Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

How to Effectively Manage Remote Workteams

How to Effectively Manage Remote Workteams

As an outsourcing company, we work with offshore workteams as a matter of course. The two most pressing challenges we continually face are those of managing and measuring the outsourcing performance of our remote workteam, and facilitating communication between local co-workers and the remote workteam as they collaborate on projects.

With most local workteams, outsourcing managers can set a series of milestones and checkpoints, and manage to those deliverables. However, when outsourcing to a remote workteam, this approach becomes problematic due to the distance and lack of regular workteam visibility.

While many software development shops maintain a staff of programmers/QA onsite to review all code checked in and all bugs reported by the remote workteam, the reality is that many small companies who wish to try offshore outsourcing do not have the necessary programming expertise onsite.

Here are a few of the things we believe are keys to successfully maximizing outsourcing workteam relationships:

Communication:
First and foremost is communication. If you are not constantly in the loop with the offshore workteam to which you are outsourcing, you are out of the loop. With a workteam 8k-10k miles away, being out of the loop is bad for business.

At our company, we utilize several modes of communication (email, IM chat, Skype Voice and IM Chat conference). Specifically, we keep a Skype chat conference open and active during the hours we share with the offshore QA team to which we are outsourcing as an open line of communication.

It is amazing how freely information started to flow once we started this practice. We can now easily review the chat of the previous 2-3 hours and identify any issues and if/how they were resolved. Our workteams use Skype voice chat several hours per day (in fact, there have been active Skype voice calls lasting several hours).

Assigning Tasks:
Having clearly defined tasks is also key when outsourcing to and managing remote workteams. We assign tasks via Bugzilla for writing/updating automated testing scripts, regression testing, and back-end api testing. These tasks are then broken down to the component level and assigned to individual QA Engineers on our remote workteam. Once an outsourcing task is complete, it is marked as resolved, and checked into SVN (as applicable).

Metrics:
We have also determined that the standard metrics of test case writing, defect reporting and management (as well as the updating of the automated testing scripts) offer us a good place to start.

We track metrics such as:
* Defects logged per hour of testing
* Test Cases written/modified per week
* Ratio of valid vs. invalid dDefects

Using these metrics not only gives us a look into the quantity, but also the quality of the workteam to which we are outsourcing (through auditing defects and test cases).

We also keep track of test case files by requiring them to be checked into SVN by the individual members of the remote workteam. This allows us to track file progress from revision to revision. It also gives us the ability to do forensic work if we think we missed a very obvious bug or a feature was added that was not covered in a test case.

Inclusion:
We include outsourcing representatives from our remote offshore workteams in our local Engineering meetings. This gives them the chance to interact with the team, make suggestions, and participate in the decision-making process. This has the effect of making them a real part of the workteam, which is evident in the way they respond to the outsourcing project at hand.

Conclusion:
While these are just a few of the best practices we've discovered, there is one underlying theme. Visibility breeds accountability, while letting the professionals on a remote workteam know that you, the outsourcing manager are not just interested in getting your project done, but also in helping each of your workteam members to be more successful.





How to Effectively Manage Remote Workteams - To learn more about this author, visit Daryl James's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Joe Dager
Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Daryl James
(Visit Daryl's Website) Daryl writes/blogs for oDesk, the marketplace for online workteams. oDesk offers the best business model for both buyers and providers with a unique approach that guarantees that an hour paid is an hour worked, while also guaranteeing that an hour worked is an hour paid.

Daryl James is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Daryl James's

Complete
List Of
Work-Life
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Daryl James's Complete List of Work-Life Articles For FREE!

More Daryl James
Indian outsourcing services maintain growth in recession
Survey Hiring expectations improved in emerging markets
Top 5 Qualities in an Outsourcing Company
8 Warning Signs That an Outsourcing Job is Failing
6 Ways to Market Yourself Online
China commits to raising outsourcing profile
When Why and How You Need to Hire a Freelance Project Manager
These days Twitter is a jobskill must
Extroverts excel at working from home research says
How to Write a Killer Freelance Bid Cover Letter
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Jeff Foster  
Anne Barr  
Jay Kubassek  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Networking Challenges Icon Networking Challenges
Leadership Assessment Icon Leadership Assessment
Addictive Entrepreneurship Icon Addictive Entrepreneurship
Breakdown, Breakthrough Icon Breakdown, Breakthrough
Best Cover Letter Icon Best Cover Letter
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Blogs For Startups To Watch In 2008
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008
 
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Towanou Mathieu Dossou Agoe, Togo,
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
John Zarei and Shaan Parekh , $516k to $1.5 Mil in 2 years
John Zarei and Shaan Parekh
$516k to $1.5 Mil in 2 years
Catherine Daw, > $4 Mil in revenues
Catherine Daw
> $4 Mil in revenues
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Henry Heinz, HJ Heinz
Henry Heinz
HJ Heinz
King Gillette, The Gillette Company
King Gillette
The Gillette Company
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Jeffrey Gitomer, The Sales Bible
Jeffrey Gitomer
The Sales Bible
Zig Ziglar, See You At The Top
Zig Ziglar
See You At The Top
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Are You Ready to ReEnter The Workforce Back to Work Strategies that Work
By Kirsten Ross
     I learned a Life Lesson from My Car
By Kirsten Ross
     Managing a Telecommuter Successfully
By Kirsten Ross

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More popular articles
- Crm Sales Force Solution
More Information