talent acquisition for startups · software ﬁrms opt for outsourcing their projects to offshore...

FOR STARTUPSTALENT ACQUISITION

Hiring OffshoreSoftware Engineersthat Deliver!

V I R T U A L S T A F F I N G

INTRODUCTION

CONTENTSCONTENTSFor startup founders, high-value technical talent acquisition is the first step to building their disruptive idea into a minimum viable

product. However, finding candidates that

are just the right fit for the product niche

and getting them onboard can be a tough

task. The best way founders can attract

talent to their new venture is by adopting

alternate talent acquisition hacks that can

work well with their early business stage.

In this ebook, we discuss how you can build

a structured offshore software engineering

team that not only counters all the usual

offshoring issues, but can help you scale

your startup much faster.

For startup founders, high-value technical

talent acquisition is the first step to building

their disruptive idea into a minimum viable

product. However, finding candidates that

are just the right fit for the product niche

and getting them onboard can be a tough

task. The best way founders can attract

talent to their new venture is by adopting

alternate talent acquisition hacks that can

work well with their early business stage.

In this ebook, we discuss how you can build

a structured offshore software engineering

team that not only counters all the usual

offshoring issues, but can help you scale

your startup much faster.

Chapter 1:

Addressing the Talent-Gap

Chapter 2:

Should I Consider Offshore Staffing?

Chapter 3:

Making Offshore Staffing Work

Chapter 4:

Advantages of Offshore Development

Staffing

Chapter 5:

Why Does Offshoring Fail?

Chapter 6:

What to Look for in an Ideal Offshore

Staffing Partner

Chapter 1:

Addressing the Talent-Gap

Chapter 2:

Should I Consider Offshore Staffing?

Chapter 3:

Making Offshore Staffing Work

Chapter 4:

Advantages of Offshore Development

Staffing

Chapter 5:

Why Does Offshoring Fail?

Chapter 6:

What to Look for in an Ideal Offshore

Staffing Partner


CHAPTER 1

ADDRESSING THE TALENT-GAP

STARTUP IDEA

Is Technical Talent ShortageHurting Your Startup Growth?

The ultimate challenge for any tech startup is

finding and acquiring the best technical talent.

Try hanging out in any startup community or

co-working space, and you will meet startup

founders desperately searching for that crucial

team member. Although technical expertise is

high in demand across many industries, none

depicts this demand-supply shortage like the

technology industry does.

With the emergence of tech startup hubs

across the U.S. acting as regional eco-systems

for startups to flourish, top engineering talent

from all over the U.S. is taking up work and

moving to these hubs. Tech startups at the

same time prefer being located at these hubs --

valuing the incredible networking opportunities,

stellar talent supply, access to funding, and

mentorship that they offer.

However, what happens if your startup is not

located in one of these tradition-disruptive

ecosystems? With an already acute talent

shortage and a concentration of top talent in

the tier-1 startup hubs, scaling a tech startup in

a non-traditional startup location can be quite

a daunting task.

04V I R T U A L S T A F F I N G

Chapter 1: Adressing the Talent-Gap

Startup Idea

Talent Scope

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The Effects that Talent Gap has on Startup Growth

Successful startups are all about disruptive ideas. Moreover, ideas need a strong team that can bring

them to life. Without the proper supply of talent, the tech industry loses the very essence that has

helped it grow over the years - intellectual brilliance. Here are four major challenges that tech

startups face as a result of the technical talent availability gap.

Challenge 1: Faster Time-to-Market

In an industry and culture based on innovation,

there can be nothing more game changing than

an early mover’s advantage. Whether it is

pitching to a VC with an MVP or rolling out that

all important product update to the market,

every startup needs talented people to get the

job done. With an inability to fill open positions,

startups can lose valuable time and competitive

ground costing them money or an important

opportunity.

Challenge 2: Scalability

Your startup is generating traction, and you are

looking at the next phase of product

development. Does your CTO have a tough

time delivering product updates at a pace that

meets VC expectations? If that is the case, then

it is about time you scale your engineering

team. Not having that crucial skill stack

required for your product’s next development

sprint can hurt your chances of keeping your

startup afloat.





Challenge 3: Focusing on Core Competencies

With product development at a standstill, the

founders have to concentrate on non-core

responsibilities like dealing with recruitment

firms, screening candidates, and initiating social

dialog to attract talent. Such distractions can

be quite disturbing and may affect their focus

on more important things like pitching to VCs

and product leadership.

