According to a survey conducted by Statista, over 10% of respondents complained about the time zone differences. This can be a major challenge if not addressed properly.
If you are wondering “how best to manage the time zone variations in offshore software development?”—this article will provide in-depth insights on the subject. Read on to start learning.
5 Tips to Help in Managing Time Variations When dealing With Offshore Teams in Software Development
If you have the know-how, generally, the benefits of offshoring software development outweigh the cons such as the time zone difference. Below are tips you can apply in managing the challenges of variations in time zones.
1. Hire a competent team
Who you hire can directly impact how you handle the time variations between your countries. How?
You need a team with excellent time management skills— one that can work at minimal supervision. If the team fails to handle most tasks without your help, then you’ll have to spend more time completing tests. This means you will work more time than necessary.
Hire dependable and talented software developers who are self-motivated and can effectively manage their time.
Need help reinforcing your engineering team? Try Argent. With over five years, Argent can handle the recruitment while you focus on scaling your business.
2. Invest in Meeting Planners
Today, many tools help to make running any business a smooth process.
There are tools that can be used for organizing meetings and catch-up conversations with your distributed team. These help especially when you find yourself constantly struggling with timing difference between countries.
Here are some practical tools for managing different work time zones
- Spacetime.am
Slack bot Spacetime.am might be the best team time zone software for your team if you’re one of the 8 million people who use Slack every day.
You can add their location, set work hours, and see who is online and even when they come online.
Also, you can schedule meetings, and Spacetime.am will automatically adjust the time, so the receiver sees it in their time zone.
- Every Time zone
Every Time Zone is a multiple time zone meeting planner that shows you what time it is in every timezone on the planet. The ingenious slider tool lets users view how a time in one location corresponds to the time in other locations. Every Time Zone is a valuable tool for coordinating two or more time zones or observing time zone overlap.
3. Use the Agile Methodology
The agile methodology may be an unorthodox method of dealing with the developer of time zones, but you can quickly adapt it for better information interchange with remote teams. The agile methodology is perfect for business expansion and dedicated teams building in multiple regions working on various product components.
The basic concept is that information interchange frequency varies depending on the stage of development. During the initial and deployment stages, information interchange is high, while it reduces in the development and design stages.
4. Stick To a Single information interchange Channel
Using numerous information interchange channels among team members slows down the development process and leads to miscommunication that could jeopardize the product.
As a result, it’s essential to use the same platforms for document sharing, information interchange, online conferences, project management, etc. This way, you and your team will have no trouble keeping track of the changes and updates.
5.Visualize The Time Zone
Having a mental image of the geography, or at least the time zone of your various teammates, makes it easier to manage them. Of course, it’s impossible to have that memorized all the time, which is why most people keep this information visible on the wall with a map depicting the various time zones. You can also use an image or similar visual reminder on your smartphone.
Conclusion
Managing a team across many time zones is challenging, and it may appear more tricky than managing an in-house staff. But with these five tips and using a meeting planner across time zones, you can expect an efficient development and delivery process.
Don’t forget to check out Argent Team for all your offshore development center needs.