There are many unknowns to navigate when hiring someone for software development. While technical abilities are at the top of the list, working methodology, team dynamics, and communications styles are also critical when trying to identify the right team. Because of how quickly many development agencies grow, they are constantly dealing with team structure reorganization, recruiting new developers, and promoting project managers on top of serving their existing clients.
The development business is a rapidly growing industry that offers a wide variety of companies with highly varied experience, commitment, and working methods. To ensure that you are working with an offshore company that can accommodate your business needs, here are five questions you should ask before hiring. By reading this post, you will be better suited to hiring the best team for your business.
1. What is the recruitment process you apply for hiring developers?
Although you are responsible for hiring a specific agency, the company hires the developers. Therefore, it is important to know how they recruit and select their inside talent. Ask them how they make sure their employees have your desired competencies and qualifications and if they are up to date with the latest technologies.
Along with looking at the way they select and train their employees, make sure their philosophy is similar to yours and that the outsourced team is well trained to complete your project, accomplish your goals, and meet your deadlines. They may not have a specific recruitment method, but you need to be sure the people you are going to work with are well prepared, highly rated, share your company’s mission and vision, and able to become an important part of the team.
2. How would you describe the methodology or approach you usually use?
Secondly, you should be sure about how they work. Your business partner’s compatibility with yours can be determined by asking this question. Having a partner who embraces your working philosophy as well as your method of development will give you a better sense of what to expect from the process and partnership.
Knowing which methodology or approach a company uses can speak volumes about its development procedures, even if you don’t use a particular approach. Perhaps software development isn’t a huge part of your company, so you don’t have the process standardized. You can learn a lot from the answer to this question, including what feedback instances are available to you during the working process, how the developers will adapt the project to meet your needs, how the team communicates and trusts one another, and much more.
Establish expectations for the level of involvement you and your in-residence group need to have during the venture to prevent micromanaging the outsourced group or different problems from occurring.
3. Have you ever worked on a project like this one in my area?
After talking about how they hire their team members and the working methodology they apply, it is important to know the experience the company has. When outsourcing software development to a team in another country, this is an important question to pose. There are many nearshore organizations, together with those in Latin America, that work with groups in the United States regularly and that have bilingual developers and different specialists on staff, but that’s not always the case.
In terms of communication, scheduling, and cultural and social understanding among many staff, you should be aware of how the crew members worked with other groups in your region in the past. You shouldn’t neglect to ask about how they address time zone challenges and what arrangements they have in the region for ensuring support throughout off-hours. The way they promote discipline is critical for the crew’s effectiveness and the project’s success, saving the client time and a lot of dollars.
4. How does the project management team function when working on many projects at once?
Offshore work lets the company deal with numerous projects at the same time. To deal with this most effectively, it is vital to have a well-trained project management team. Usually, a project manager can deal with no more than five projects at the same time, whether they are comparable or not.
Therefore, you should ask about the project management team of the company you are going to hire. Be sure you understand the workflow the agency will use to control the job development, the frequency of feedback and interaction between you and the developers, and the experience of the project management team members. This determines not only the success of the project but also the effectiveness of the team.
5. What makes you stand out from the other development companies in the market?
Last but not least, it is essential to understand the mission/vision of the company you intend to hire. The answer you receive can give you a sense of how prepared and confident the company feels for the job. When you ask them to describe what they do and how they do it, they have to choose the words to sell their services carefully.
In order to meet your needs, outsourcing companies must provide great and fast service. If you are going to hire a company, it should be the right match for your business. Additionally, you should be smart about what you ask of them in your first schedule. Here are some topics to include in your interview: their vision of the competitors and their own people, what they do and how they plan to meet your needs, how their services and workflow are the best to meet your needs.
Your development project’s success depends on choosing the right offshore company. During the working process, the smallest complication or unwelcome surprise can cause the project to fail or stray far from meeting your expectations, diminishing your trust and also causing financial losses. By asking these five questions, you should be able to clearly understand who you are going to work with and how.
If you have a particularly negative experience with hiring an offshore company, let us know the problems you have. Comment if you think these five questions would have saved you time and money. The way you start a project can determine its success.