Even with the current tech talent gap across the country innovative startups are finding ways to fill

their open engineering jobs. Startup founders must think strategically, be innovative and willing to

disrupt the tech recruiting norms and embrace alternative staffing as ways to work around this

talent gap. At the same time, the industry at large must figure out how to find both short-term and

long-term solutions to this problem.

Challenge 4: Exuberant Salaries

With the rules of demand and supply in place,

salaries for top talent have gone up

significantly in recent years. With top

employers like Apple, Google, Facebook,

AirBnB, and Uber willing to pay highly inflated

salaries to attract top talent, early stage

startups are forced to settle for mediocre talent

at best.

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Throughout this ebook we will address these challenges and provide a viable, structured

alternative for you to scale and manage offshore teams effectively, in turn supporting your

onshore founding team.




Strong Social Media Presence

Candidates often search for your company

information on social media as it is the easiest

way of evaluating your brand. A strong social

footprint showcases an active startup culture,

and it is an indicator that you value the people

you work with and the daily milestones that

they achieve.

Employees as Brand Advocates

Your current employees are your biggest assets

when it comes to positively expanding your

brand perception. A good way to get the most

out of your employee network is encouraging

them to share their daily experiences on social

media in real-time, hence supporting the claim

that you have a great startup culture. Educate

your team on how they can post engaging

content that echoes your brand personality.

Developing your employees into tech

evangelists not only leads to higher retention

rates, it also ensures that your startup attracts

the top upcoming talent.

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1. Brand Your Startup Organization

The first step to finding the perfect people for your startup team is to know who you are, and why

someone would want to join your organization. Effectively managing your brand perception across

both online and traditional mediums can be the catalyst to attract great talent.

STARTUP CITYSTARTUP CITY



4 Startup Hiring Strategiesto Overcome Talent Shortfall


Founder Referral Network

For a startup founder, building a stellar network

is key to growing your startup idea into a

multi-million dollar firm. Not only that, it can

lead to getting excellent talent referrals from

the startup community. Founders must go out

and frequent networking events, get to know

the influencers in their niche, and seek out their

referrals for not only startup growth but also

for growing their team.

Employee Referral Programs

Fifteen employees with 300 friends or

followers on social networks totals 4,500

contacts alone. And since there’s a high

probability that your employees have a

network with people in their area of expertise,

your next great talent acquisition is just an

employee referral away. Having an employee

referral program in place makes sure that your

current team has a vested interest in the

recruitment drive for technical talent.

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2. Utilize Referrals

Hiring through referrals is still one of the most effective ways to get the right kind of talent in the

least amount of time. Employees that are hired on referrals generally start working sooner than

those hired independently, as hiring managers are able to assess whether they are suited for the

position a lot faster without going through extensive interviews and background checks.




Hackathons

Attending or organizing a hackathon in your

area is one of the best and most innovative

ways of networking with the top technical

talent available. These software collaboration

events are a beehive for the finest software

developers, interface designers and project

managers, and should be a top priority on

every startup CTO’s itinerary.

Engaging Upcoming Talent

For talent seeking to be tomorrow’s leaders, an

active social presence begins very early in their

academic life. These aspiring innovators are

best engaged early on, through recruitment

drives at their college or university campuses,

or at startup institutes that offer immersive

learning programs for fresh graduates.

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3. Recruit Disruptively

A startup culture revolves around disrupting the conventional norms of business, and that can be

applied to your recruitment strategy as well. Hiring in an unconventional manner shows candidates

that you are an innovation focused startup, and ultimately a great place to work. A multi-level

recruiting strategy that utilizes multiple channels of attracting talent can increase your chances of

finding the right candidates for your startup much faster, even when you are seeking talent with

very specific skill stacks.




Establish a System for Offshore Teams

Software firms opt for outsourcing their

projects to offshore service providers, but that

is not the right approach for a startup venture.

Startups can have more control over the

offshore resources if they opt for staff

augmentation through a hybrid staffing firm

instead, having an extended offshore team

working directly alongside the founding team

on product development. As a project owner

this allows you full control over which

developers are selected for your team, right

down to how they are managed. It also ensures

that the product vision is still translated into

the development process, and the startup

culture remains intact.

