Best Practices For Working With Remote Developers
Are You The One Who Is Going To Hire a Remote Developer Or Working With Them?????
More and more business teams and individuals are opting to work remotely. For example, you have a project on react native web and you are not getting the right developer with the right skill set.
You want to hire a node.js developer or hire a react native developer and are not able to find one within the geographical confines of your immediate location. As it is not possible to find a top coder under a roof always.
To not compromise your project quality, you have to hire a remote developer or coder. But working with those who work remotely comes with a unique set of challenges. whether you want to hire a remote team of developers.
Working across different work culture, cities, Time zones and in some cases even continents, make remote collaboration seems difficult.
Having these difficulties doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the quality of your work. And does not dive into the pool of talent around the world. It’s not always possible to find the right fit for your team within the geographical confines of your immediate location.
Let's begin the search for a developer who is not in the same area, city or time zone. whom we called a Remote Developer.
Why You Need A Remote Developer
While every role is important to building your product- whether it is marketing, design or customer support. The role of developers brings a unique set of challenges and responsibilities inherently.
First, you need to understand that not every team and project is the right fit for working with a remote developer. It’s not easy to find someone with the right skill set and the financial compensation you offer.
But many teams choose this option as they think people do the best work in an environment that is comfortable for them. These teams choose to save on the resources for the physical office space. And invest them in remote workers that will benefit them in the future.
In addition to that one more reason is you can remove the limitations of geography. That will save time used for travelling and being stuck in traffic.
Some of the most prominent things to keep in mind with remote developers:-
Determine your scope of work
First, determine the scope of work. If the person doesn’t match with ethics and style of your team’s work. Then it’s going to get more difficult to work with him/her for the long term.
Find someone who can work on the same wavelength your team does. And you don’t need constant micromanagement.
A developer who has the same priorities on issues like code maintenance, documentation, and testing will be going to fit more easily. Otherwise, you constantly need to sort these points.
people with the same mind and culture are less complicated to handle. And tend to put more effort into the code they are writing because they believe in you and in your project.
Good communication skills are mandatory
you are going to work with remote developers. In this case, communication skills are as important as technical skills. Look for a developer who has excellent verbal and written communication skills.
When you have issues with the code or when a high-level concept has to be translated into concrete code. The ability to communicate well matters.
Developers who can break down ideas into simple thoughts without getting stuck into technicalities are more adaptable to working remotely.
In addition, This means that the person is an effective listener. It helps to have developers who are receptive to ideas and well at hearing others out. Because much of the communication happens over Skype and video conferencing.
Build a transparent relationship
Whether you are working with a remote developer or a full-time developer, transparency in your work is necessary for a healthy professional environment.
building trust helps in avoiding misunderstandings. So always treat your remote developer like a part of the co-located team. And keep them in the loop.
Keep it simple and neutral between the remote developer and the co-located team. Be clear about the development time and expectations you have from both.
On boards, from the first day
It will be great if you start to develop a comfort level as a developer join in. Assigning a mentor to the developer that doesn’t have a physical workspace will be a good idea.
The mentor can help to get introduced to work culture, company protocol, and policies. They can also give feedback and take it from them as well.
Get everyone together as quickly as possible. let them collaborate and understand each other from the very beginning and basic.
Define all requirements, objectives, technologies, and goals that you set for your project. That will help the remote developer to work in the right direction for your project.
Describe roles and duties at the beginning
From the very beginning be specific about what are your requirements and what is the focus area the developer going to handle.
Set the goals for them as they will be clear about where they have to reach and which path they need to choose for that.
It will be good for all these things to be mentioned in a documented form so that no confusion occurs later on. Although the best time to establish these ground rules is when you are interviewing them. But clearing them once again will be a good idea in the long run.
Synchronize designer and developer together
The designer and developer must work closely and collaborate as much as possible. It gets more important when a developer works remotely. The biggest advantage of this is no miscommunication or misunderstanding happens and work on the project goes smoothly.
This is the best method to save time as well. If the designers and developers will work in a separate team the chances will be more that they end up on a different page. And will take time to get them back on the same page. Possibilities of clashes will be increased too.
On the other hand, If both teams work together they can take feedback early and make a change in the early stage. A win-win situation for both.
Require time commitment
Be specific about that at the very beginning especially when you are working with remote developers. Define the work and cost involved in the project. Tell them the specific amount of time they need to spend on the project as a developer.
Get an estimate from the developer ends too that how much time he required to complete your project with the best quality. Also, make an optional plan if the projects go overboard from your end or the developers'.
In addition, It will be best if you if it draws up a contract that documents all properly.
Conclusive Thoughts
Some of the leading tech companies are going for remote developers for their extensive projects.
Everything considered, not only does this allow them to target a larger talent pool but gives freedom to the developer to work in the most comfortable atmosphere to show all their skills and creativity and deliver the best quality of work.