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Effective communication is the foundation for successful project execution in the world of software development outsourcing. By establishing clear communication channels, fostering a collaborative environment, and utilizing appropriate communication tools, teams remain engaged with one another while overcoming common challenges that prevent some from achieving their strategic business objectives.
Still, many companies struggle to find the right tools for their outsourced communication needs and implement them effectively. Fortunately, there are many ways to help streamline the process for your internal team and service provider when it comes to communications outsourcing .
Establishing clear communication channels
How do you communicate effectively with your provider? Follow these steps.
Choosing the right tools
Some teams are overwhelmed by the number of methods and tools available. For full-time employees and third-party partners, these include:
- Instant Messaging : Instant messaging is ideal for quick, productive conversations in the office or even around the world with third-party partners. Apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams create an open forum for easier, faster troubleshooting and real-time feedback.
- Video conferencing : While it's always helpful to write things down, in-person meetings are often the most effective way for professionals to interact. When working with an outsourced company, this can be a challenge as they may be located in different countries. Fortunately, video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet help businesses and contractors connect in a virtual and in-person environment.
- Project management : Internal and outsourced team members need to know the focus and status of the project at all times. Project management tools help make everyone's life easier by allowing everyone to understand the status of the project as well as their individual tasks. Some favorites are Trello, Asana, and Monday.
- Document Collaboration : The days of writing documents in Microsoft Word and hoping your computer doesn't malfunction without saving them are over thanks to new document collaboration tools like OneDrive, Google Docs, and Confluence. With these tools, team members collaborate on documents, comment, and edit without ever leaving their desks or sending attachments.
It is important for business leaders to consider the main benefits of each tool and the skills of their team. Each professional should be able to access these tools effectively based on their specific needs.
Setting up regular meetings
Regular meetings greatly benefit teams while working on projects. By scheduling recurring meetings for project updates, teams gain insight into important factors such as other teams' progress, updates, and so on. These meetings can come in the form of daily scrums, weekly progress meetings, or monthly reviews. Team leaders should adjust meeting frequency based on project needs and phases.
When working with a software outsourcing team, the hiring company must also address time zone differences and strive to find a time that works for everyone involved in the project.
Setting Communication Expectations
It is important to establish expectations to ensure seamless communication between customers and the outsourced company.
Creating a Communication Plan
The only way communication can be effective is if everyone is on the same page. Business leaders must establish which channels they will use for the project, as well as expected response times. They should also assign specific responsibilities for communication tasks accordingly.
Setting Limits and Availability
Boundaries are as important as communication itself. Team members must know their colleagues' work schedules and respect cultural differences, including holidays/time off. This helps maintain healthy communication. However, project leaders should establish an urgent communication system, just in case.
Cultivating a collaborative environment
Collaboration is essential for perfect communication. See how to cultivate a collaborative environment.
Encourage open dialogue
Teams must know the inner workings of an entire project, as team leaders must promote a culture of transparency in the office and with the outsourced team. They should strive to resolve issues proactively, efficiently, and respectfully and use constructive feedback to drive improvements.
Building Relationships and Trust
Teams need to feel like they have the ability to trust and rely on their outsourced and in-house colleagues. Team leaders should try to encourage team bonding activities to help build this type of culture without making them seem tacky or bothersome for taking time out of the workday. Virtual coffee breaks and moments to celebrate team achievements are good ways to help foster this work environment.
Assessing the ROI of Effective Communication in Outsourcing
There is a great correlation between the communication of a project and its success. Teams that don't communicate end up in disaster. Simplified communication helps avoid problems or miscommunications in the future.
Identifying key metrics to measure communication success
Team leaders monitor the performance of their communication plan and use this data for future projects. Metrics to monitor include response times, issue resolution rates, and overall team satisfaction. Based on these metrics, they must adjust the necessary processes to drive continuous improvement.
Aligning communication with strategic business objectives
Effective communication is extremely important for achieving business goals, regardless of industry. Business leaders must set expectations for both internal teams and outsourced partners.
Overcoming common communication challenges in outsourcing
Working with an outsourced team sometimes presents communication challenges during a project. These issues range from micromanagement to team members making assumptions or even not knowing all of their roles. To avoid these problems, leaders must ensure that their culture of transparency translates into everyone knowing to ask questions, clarify and overcommunicate when necessary.
Leveraging communication for innovation and agility
Clear and open communication is not only helpful, it also helps foster innovation across internal and outsourced teams. As team members get to know each other, they exchange ideas, helping the project. Working in an agile environment also keeps everyone updated and informed.
Managing language and cultural barriers
There can be cultural barriers when you work with outsourced teams, so it's important to establish a plan to manage them in advance.
Providing language support
Outsourcing often means working with people from other countries and cultures and with different native languages. You may need to break down some language barriers with training, translation tools, and extra patience from everyone involved. When working with non-native speakers of the same language, everyone should strive to use clear, concise, and meaningful language to help ensure as few miscommunications as possible.
Embracing Cultural Diversity
You will also have the opportunity to learn about new cultures and languages when companies promote a culture of inclusion and respect. Hiring companies should consider cultural training sessions and create policies that respect cultural nuances to avoid potential misunderstandings.
Conclusion
Regular communication is the foundation upon which companies and outsourced teams form strong working relationships while successfully completing projects. Leaders must foster a culture of inclusion and respect with outsourced multicultural teams while establishing clear requirements, boundaries, and expectations.
If you liked this article, be sure to check out some more articles about outsourcing.
- Pitfalls of Software Developer Outsourcing (and How to Avoid Them)
- Types of contracts you should consider for outsourcing software development
- Key metrics to measure success in software outsourcing
- Drafting comprehensive service level agreements for software outsourcing
Source: BairesDev