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4. Embrace Offshore Staffing

With the current shortfall of talent in U.S., offshore staffing has emerged as an alternative to hiring

in-house resources. No matter what your philosophy is on offshoring, you have to accept it as a very

viable alternative if applied correctly. Many startups employ dispersed teams, where an onsite

project manager communicates daily with remote staff in other parts of the world. Part-time or

full-time virtual teams have many proven benefits such as faster product development, reduced

costs, and vast scalability options. By hiring the right talent in a remote setting, you can utilize

experience and specialties not available locally.




Create a List of Must-Have Traits for Your Remote Employees

Your offshore teams must be organized in such a way that they are productive towards your

startup environment on their own. You or your offshore staffing partner must make sure that your

extended team has all the right skills and tools to bring value to your product venture. Here are

some of the top traits to look for in offshore development teams.


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Required toolset to perform the assigned tasks and a reliable internet connection

Ability to absorb new knowledge and apply learning quickly

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Commitment to overall product goals.

Self-management and the ability to work on deadlines



CHAPTER 2

SHOULD I CONSIDER OFFSHORE STAFFING?

Does an Offshore WorkforceKill the Startup Culture?

Startup cultures are defined by the kind of

talent the founders hire, and by the

value-based environment created around the

collective ideals of the startup’s initial team.

Different startups value different things – but

the ultimate goal is to create a unique working

environment with a culture of innovation,

brainstorming and peer-to-peer networking.

To create an optimal culture, a number of

startups implement culture hacks ranging from

quirky work habits to long term incentives.

Hubspot’s random desk-shuffle for their

product team, Dropbox’s Hack Week, and

Palantir’s product release t-shirts are just a few

examples of how innovative tech startups seek

to build their cultures around innovative ideas.

For an early-stage startup seeking cost-saving

measures, hiring an offshore team for initial

product development is a good approach to

scaling the startup at a fast pace. But having

an offshore workforce can affect the culture

development over time if the offshore

resources are not managed properly. Remote

teams can at times get disconnected from the

vision that the startup resonates, leading to a

shift from the ultimate objectives that the

product development is based around.

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Here are 4 key tips to managing an offshore workforce in a way that they support your startup culture:


Chapter 2: Should I Consider Offshore Staffing?


1. Opt for Staff Augmentation over Project-based Teams

A significant number of outsourced

development teams work in a project-based

model, where an offshore project manager

deals with the startup’s CTO, hence cutting off

any direct access to the development

resources. This is a very limited approach, as it

blocks out any cultural assimilation of the

remote workforce into the startup environment.

A viable alternative is having augmented teams

that work directly with the startup founders in

order to gain a stronger understanding of the

product idea. Direct offshore resources are

more invested in the product development as

they have a clear path to the founders’ vision.

They don’t see the product as just another

development task but as a disruptive solution

to a social need.

2. Take a Hybrid Approach

A hybrid approach to offshore development

teams is the key to a synchronized startup

culture that transcends boundaries. Having a

team relations expert that understands

international cultures working alongside your

project manager or CTO, to manage the

offshore resource, can be the difference

between an awesome offshoring experience

and an awful one.

Having a hybrid team can lead to a strong,

culturally fit global startup team that can help

the startup owners scale their business model

internationally.

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3. Foster Cultural Understanding

A cultural gap often prevents offshore workers

from effectively communicating their ideas to

the startup’s CTO or project manager,

preventing the startup from taking full

advantage of the offshore team’s creativity and

technical skill set. This can be avoided by

organizing virtual activities focused on building

a stronger bond between the onsite and

offshore teams, thus strengthening the startup

culture as a whole.

4. Arrange Global Team Meets Annually

Startups, which are past the initial funding

stage, can have their offshore teams visit the

startup’s main hub in the U.S. once a year.

Annual team meetups will not only ensure that

the offshore team is up-to-speed on U.S.

technology trends, but will help build stronger

working relationships among your global roster.

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Having an offshore workforce does affect startup culture greatly, but managing your

remote teams while utilizing the above approaches can eliminate 80 percent of this

adverse effect. The value that technically strong offshore teams offer in terms of cost

saving, scalability to meet project demand, and faster time to hire resources, makes up

for the remaining 20 percent of cultural difference.





How Do Offshore Software DevelopersCompare to Local Talent

1. Cost: The vast difference in cost is the most

prevalent benefit of offshore developers. An

offshore resource generally costs one-third the

salary of U.S.-based software engineers.

