Don’t mistake proximity for good communication

Despite off-shore software development being a proven model there is still fear and trepidation about making it work. Why? 

Over the last 20 years, I've worked with local and remote development teams. I've been involved in opening, operating and maturing off-shore delivery centres and through that experience I've seen a lot of the reasons for why those fears first manifested and why they still prevail today.

Working from home through COVID-19 proved beyond doubt that teams can function at distance. Yes, in certain industries it was difficult, but in software and other knowledge worker environments there were plentiful upsides to staff morale, happiness and productivity. Employers in these areas are now baking in working from home. Remote working is an expectation of software development professionals.

That underlying lesson, amplified by lock-down is key to thinking about off-shoring. Where your development team is located doesn’t matter, time zones and sleep patterns excluded. It has never been about location or proximity. It has always been about trust and good communication.

Good teams, long-term partners, significant others grow from trust. Trust is built from effective communication.

Technology and software development is a complex discipline. Communicating logically with bits and bytes to a machine is different than the nuance and subtlety of human interaction. Those techies who can combine deep subject matter expertise with an ability to articulate their craft enjoy great success. It's why we all feel those 'linchpins are in short supply'.

I’ve seen and helped dysfunctional development teams who were sat next to their stakeholders; interacted almost continually but delivered poorly. Trust eroding with the continued confusion. The fix in a lot of those cases? Better communication. One of the key reasons for the role of scrum master in agile teams.

If communicating technology is difficult, then doing it in a second language has to be at least doubly so and I say this as a monoglot, recognizing my inherited privilege of only ever needing a single language. This required layering of translation across both subject and language is the truth behind most of the horror stories that you may have heard about off-shore development.

However, this is well-known, lesson's have been learnt. Mature off-shoring organisations have operating models designed to overcome this. How?

• They will show commitment to both technical and language competency in their people.
• They will recognise the balance of both communication competencies and blend proposed teams appropriately.
• They will recognise the complexity of communication by including a layer of local management in their team structure. A vital intermediary to ensure no misinterpretation or confusion.
• They'll encourage trust building measures. They'll facilitate face-to-face meetings allowing your team and their team to jump the language barrier and bond as humans tasked with a common goal.

Forget about coordinates. Forget about your fear. Approach off-shoring by scrutinising your potential partner's quality and commitment to good communication. This is the key.

Getting it right will leave you in the best position to enjoy the significant economic upside.