Did you know 33.55% of businesses struggle to hire the right talent for their software development in-house teams*?
As a way to fix this, outsourcing has become a very popular solution, not only does it reduce company expenses but it is a great way to deal with a variety of business issues e,g long-term capacity problems, lack of talent within the market place and an immediate way to add temporary or immediate resource into growing the size of your team to deal with increased demand. 52.5% of business in 2018, according to the State of Development Report, had completely or partially outsourced their software development requirements, with 44.6% of these businesses outsourcing to a Software Development Company.
By hiring an outsourced solution you can gain significant competitive advantage but there needs to be a strong partnership that needs to be developed between your business and the outsourced company – without this, you could find that your business does not meet the objectives that are required. So how do you bridge the gap to ensure this relationship works effectively for both parties?
1. What are your needs and how can your outsourced software development company help you?
It is important to share your business needs and objectives with your partner and to show that you value their recommendations and feedback throughout the project, don’t forget you hired this team to add to your expertise and to assist you with an effective solution to ensure the project is delivered in the best possible way. Creating an open and honest communication stream from the start will be an absolute godsend with moving your project forward.
2. Create and build the right team.
Research local businesses to you to make sure you outsource your project to the ‘right’ external team, make sure the businesses are aligned in their goals and look for a company that will work with you to create the right team – especially if this is the first time you have outsourced a project. working with an experienced software house that completely understands team management and roles within the project makes bridging the gap much easier and will make your project run more smoothly going forward.
3. Delegate…do not be scared of this!
We all know workloads can be exceptionally hard to manage and if you are looking to work with an outsourced partner then you are probably looking to manage your internal workload and by working with a partner you can do what you were employed to do. This doesn’t mean you have to give full control to your outsourced partner but allowing an experienced team to drive the development project can be extremely beneficial – your level of control will depend on the scope and expectations of the project.
Should you decide to allow your outsourced partner to take full control over the project this will usually lead to a great long-term partnership and a time when your external and internal teams will integrate the most. Ultimately the outsourced business should let you lead with delegation.
4. Reach out, people!
Don’t sit in silence, reach out! As a way to speed up work and improve relationships between internal and external development teams make sure to ask how your team can help with the in-house part of the project. This will signify an interest in developing teams and bonding the companies.
5. Don’t forget your in-house team!
Make sure to explain to internal teams the reasons for hiring outsourced help with projects and ensure their roles are clearly defined to the outsourced partner. There may be a degree of ‘lack of co-operation’ initially from your internal team but as long as they are introduced to the idea and are allowed to express their feelings then there shouldn’t be much resistance to the idea. The best way to explain things – we are growing, we need help and this team with compliment your skills and increase our capability moving forward!
On a final note, it is really important to treat your external team the same way you would treat your internal team. Give feedback, communicate, delegate, show mutual respect for both parties and make sure to give the teams time, it will take your external team a little while to understand your business and core values and the way a project is managed.
If you are currently undecided on whether outsourcing your software development to a partner we would be more than happy to have a chat with you to discuss the pros and cons and how we at JC Designs work. Get in touch here.
* https://codingsans.com/uploads/landing/State-of-Software-Development-2018_final.pdf