Salaries for in-house senior programmers range

from $60K to $120K per year, whereas you can

hire 3-4 senior developers in the same amount

at an offshore destination. You can further this

cost difference to your advantage by utilizing

the savings and investing that amount into

your software architecture, and in turn build a

more feature-rich product or application. With

onsite engineers, another consideration is the

benefits package, including the cost of health

insurance, 401K, etc.

As a tech. entrepreneur, you will inevitably be faced with the decision of whether to hire an in-house

developer or to outsource your software development offshore. Most recently, offshoring has

emerged as a popular trend in the IT industry due to the increasing demand of software

development services. However, going offshore has both its benefits and drawbacks. By

understanding the contrast between engaging offshore software developers vs. hiring in-house

help, you will be able to make the best decision for your company.

Offshore Developers vs. Onshore Talent





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2. Skill Stacks: Offshore locations such as

Pakistan and India have a wide range of STEM

graduates, trained on the latest software

technologies. Although, there can occasionally

be a noticeable gap in practical experience

working with latest backend technologies. This

is often due to the fact that offshore

developers are seldom given direct access to

the project owner, or provided the explanation

of the final vision for the product they are

working on. This project-based approach to

offshoring lends to a major understanding gap

in regards to how the development stack

affects the overall infrastructure and the future

growth of the software application.

The Fix: A staff augmentation approach.

Make sure your offshore developers are an

extension of your onsite team. Additionally,

enable them to work directly with an in-house

project manager, who can fully outline the

project vision and expectations.

3. Time to Hire: In the U.S., most backend

software development positions remain open

for an average of 45 days. This means the

acquisition of an onsite (or even remote)

onshore engineer is considerably

time-consuming, a costly difference to seeking

an offshore resource who is typically available

much quicker. The only concern when opting

for an offshore team is taking the time to find

the right service provider to meet your

requirements.





4. Code Collaboration and Security: Being on

the same page in terms of project

requirements and delivery is often challenging

when working with offshore developers, mainly

due to differences in project management

approaches and contrasting business

cultures.Collaboration with offshore resources

on the project and the code can be more

difficult as compared to in-house developers

primarily due to the difference in location. On

top of this, code security can be a concern,

especially since legal contracts may not hold

up in offshore locations.

V I R T U A L S T A F F I N18

5. Infrastructure and Logistics: Offshore

development providers can lack the necessary

infrastructure, prohibiting their staff from

successfully working full-time and properly

testing applications. Conditions such as poor

network bandwidth and inaccessibility to the

latest hardware can hinder a provider’s ability

to perform as needed. On top of this, the time

difference can wedge a gap in real-time

communication, and further hurt project

timelines when there is a breakdown in

understanding of project requirements, due to

this inability to communicate.

The Fix: An offshore team with onshore

American management. This will enable you

to directly collaborate and implement the

latest project management approaches, such

as Scrum. Most importantly, you would also

be able to enforce code confidentiality

agreements sustainable under U.S. law.

The Fix: State-of-the-art service centers and a

working hours overlap. Inspect the quality of

environment that the developer is working under,

including their Internet speeds, hardware etc.

Also, make sure your offshore team is available at

least 80 percent of the time that your company is

available for the best collaboration.



CHAPTER 3

MAKING OFFSHORE STAFFING WORK

Hybrid offshore Model

OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT TEAM

ONSHORE CLIENT ONSHO

RE CLIENT LIAISON

The Benefits of a Working HoursOverlap for Hiring Remote Engineers?

Having a dispersed offshore team means

working with different geographical locations

and time zones. For clients in the U.S., the

preferred locations for offshoring projects are

European and Asian regions. Near-shore

development centers in Europe offer a time

difference of 3-4 hours at most, but if the

remote team is based in Asia, the time

difference is almost 12-13 hours. So how do you

make your offshore team productive when it’s

10 AM here and 10 PM there?

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Offshoring is a very fragile working

arrangement in the software development

industry. 1 in 3 project owners recount their

offshore development experiences with horror

stories of how badly the product development

was affected by the shortcomings of their

offshore partners. It all comes down to how

well the offshore team manages their

understanding of working for a U.S. business

venture.

If offshore deployment is done properly, it

adds a lot of value to your bottom-line,

reducing your cost and more importantly

giving you access to a talent pool that is not

available elsewhere. Combining these two

attributes allows for faster product scalability,

opening the doors for more agile product

update releases.


Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work Collaboration


The Value of Real-Time Collaboration

Over the years, offshoring consultants have

tested working arrangements with varying time

zones. But when you consider the effectiveness

of real-time collaboration, it can never be

replaced by static communication like

exchanging overnight emails. Managing your

remote teams with a 1-2 hour overlap means

that there is only so much time available to

coordinate over project discussion.

While managing a remote resource in a

different time zone, it is also important to

consider their role in your team dynamic. If the

resource is of a strategic nature – leading the

architectural design of your application or

mapping the strategy for your next marketing

campaign – meeting with them once a day or

even once a week would make sense. But when

you are working with more transactional

resources like mid-level developers who are

writing code in collaboration with your onsite

project team, it is essential to have real-time

communication with them in order to make

sure that they remain on track with the current

development sprint. Questions can arise at any

point in time, and even one slight deviation

from the mapped out path can eventually cost

the offshore developer 3-4 hours of work if

they do not get the reorientation immediately.

Say you have an offshore team working with a

4-hour overlap. You have a scrum meeting to

discuss plans at the beginning of the 4 hours,

and then another one at the end to discuss

accomplishments and remaining tasks for their

day after you sign off. But what happens if the

developer gets stuck or has questions during

their remaining working hours? They will spend

that time deviated from their actual tasks,

resulting in them having to start again from

where you left off, hence costing you those

remaining work hours by being unproductive.

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Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work Collaboration


Utilizing a Work Hours Overlap for Cost Control and Scalability

One of the main reasons offshoring

engagements fail is due to the makeup work

required to cover for inefficiencies that results

from task deviations. Your offshore partner

then ends up billing you 3,000 work hours,

after initially providing an estimation of 2,000

hours. The additional hours end up costing you

the 25-30 percent of intended offshoring

cost-reduction.

The best way to counter communication gaps

while working with different time zones is to

engage offshore teams that can provide the

maximum working hours overlap. Ideally, the

working time overlap should be at least 80

percent of the shift time. Also, your onsite

project manager must have the ability to

identify deviations and bring the offshore

resource back on track.

Having your onsite and offshore teams work

during the same hours will also allow you to

better integrate the dispersed team members

into your organization culture. If you are

operating in a startup environment, it’s not just

about having that 15 minute meeting. A

real-time overlap gives you the opportunity to

interact with your global team on everything

from discussing the implications of new

technology updates to sharing a laugh over the

latest viral memes. This kind of interaction

helps nourish strong working relationships and

adds value to your startup culture.

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Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work

Your offshore partner should be a strategic

asset for you: If your CTO/PM is getting a 100

percent overlap with the offshore team, they

can get more productivity out of the offshore

engagement, making your cost control more

effective and utilizing the offshore talent pool

to scale your product faster.

Collaboration




adapt to the norms of business in U.S.,

resulting in a cultural gap between your onsite

and offshore teams.

The best way to counter this cultural gap is to

have an onshore team relations expert that

understands how to communicate with people

from diverse cultural backgrounds. This person

would ideally be an American client relations

liaison from the service provider’s side, tasked

with making sure that the offshore team

perfectly understands your needs. A hybrid

offshore staffing model like this with an

onshore contact person ensures that your

offshoring arrangement works well in the long

run.

We have established that having your

dispersed teams collaborate with you in

real-time can be beneficial in eliminating a lot

of remote hiring pitfalls such as deviation from

product development goals and the resulting

unproductive work hours. On top of that,

overlapping work hours help build a more

productive working relationship between your

onsite and offshore teams. But how do you get

your offshore resources to rapidly develop an

understanding of U.S. business culture without

compromising on productivity?

One of the biggest reasons th at offshore teams

fail is a lack of cultural understanding.

Combining remote workers from different

geographical locations and diverse cultures can

be difficult to do. No matter how technically

strong your offshore developers are, they will

be ineffective if they fail to understand and

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3 Ways a Hybrid Team Facilitates Communication in Offshore Development

Here are 3 ways a hybrid approach facilitates communication with offshore developers:


Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work Communication


1. Fosters Cultural Understanding for Better Team Collaboration

The primary task of an onshore relations

manager on your hybrid team would be to

make sure that the offshore resources are able

to understand and adopt your startup culture.

This includes not only an understanding of your

founding team’s working style, but also U.S.

business culture as a whole. Offshore workers

are generally lacking when it comes to

understanding the importance of task

commitment and deadlines, and an onshore

liaison working alongside them can keep the

offshore team accountable for their work and in

constant communication.

