Agile development is one of the most prominent management practices that has completely revolutionized the software development industry. It includes many adaptive and iterative practices that promote collaborations resulting in higher-quality products and services.
On the other hand, Offshore Development Centers have also become a popular model for organizations looking for cost-effective global talents from global locations. When you combine Agile methodologies with the benefits of ODCs, you get access to some of the best benefits and opportunities. However, the same can be said for the challenges and limitations. Hence, you need an effective guide with proper tips and techniques for ensuring a successful Agile implementation in your ODC. This blog aims to deliver exactly that.
Tips and Techniques to Integrate Agile Development Practices in Offshore Development Centers
Let’s look at how you can foster an agile work culture and development process in your offshore development center without any further ado. Here are our best tips, tricks, and suggestions –
Ensuring Clear Communication and Effective Collaboration
Effective communication is key to successful Agile implementation in an offshore setting. When working with offshore teams, the cultural differences between your in-house and offshore teams, communication barriers, and language and accent differences can all contribute to misunderstandings and conflicts.
We must create a working environment where such issues are reduced to a bare minimum for effective collaboration and communication. Here are some ways to attain this goal –
- Set clear communication and collaboration.
Define communication channels, tools for communication, and timings when onshore and offshore teams should be available, and schedule meet-ups, stand-ups, and monthly reports. For instance, video conferencing tools should be used for face-to-face interactions; instant messaging apps should be used for daily communication needs, and so on.
- Make use of collaborative tools.
Collaborative tools exist for attaining and addressing different requirements, such as instant messaging apps are sued for daily communication, document sharing platforms that help keep track of all business files and documents, project management tools that help assign and track tasks to individuals and teams, and so forth and so on.
You should effectively plan a proper communication and collaboration tool stack so no one is confused about where to connect with their colleagues or management when needed.
- Embrace Cultural Diversity
A welcoming environment is always better than one with bias or prejudice against a particular group based on their shared beliefs, preferences, or other personal aspects. Hence it is important to address and ensure no such bias exists. You should focus on team-building activities, cultural awareness activities, and other such tasks to improve the different cultural backgrounds and grow stronger as a team.
Comprehensive Onboarding and Training
When you work with offshore teams, investing proper time and effort into their onboarding and training phase is crucial. This helps ensure the team is aligned with your Agile principles and working methods. This gets easier if you work directly with a remote dedicated development team with experience working in agile work environments. Here are some ways to achieve this –
- Introducing Agile Concepts
As the company owner/manager, you are responsible for providing comprehensive training to your global teams on Agile working principles, Scrum, Kanban, and other business methodologies to ensure they know how to work in such work environments. Focus on the importance and benefits of an Agile methodology, so they resonate with it more.
- Familiarize talents with the Project Domain.
Help your offshore development team members better understand the project domain, target audience, and industry they will be working on. This will help them onboard easier, feel more ready to take on the role, and make informed decisions to contribute effectively to your project.
- Foster Internal Mentorship
There’s no better way to grow the bond between a team than have them collaborate and help each other. When you hire dedicated developers from offshore agencies, you can match them with experienced in-house talent by allowing them to effectively mentor and guide remote talents. This habit also helps make the knowledge transfer process effective and significantly strengthens the involvement and communication between in-house and extended teams.
Define Goals and Objectives Clearly
Clear business goals and objectives must ensure every team member is working towards a mutual goal and vision. Such unity in mindset and efforts will yield much better results than a scattered team fighting over what’s a priority and what’s not. Here are a few ways you can clarify this, ensuring everyone is on the same page –
- Set achievable milestones
The larger end goal can be overwhelming and confusing to comprehend. This is why it is always better to break the monolithic project into smaller, attainable, measurable milestones aligning with the project timeline. This helps ease the team into fulfilling their duties, tracking progress, and identifying performance bottlenecks early on.
- Define Measurable Metrics
If you don’t track performance properly, your efforts toward perfecting your agile management in offshore teams will be futile. One of the most standard and industry-grade practices to define measurable metrics is establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that help gauge the project’s progress and success. These metrics should be shared with the offshore and in-house teams to encourage constant improvement.
- Foster Transparency in Business Processes
No one likes closed doors and kept secrets; the same applies to offshore and onshore teams. Until and unless you restrict certain business-sensitive information for security reasons, no undergoing of daily operations should be hidden from either of the teams. You should encourage open feedback and regular status updates between both teams to foster a sense of trust and ensure everyone is aware of the project’s current status.
Prioritize Agile Mindset over Tools
Tools and tech stack are vital contributors to the success of any project. However, Agile success is more based on the mindset and principles than the tools you use for your project. To implement such a mindset in your global team, you can do the following –
- Emphasize real-time collaboration and communication
Documentation is mandatory to keep track of all changes and updates in the project. However, real-time communication and collaboration should not be taken lightly. Your team should engage in continuous discussion, face-to-face interactions, and active participation to address issues promptly.
- Promote Adaptability and Flexibility
Agile methodologies need team members to have a flexible and adaptive approach to adjust to dynamically changing requirements and market conditions. You should better prepare and encourage your offshore team to embrace change and accommodate changes to deal with the changes in the process.
- Foster Continuous Learning and Improvement Culture
Your development team should be self-motivated and intrigued to constantly learn and upgrade their skills to work better on your project. You can promote the habit of self-learning and group learning by asking team members to present their learnings to other team members, teaching them how to conduct a presentation, and encouraging knowledge-sharing best practices.
Final Words
Agile development in Offshore Development Centers can bring innumerable benefits to your software project and business. When you focus on improving communication & collaboration, making the onboarding process seamless, and clarifying objectives from the start, such Agile principles foster a culture for self-motivation, continuous improvement, and other important traits needed to fully leverage the potential of an offshore team and ensure a fruitful partnership.
