start running it as a real product team that owns outcomes. That shift is the core of my book, Product Driven, and it is what separates an offshore team that ships great software from one that just closes tickets.

Software Development Services from An Offshore Company

Full Scale has a team of highly skilled software development and digital marketing professionals at your disposal. We can customize our solutions based on your business requirements and functionality needs. With our efficient workflow in place, working with our leading offshore team will be a productive and effective process.

Build an Offshore Team in the Philippines