2. Immediate Problem Solving in a Cross-Cultural Setting

Face-to-face interaction is very important at

times to be able to trust a new staffing service

partner. Having an important initial onboarding

meeting with an onshore liaison in person will

clarify your business goals to them clearly and

make sure that expectations of trust and

openness are in place. If a problem arises

during your working relationship with the

offshore team, technical or not – having a

hybrid team with an onshore touch-point to

address the situation can save you a lot of time

and effort in troubleshooting.

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An offshore service partner with a registered

U.S. presence and dedicated contact person for

your company gives you the assurance that

you can maintain control over confidential

project information and enforce legal contracts.

For startup owners, protection of intellectual

property is a huge concern when building a

3. Legal Safety and Control under U.S. Law

unique idea into a practical product. A hybrid

team with a U.S. representative not only

guarantees that information security remains

intact, but also educates your offshore team on

the significance of bringing a disruptive idea

first-to-market.

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A hybrid onshore-offshore staffing model effectively eliminates the typical issues that prevent

startup owners from opting for offshore development resources, even if they are open to hiring

remotely in the U.S. Just make sure that your offshore partner has the right hybrid structure in

place, and you are all set to make your move on the next big application with an internationally

mixed development team.



While some service providers would like to

pretend it’s never an issue, the truth is that

sometimes when working internationally, you

will encounter cultural barriers. No matter how

minor those barriers may be, the primary goal

for any cross-cultural training program should

be to increase intercultural competence – the

ability to communicate effectively with people

1. Determine Cross-Cultural Training Needs

of different cultures. In a hybrid working

environment, the onshore managers must be

able to understand the cultural norms of their

offshore teammates, in order to effectively

train them to adapt to the onshore team’s

culture.

Today it’s the norm for businesses to have employees work remotely, often times in multiple

countries. No matter where your employees are based, from the beginning of their employment, it’s

vital to address your company’s culture, and to orient them with the standards your company has in

place. However, when you’re working from opposite sides of the globe, this feat can initially seem

daunting. But overcoming locational setbacks with your teams can actually be quite simple. Follow

this step-by-step guide to create the absolute best cross-cultural training program for your

offshore development teams:

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Step-by-Step Guide to Cross-CulturalTraining for Offshore Development Teams




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Before you can officially begin your training

program, you’ll need to define what you hope

to accomplish at each step, and translate those

goals into measurable objectives. All goals and

expectations should be set into clear

objectives, each with their own deadlines for

completion. Here’s an example:

Now that you have a well-defined broader

objective, divide it into a set of milestones that

together will makeup the larger objective and

contribute to its completion. An offshore

team’s collective intercultural competence

depends upon the understanding and adoption

of the rules, norms and subsequent

2. Define Training Objectives and Milestones

Increase Intercultural Competence of

Hybrid Team by 40 percent in 2016

expectations of U.S. business culture. Keeping

this in mind, actionable training milestones for

an offshore team working with U.S. managers

should be based on these factors:

Degree to which the team is upfront

about work related tasks,

commitments, and deadlines

Degree to which the team

understands U.S. business and cultural

terminologies and norms




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Your training program should be structured in

such a way that it complements the broader

objective, your set milestones, and each

individual team member’s training success.

Compare this to a teacher’s lesson plan. Your

plan should cover both work-related and

general cultural principles, so the offshore

team is able to comprehend the values and

norms of U.S. business culture as a whole.

After you have defined both the broad and

detailed objectives, establish a routine

schedule for team discussion. These meetings

will not only provide a means to stay well

informed on your team members’ progress, but

also another method to share relevant cultural

information with them. Here are some

examples on how to do so:

To further involve your team in these

discussions, ask team members to come up

with discussion topics. By doing so, you can

lean on these meetings to give you a good grip

on your team’s understanding.

3. Establish a Structured Training PlanIntroduce cultural tidbits or

information in each meeting, or

facilitate a discussion on globally

trending positive news topics

Participate in group learning activities,

such as a webinar or forum discussion

Provide occasional fun extracurricular

activities, such as film or book club,

then regrouping to discuss plot points.




