How To Overcome The Cultural Differences With Your Software Development Outsourcing Team

• By Danila Petrova
• 05-03-2020
• Software

Why you should outsource your software development?

The types of software development outsourcing

To outsource means to hire an external team to develop a project that directly benefits your business. There are different options to consider. You can out staff: hire developers and directly manage them yourself. You can onboard them as a permanent addition to your local team, or you can hire them on temporary contracts that only cover the production period.

You can hire an app developer that has a management practice set in place and takes care of this aspect of production as well as provide developers.

The key role of the software team for outsourcing

There are options when it comes to custom software solutions. Depending on how big the product is, the deadlines, your resources and your internal company culture you can find an approach that fits your needs perfectly.

Their key role is to develop a software product that fits your requirements and based on the conditions that all parties agreed when starting the project.

Depending on what option you go for you will work with local people or remotely with professionals from different parts of the world. So you may likely need to be aware of the potential cultural differences that may come of it. And how to approach them for the sake of a successful partnership.

How to overcome cross-cultural differences in outsourcing?

Understand cultural differences

Choosing an outsourcing team opens the door to specialists world-wide. And this is great because you are not limited to the experts working in the area. This solution also allows you to whey your options and find a good payoff for your investment.

However, if you choose a company and team that is remote then you should also make an effort to understand their cultural background. And this goes past the initial research. You can then maintain open communication to resolve any issues as they come up.

Ensure effective communication

Communication should go past giving out assignments and checking up on completion status. Culturally different societies have a slightly different approach. The expectations should be established beforehand. And past this, you should allow for back and forth communication to confirm any details when needed.

If it is due to a language barrier or a misunderstanding, the team needs to know that there is always a possibility to clear up any questions, instead of putting work in the wrong direction.

Develop an inclusive corporate culture

Every company has its own culture. Introduce yours to the outsourcing team and make an effort to understand theirs. After that, you should consider adjusting the methods of communication to the ones that fit both sides.

Treat the employees and their culture with the same respect you likely want for your own staff.

Align goals and expectation

We already touched on this, but making sure all of the goals and expectations are aligned and understood from both parties is imperative for a successful partnership. So take the time before the project starts to get the team on board and clear up any questions or concerns.

The development needs to have room for flexibility as it requires quick and timely reactions to resolve bugs, meet the production deadlines and polish out the details on features requirements.

Provide sound leadership

The team may be remote but you are still in charge of them. So you should take on the responsibility as a leader. You can partner up with the internal leadership structure and keep an eye on the process. But the client should also be in-the-know when it comes to the milestone and the overall arch of development that comes with software production.

The productive partnership relies on communication

As you probably noticed most of the requirements rely heavily on strong communication skills. And it makes sense, you need to make sure, first and foremost, that both the client team and the production team see eye to eye on how the process should go.

The second thing is that it takes the form of actual hands-on partnership. To outsource a service does not mean to lift your hands up and let them figure out what you want. Specificity, feedback, open communication and timely changes are the paths to a successful partnership.

How do you plan to take into account cultural differences? Do you think this is an unnecessary difficulty in production? What do you think is the most important aspect of working with a remote team?