Effective communication is the bedrock of 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 stay engaged with one another while overcoming common challenges preventing some from reaching their strategic business objectives.
Still, many companies find themselves struggling to find the right tools for their communication needs with outsourcing companies and implementing them effectively. Fortunately, there are many ways to help streamline the process for the in-house team and service provider when it comes to outsourcing communication.
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 outsourcing partners alike, they include:
- Instant Messaging: Instant messaging is ideal for quick, productive conversations across the office or even the world with outsourcing partners. Applications like Slack and Microsoft Teams create an open forum for easier, faster problem-solving and real-time feedback.
- Video Conferencing: Although getting things in writing is always helpful, in-person meetings are often the most effective way for professionals to interact. When working with an outsourcing company, this can be challenging since they may be located in different countries. Thankfully, video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet help businesses and outsourcing companies connect in a virtual, face-to-face setting.
- Project Management: Members of both the in-house and outsourcing teams need to know the project focus and status at all times. Project management tools help make everyone’s lives easier by allowing everyone to understand the project status 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 the computer doesn’t malfunction without saving are now gone thanks to new document collaboration tools like OneDrive, Google Docs, and Confluence. With these tools, team members collaborate on documents, make comments, and edit without ever leaving their own desks or sending attachments.
It’s important for business leaders to consider the key benefits of each tool and the competencies of their team into account. Each professional should be able to access these tools effectively based on their unique needs.
Setting Up Regular Meetings
Regular meetings benefit teams greatly as they work on projects. By scheduling recurring meetings for project updates, teams gain insight into important factors like the progress of other teams, updates, and so on. These meetings may come in the form of daily stand-ups, weekly progress meetings, or monthly reviews. Team leaders should adjust the meeting frequency based on the project’s needs and phases.
When working with a software outsourcing team, the hiring company must also address the time zone differences and strive to find a suitable time for everyone involved in the project.
Defining Communication Expectations
It’s important to establish expectations to ensure smooth seamless communication between the clients and outsourcing company.
Creating a Communication Plan
The only way communication is effective is if everyone is on the same page. Business leaders should establish which channels they’ll use for the project as well as the expected response time windows. They should also assign specific responsibilities for communication tasks accordingly.
Setting Boundaries and Availability
Boundaries are equally as important as communication itself. Team members should know their colleagues’ working hours and be respectful of cultural differences, including holidays/time off. This helps keep communication healthy. Project leads should establish a system for urgent communication just in case, though.
Cultivating a Collaborative Environment
Collaboration is critical to seamless communication. Here’s how to cultivate a collaborative environment.
Encouraging Open Dialogue
Teams should know the inner workings of an entire project as team leaders should promote a culture of transparency in the office and with the outsourced team. They should strive to address issues in a proactive, efficient, and respectful manner and use constructive feedback to drive improvement.
Building Relationships and Trust
Teams need to feel like they have the ability to trust and count on their outsourcing and in-house colleagues. Team leaders should try to encourage team bonding activities to help build this type of culture without making them seem corny or a hassle to take time out of the workday. Virtual coffee breaks and taking moments to celebrate team achievements are good ways to help foster this working environment.
Evaluating the ROI of Effective Communication in Outsourcing
There’s a major correlation between the communication of a project and its success. Teams that don’t communicate end up in a disaster. Streamlined communication helps prevent problems or miscommunication down the road.
Identifying Key Metrics to Measure Communication Success
Team leaders monitor their communication plan’s performance and use this data for future projects. Metrics to track include response times, issue resolution rates, and overall team satisfaction. Based on these metrics, they should then tweak necessary processes to drive continuous improvement.
Aligning Communication with Strategic Business Objectives
Effective communication is incredibly important in the achieving of business goals no matter the industry. Business leaders should set expectations for both in-house teams and outsourced partners alike.
Overcoming Common Communication Challenges in Outsourcing
Working with an outsourcing team sometimes presents communication challenges during a project. These issues range from micromanaging to team members making assumptions or even not knowing their full job roles. To prevent these problems, leaders must ensure that their culture of transparency translates into everyone knowing they should ask questions, clarify, and overcommunicate when necessary.
Leveraging Communication for Innovation and Agility
Clear and open communication isn’t just helpful but also helps foster innovation in in-house and outsourced teams. As team members get to know one another, they bounce ideas back and forth, helping the project. Working in an Agile working environment also keeps everyone up to date and in the loop.
Managing Language and Cultural Barriers
There can be cultural barriers when you’re working with outsourcing teams, so it’s important to establish a plan for managing them upfront.
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.
Bear in mind that you should work with a partner that guarantees that all team members speak English, as BairesDev does.
Embracing Cultural Diversity
You’ll also have the opportunity to learn about new cultures and languages when companies foster a culture of inclusivity and respect. Hiring companies should consider cultural training sessions and create policies respectful of cultural nuances to prevent potential misunderstandings.
Conclusion
Regular communication is the foundation on which companies and outsourced teams form solid working relationships while completing projects successfully. Leaders must foster a culture of inclusion and respect with multicultural outsourced teams while setting clear requirements, boundaries, and expectations.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out some more outsourcing articles.