29


If you do not have the ability to track training progress, you will be unable to gauge whether or not

your objectives are going to be achieved. Implement a tracking system with established parameters

to measure progress by the effectiveness at each step, and/or by determining the progress to

achieving the final, broad objective. There are various ways to quantify this information, but it’s

recommended you build a percentage-based scale, with a specific percentage amount given to the

completion of each step. Here is an example of some metrics to track activity based on

effectiveness at each step:

Additionally, to receive the most thorough information on team progress, consider other metrics to

monitor beyond the specific set goals, such as:

4. Create Measurable Tracking Metrics to Monitor Training Progress

Team A’s intercultural competence has

reached 25 percent (out of 100 percent) in

April 2016

Individual X’s intercultural competence has

reached 25 percent (out of 100 percent) in

April 2016




30


Seeking the answers to these questions will

give you a better understanding on how to best

direct your team, and each individual team

member, to success.

Does the team as a whole, and each

individual within the team,

communicate effectively?

Are the efforts of each individual

hybrid-team member well-coordinated

and synchronized to support their

team and company’s goals?

Is each team member contributing

their expertise to the group? Are their

skills being fully utilized to meet the

common goal?

Are there any weak links in the group?

If so, are other team members

willingly or unwillingly covering for

those weak links?

At what level is the team trust and

cohesion? Is the team self-supporting,

and willing to assist each other?




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5. Delegate and Assign Ownership

After defining time-specific objectives with

your team, it’s valuable to entrust certain

individuals, from both the onshore and offshore

teams, additional responsibility. Assigning

ownership to these individuals, and having

them become part of the training, will provide

progress security and help bolster productivity

within the team. It creates an extra filter to

ensure progress continues, even in your

absence.

Keep in mind; the individuals selected must

have extraordinary interpersonal skills, so

they’re able to connect with their teammates

from other cultures. As with all management

roles, personality and experience should be

considered when considering individuals for

these roles.

If you frequently work with offshore teams, you

could consider having an onboarding manager

to work with these teams, preferably someone

who has experience working with cross-cultural

team training. Individuals with backgrounds

and/or degrees in International Studies with

specialization in regional cultures can be a

valuable alternative if you are newly beginning

your working relationship with an offshore

team.



RESUME


32


6. Put Extra Emphasis on Mentoring

Beyond having onshore regional leaders to

assist with or oversee the training program,

every trainee should be given a mentor,

dedicated to monitoring their performance.

This can be as simple as assigning team lead

ownership to an offshore team member, with

responsibilities to monitor specific fellow team

members, new team members only, or even the

team as a whole.

Individual growth objectives can only be

achieved if the team member and their team

leader are both held accountable based on

training performance and progress. The team

leader must be dedicated to guiding their

assigned team, or team members, with clear

expectations to meet specified training goals.

7. Ensure Team Cooperation

One of the most common reasons training

programs fail is because they are often seen as

a burden by the trainees, and the trainees are

not motivated enough to fully participate in the

training. This typically occurs when the training

program is never properly explained and lacks

well-defined objectives. Make certain that every

involved team member completely understands

the purpose of the training program, and the

value it can provide to each individual, to

ensure the team has a vested interest in

program and objective completion.

The training program must also include

individual objectives, so that each team

member’s progress can be accurately measured

throughout the training process.





33

Communication


A cross-cultural training program should not be

a one-time thing, but rather an ongoing

process within your organization. If you make

training programs a normal practice for all

employees as needed, your hybrid teams will

be more open to recurring training activities,

8. Make Training Programs a Standard Procedure

and will be able to assist with and participate

more in future sessions. Most importantly,

they’ll understand the value of those training

programs, enabling you to further develop your

team.

While there are numerous ways to build a cross-cultural training program, or to evolve the

basic process as listed, the need for one to exist in the first place will never change. Set your

company up for success by integrating offshore development teams with your company culture

from the beginning.



4 Key Tips to Make Your Offshore Team Accountable

Just like any standard employee to employer

relationship, accountability plays a major role

in how effective an offshore working

arrangement is, or will be. The need for

standards of measuring accountability

becomes even more necessary when extending

your team to offshore locations under a

sub-contractor.

More and more leading startup businesses are finding strength within globally dispersed workforces.

Regardless of the reason, whether it be to attract global talent that is unavailable locally, or in order

to grow the business beyond borders, knowing the best practices of hiring, retaining, and managing

offshore employees is vital for all current startup managers.

34

Here are 4 essential tips to make your offshore team accountable:


Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work Accountability


1. Set Clear Expectations

It is impossible to hold someone accountable

for something they don’t fully understand. Take

the initial time to educate your employees on

what your expectations are from the very

beginning. This is easily accomplished in the

beginning by clearly defining and explaining

their role, briefing them on the project and

tasks at hand, prioritizing said project and

tasks, and finally, having them take ownership

of their work by allowing the opportunity for

feedback. Introducing an offshore employee

into your team with such clarity from the start

of the relationship will enable them to be aware

of what exactly is expected of them and what

they will be held accountable for going

forward.

