Remote Dev Teams and Setting Up For Success
G2Guide’s Segun Osu on Hiring Remote Dev Teams and Setting Them Up For Success
Remote development teams can deliver greater productivity and provide a boost to achieve the full benefits of diversity. This is a summary of a session held by Wework Labs mentor Segun Osu, director of G2Guide.
Common benefits of hiring remote teams instead of individuals
There is significant potential for greatness within teams and some studies show that when you compare great teams to average ones, they can be more than 10 times more effective.”
Common concerns about hiring remote
Question around quality and timeliness are not unique to remote teams. To improve quality and timeliness, recruit great teams and use Scrum, an Agile framework. It has been proven to be much more successful than traditional ways of managing a project.
IP protection concerns are not unique to remote teams. Get to know who you are working with through due diligence and background checks. However, just like with any other relationship, continuously build trust and strong relationships, and compensate people fairly.
How collaboration works with remote dev teams
The more mature the technology and the clearer your requirements, the less dependent success is on communication between HQ and the team. The opposite is also true and we use a combination of different technology to significantly boost collaboration.
The pros of hiring remotely
Easier access to the best employees, higher employee motivation, better employee work-life balance, greater ability to retain staff and greater diversity, an important source of new ideas.
The costs of hiring remotely or hiring distributed teams are significantly lower and the direct costs of office space for remote teams can be much lower. You may also experience higher productivity as remote teams are more likely to be able to do more so called “deep work” at times and in places where they work best.
How to manage remote teams
First, make people feel that they’re part of your community even though they’re far away. Get close to them and be collaborative. Communication is key. Clear agendas, daily stand-up meetings, weekly 1x1s and weekly group meetings are all key. In article 3 we dig deeper and look at how we use the agile scrum framework.
So called psychological safety is critical – make it easy for people to take risks or voice an opinion. Make sure that your team is able to understand and see how the work they are engaged in could be important to them but also what the outcome of their work could mean for others. People respond well to work that is meaningful and has a clear impact. Provide structure and clarity when communicating with remote developers – be clear about goals, what you’re trying to accomplish and set expectations.
