5 Amazing Tips To Strengthen Remote Dev Teams

Introduction

Have you ever thought of employing someone from the other parts of the world for your dev team? In other words, we call it a remote dev team. It is becoming more and more popular in the era of technology, especially since COVID-19 occurred in 2020. Having a remote team can bring you and your team both opportunities and challenges. This article will point out 5 important factors that can help lead you to the success of remote, diverse development teams.

Hiring remote employees is becoming more popular

How remote, multicultural development teams benefit business

According to research from Stanford, there is an average increase in profit of $2,000 per remote worker for companies that allow it. 77% of remote workers say they are more productive when working from home (CoSo Cloud). In the IT industry, businesses that build remote development teams gain a variety of positive outcome:

• Compared to traditional teams, remote teams can be more productive. They can save their clients a lot of time during the development process.
• Multicultural teams are more likely to think strategically and objectively than homogenous ones. As a result, the products they create provide better financial outcomes for their clients.
• Instead of creating developer-driven products, diverse teams tend to focus on customer demands, resulting in sensitive human-centric solutions.

5 tips to build a strong and effective remote dev team

Besides significant benefits, diverse teams will face many challenges that can affect the final result. A successful remote team requires the support and awareness from both leaders and developers. Cross-cultural, remote teams are most likely to succeed when the following five factors are in place:

Thoughtful Communication

The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for any developer, but it is even more important in remote, cross-cultural teams.
Every email or instant message requires more thought in multicultural teams. Team members are forced to think about what they mean and communicate it more clearly and explicitly than normally.
The process of considering what you are going to say before saying it benefits the entire team. It causes people to anticipate areas of confusion and examine their reasoning as they form an opinion on a particular topic. Questions and feedback are necessary and routine, assisting the entire group in questioning assumptions and identifying false logic.
To take advantage of communication strengths in remote teams, developers and leaders can do the following:

• Monitor team communications closely. Avoid miscommunications that lead to misunderstandings and negative energy. Consult a coach or enroll your team in an online communication course if you feel it's necessary.
• Remind team members of upcoming activities and announcements frequently. Important announcements are not always understood or received by remote teams with various linguistic backgrounds. It's better to confirm that important news has been received than to assume that it hasn't.
• Keep in mind that different time zones exist. To respect developers and enjoy the benefits of working across time zones, modify the workflow. Achieving success in multiple time zones requires intentional and routine communication.

Positive, intentional and consistent communication will allow remote developers to make the most of ongoing, concentrated work time.

Communication plays the key role in the success of remote teams

Diversity and Inclusion

Companies that promote an inclusive work environment benefit the most from diversity. A variety of ideas leads to innovation when each person feels comfortable sharing their point of view.
Utilize the benefits of diversity and inclusion by fostering strong relationships within teams and supporting each team member to see the long-term value of their work. People who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to commit and serve. When remote team members believe they are a part of the company for which they work, they become unbeatable.

Proactivity

In remote work environments, proactivity is essential because time zone differences make communication more difficult and slower. It is essential for companies to hire proactive individuals when building remote teams of cross-cultural developers.
When it comes to certain development situations, being proactive is essential. When building products that have never been built before, there are no predetermined answers.

Proactive Developers: Many questions arise when developers are presented with unclear or poorly defined requirements. Proactive developers use their efforts to identify possible solutions, rather than simply flagging the issue and waiting for the next sprint to receive a response from the project manager.
Developers who stop working and wait days or weeks for answers to their questions significantly reduce productivity. Remote teams cannot be successful without proactive developers who solve problems and take the initiative rather than delegating responsibility and waiting for direction.
Proactive Leaders: Proactivity is also important for leaders of remote teams, especially when it comes to communication. Leaders should plan ahead carefully to ensure that requirements are crystal clear, and developers have everything they need to move a solution forward.

When it comes to certain development situations, being proactive is essential.

Placing trust in company culture

Workers who work remotely may experience a lack of connection to the rest of the company. People are less likely to be vulnerable when they are disconnected. As a result, they are more likely to react defensively rather than collaborate. Distance also creates doubt, making it possible for leaders to suspect remote team members without valid reason.
It is critical to recognize the human tendency to make assumptions about others. The development of strong relationships disproves assumptions.
Leaders can work to prevent isolation and foster trust with remote team members by going above and beyond to build relationships:

• Create opportunities for remote team members to be involved in company affairs as much as on-site employees.
• Whether it's via video conferencing or in person, invite remote team members to important meetings.
• Make sure to update them on important news or changes from the office.
• Create personal connections through casual conversations.

Productivity (Remote teams' greatest strength and greatest challenge)

It is both the greatest strength and the greatest obstacle for remote teams to be productive because they have a great deal of freedom and focus.
In order to avoid bouncing back and forth between work and personal life, developers must have the freedom and skills to establish clear boundaries.
Here are some tips that can help you maximize the productivity of your remote teams:

• Schedule focused time: People are distracted from their most important relationships and the activities that help them recharge if they do not have dedicated personal time. Most people can't make any real progress without focused work time; yet they're exhausted at the end of the day.
• Schedule Team Time: Even if it's just for a few hours, teams working across time zones can confront the tendency to become distracted by scheduling a virtual meeting time. (Be careful with schedules – there's nothing worse than having to attend a meeting at noon every day).
• Get Creative with Time Management: While working remotely, there are a lot of different time management techniques and philosophies that can help workers become more productive. What everyone has in common is that they take breaks to make the most of their focused work time.

Conclusion

In the future, remote teams will become more and more popular, especially in the technology industry. Diversity will not only bring about numerous benefits but also several challenges to your remote development teams. We hope that the five tips above can help you maintain a strong connection with your remote team members and achieve the best outcome.

If you are looking for an outsourcing technology partner, do not hesitate to contact Groove Technology via: contact@groovetechnology.com