2. Define Methods of Performance Monitoring

Performance management and review is

imperative in order to get the most out of your

team. Like your expectations, these methods

need to be well defined and clear from the

beginning. Provide all team members with

quantifiable KPIs, such as task completion

within a planned time and budget, bugs

tracked, tickets issues, etc. Additional

qualitative indicators, including feedback from

the project manager or team lead, are also

valuable to consider. Once your remote

workforce understands how performance is

being evaluated, they will be able to meet and

accomplish more company goals head-on.

35

4 Key Tips to Make YourOffshore Team Accountable




3. Build an Infrastructure of Tools for Follow Up

While implementing those performance

monitoring methods is essential, the act of

following up on each of the KPIs and goals you

have put in place is potentially even more vital.

Establish a means to actually track the KPI

progress, and inspect for compliance routinely.

Organization is easily managed through various

practices, and is a necessity; if you have no

process to continually evaluate team member

progress, your KPIs in turn will eventually lose

their purpose. There are numerous tools to

determine how well your team is performing,

and to ensure your goals are on their way to

being met.

4. Align Your Remote Workers with the Greater Team Vision

Hiring offshore employees does include its own

share of risks. One of the main issues faced

when working with an offshore staff, is a

perceived lack of initiative and big-picture

understanding from those employees, which

can mostly be attributed to a cultural gap.

However, this is also one of the easiest issues

to resolve. Make time in the very beginning to

fully explain both your company’s mission and

the greater vision of the specific project, to

confirm all team members understand what the

end results should be. No employee can

effectively build something they don’t

understand. Once you have given them clear

insight, have a manager regularly meet with

them on those greater goals.

36





Then, utilize online communication tools to the

fullest, to prevent any disconnect that physical

distance threatens to cause. By making it a

habit to incorporate offshore or remote team

members into your company culture from day

one, these employees will gain a better sense of

ownership, accountability, and project

understanding, and will most importantly,

significantly improve in performance.

V I R T U A L S T A F F I N37



Accountability

Accountability is critical to the success of any project or initiative. Regardless of your staff’s location, make them a true part of your team by providing them the training, tracking, and attention you would for any employee. Only when you give your team the vision, direction, and tools necessary to accomplish the end-goal, will you set everyone on the path to success.


38

How can Startups keep Flexible Contracts in Offshore Software Development?

One of the more common reasons startups shy

away from outsourcing their product

development offshore is the lack of legal

accountability. Enforcing contracts with a

service provider that has little to no physical

presence in the U.S. can be painstaking, should

the service partnership go awry. To ensure that

there is full legal security, it is essential that

your outsourcing vendor has an active and

dedicated management team in the U.S., not

just an American forwarding address.

Other than the necessary stateside presence,

project owners must make sure that they enter

into flexible contracts when working with their

service partners. In its essence, a flexible

contract is designed to deliver rapid value, by

not tying a project owner to long-term

commitments that may be unprofitable, and by

not limiting the ability to adapt to changing

requirements. An appropriately flexible

contract can add a great deal of value to the

client-service provider relationship.

Here are 3 ways to structure a flexible contract for your startup offshore product development:

CONTRACT

$


Chapter 3: Making Offshore Staffing Work Flexibility


39

How can Startups keep Flexible Contracts in Offshore Software Development?

1. Monthly Renewals

To keep liability and exposure to a minimum,

project owners must seek month-to-month

contracts that allow them control over contract

continuity. A monthly renewable contract

allows for modular project delivery and

subsequently greater accountability for both

parties. Also, because it’s not uncommon for

the project needs to change at various points in

the project, it is critical that a contract is

structured in a way that allows for maximum

flexibility and doesn’t require renegotiating

with every minor change.

2. Resource Scalability

In a flexible contract, the staffing requirements

can be defined as tightly or loosely as desired,

and the project owner can scale their teams up

or down as needs evolve. This allows startups

the option of hiring only task-specific

developers at any given time, instead of

keeping an entire team on the payroll for the

full project duration.

The flexibility found in offshore destinations

gives companies access to large pools of

technical talent and allows for a more nimble

development team. This wa

talent acquisition for startups · software ﬁrms opt for outsourcing their projects to offshore...

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