A lot of businesses, big and small alike, are now running their operations with offshore teams. Offshore teams are a certain number of specialists who work for you remotely. These people may be in a different city or country, and communicate with you via emails, chats, and audio or video calls. The demand for offshore remote employment has risen over the years, and even multi-national companies have come to adapt this kind of system. It provides tremendous benefits on the part of the employer. Aside from cutting on costs of maintaining an office, companies get to employ skilled individuals who have no need for training. But, of course, managing an offshore team is not a walk in a park. When things go wrong and their performance fluctuates, your company will absorb and suffer these problems. Here are some tips in order to work with offshore teams smoothly.
- Share your vision statement.
It is important for your team to understand the vision of your company and your vision for your product. By doing so, your team will be able to create plans and strategies that align with your company’s goals and objectives, and add value to your product or to the organisation as a whole. You will get more cooperation and inspire them to work towards the achievement of your company or product’s success.
- Designate a manager or team leader.
Every team needs supervision no matter how skilled or knowledgeable the people are. The manager or team leader is your point-person who oversees the daily operations, ensures completion of every task, or monitors quotas. They make reports on the performance of the team as well. The best advantage you can get out of having a point-person when your team is overseas is that you can easily bridge the cultural differences. This holds true especially to back office outsourcing services.
- Use collaboration technology.
Tools such as Trello and Slack help you and your team manage your tasks and programs, make collaboration workflow easier, enable you to see your team’s progress and ensure that nothing has been missed.
- Build strong communication.
Lack of communication demotivates your team. It makes them feel so far from you. Good communication is a key ingredient in creating successful offshore relationships. In order to achieve this, you must use various communication methods such as emails, chats, voice calls or video calls. Tools such as Zoom and Google Meet are very common nowadays when having a meeting with your entire team. It is also very exciting for your offshore and in-house employees to meet each other online. This will foster better relationships, teamwork, and collaboration among your people.
- Appreciate and recognise achievements.
A pat on the back always goes a long way. When your offshore team achieves their goal, appreciate them. Recognising even small victories can lead to even more inspired team players. You may also reward them with bonuses to even boost their morale and motivate them to work harder.
- Do annual visits.
Seeing your boss in person is definitely an exciting time for an employee. Flying in to visit your team, see them face-to-face, and get to know them better will improve your relationship and build trust and confidence. When you visit your team, you will also get first-hand experience of their daily operations and help you identify areas of strength and improvement.
It may not be easy but these tips may guide you into properly managing your offshore team. Of course, one size does not fit all, and every company has a unique personality. But by integrating these very simple steps into your overall operations, you are on your way in achieving a smooth-running offshore team.