How to Manage Your Remote Development Team
Get to know all the principles by which effective managers coordinate their remote development teams:
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Managing remote development teams is not rocket science, even though it might feel so if one is not fully prepared.
Perhaps the biggest legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a Forbes article describes it, is the rise of remote work globally. With individuals shut off from the rest of the world due to movement restrictions to limit the spread of the virus, the business world was forced to accelerate its increasing adoption of remote work in 2020. Following this trend, it seems remote development team has finally come to stay.
Examples of successful remote companies and startups.
Zapier.
The only time the global work automation company, Zapier has had its entire workforce together was in 2012 when the co-founders lived in the same apartment. As of 2020, over 300 employees of the company worked across 28 different countries.
Automattic.
Automattic is the company behind some of the most popular software products in the world: WordPress, WooCommerce, Tumblr, Longreads, Simplenote, etc. Automattic has over 1,400 employees from across 80 countries speaking 99 different languages; all working remotely!
Use the right tools, software.
A study on remote work in the United States concluded that “IT is the unsung hero of the remote work revolution.” Remote work is about saving work hours; you need smart tools that help you to achieve just that.
Maintain a formal work structure and hierarchy.
Many companies that are new to remote work are still experimenting with different work models, tools, structures, and so on to find optimal ideals.
The good news is that you don’t have to entirely transform how you work, even though some innovation is inevitable. The traditional work structure and hierarchy has worked and can work effectively in how to manage remote developers on your team and create a strong work culture.
Communication.
This is perhaps the most critical factor in how to manage a remote development team. Communication makes remote development (or work, generally) successful.
However, the true value of communication is revealed in how it helps to improve team members’ understanding of their responsibilities as well as each other. Basically, that means the presentation of work reports and the assignment of tasks both don’t count as proper communication.
Take Advantage of Time Zone Differences.
To take advantage of time zone differences, you must begin by hiring people who can work with minimal supervision for your remote development team.
With time zone differences, first of all, try to find overlap times, an hour or more when every member of the team would be online and active. Such time should probably be scheduled for meetings, briefings, task assignments, group assessments, etc.
Risk assessment and backup.
What happens when a team member falls sick? Or if their computer breaks? Or if they are temporarily out of reach for any reason when their presence is desperately needed? Your answers to these questions determine the level of your preparedness for managing a remote development team.
Organize hangouts and team-building activities.
Whether a team is remote or physical, it helps that workers can bond beyond the scope of the project. Remote teams find it difficult to replicate the ‘water cooler’ experiences that help employees working physically chat about non-work stuff. As a manager, one of your aims in how to manage a remote development team effectively should be to improve camaraderie among your subordinates.
Trust your team to deliver the best.
If you are confident that you have hired the best team, then you need to trust them to deliver. There is nothing better than believing in the team you have set up to stay true to their responsibilities and present successful results.
Reward your developers.
Just as you would let a developer know immediately if they are out of line, be quick to dole out praise when a developer does outstanding work. Indeed, they are getting paid for their work, but a simple verbal acknowledgment of their effort goes a long way to motivate them to do even better. A ‘thank you’ might seem small but it does the trick in many cases.
Conclusion.
Apparently, managing remote development teams is not rocket science, even though it might feel so if one is not fully prepared. The main secret to successfully managing remote development teams is to strengthen collaboration between developers by the power of communication. If companies can have their entire business hinged on remote work delivery, then why not remote software development.