Back in 2019, 12% of American companies did not allow remote work. Freelancing was perhaps the only major approach that allowed people to work virtually.
2020 brought with it a global pandemic which meant that working from home became the norm for 100% of the companies.
Telecommuting and being a digital nomad was no longer a futuristic concept – it was the reality. One area of work that was particularly suited to flexible work timings was software development. If done properly, distributed teams are remarkably beneficial for companies that employ them. The good part is, they don’t need to be hired in-house through one’s own resources and restrictions. There are plenty of reputable businesses that assemble tailored teams of remote engineers and developers.
As a surprise to many naysayers of work-from-home jobs, this mode of work has plenty of benefits. Businesses do not have to spend so much on infrastructure and office space, while work life for remote employees does not involve the much dreaded commute that 9-5 work entailed. However, to glean the optimal benefit from distributed teams, it is important to ensure that you are going about it the right way.
Recruiters and hiring managers need to have a fair idea of what job role they are recruiting for. Many businesses, especially new ones, do not have the resources to hire industry experts to do the hiring for them. However, transparency about the job specifications and requirements is essential; it saves both the employer and employee a lot of time. In such a case, it is imperative that you turn to hiring processes that relieve you of tasks that you cannot do. Gaper, for example, collaborates with these companies by not only helping them in the onboarding of top talent, it also vets these developers and engineers for their clients. In doing so, we assess for both technical competencies and the soft skills of potential new hires.
Note that freelance or part-time individuals may not be the right fit if you wish to work with the team on a long-term basis.
Businesses should remember that training and skill development is as critical for remote workers as it is for office-based employees. A lot of the skill shortage that resulted due to the pandemic was in part caused by a lack of willingness by companies to invest in software developers and engineers that worked remotely. This could mean conducting training sessions every few months, investing in courses that development teams could take, or enrolling them in bootcamps like nerdii.
It is the company’s job ensure that the skillsets of their teams remain sustainable and turnover kept low. Working remotely should not be a reason for skill redundancy.
Since face-to-face meetings would no longer be a thing, coworkers working remotely need appropriate communication to ensure a smooth workflow. This is not only restricted to the video-conferencing tools you use which might be Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or some other software of your choice. It also includes the tools that your developer teams may use during their work hours to collaborate with each other. Slack is often a popular choice for text-based conversations. Project management tools like Jira or Trello could help in streamlining agile development processes. You may also find that home-based folks in your teams need some other tool to communicate efficiently.
Feel free to experiment with your team but make sure that everyone is always on the same page in terms of expectations and work schedules. A remote workforce demands different communication and management styles than those in physical coworking spaces.
Even the greatest software development teams are subject to human error. Therefore, implementing a KPI (key performance indicator) system is necessary. These simply help to monitor the work-at-home developer teams for their daily task progress and targets reached per week. Preferably, you need to have KPIs in place that lines up with your yearly and quarterly goals.
To start off KPIs, start by understanding what your company goals are. Understand how each developer assists you in reaching that goal. Then find a way to accurately track their results. Generally, you can find a KPI for each employee that helps you determine their impact on your company’s success. Ideally, you should also track your own efforts with KPIs in order to hold yourself accountable to the same standards you expect from your employees.
2020 taught us that a lot of work can be done remotely after all. Remote jobs contribute to better and increased productivity by helping your teams have a better work-life balance and a home-office situation that suits their individual work styles. It is then up to you to structure a workday for them that leads to the overall growth and success of your company and a better work environment for your teams. It takes time to get it right, but flexibility always pays in the long run. It does seem though that we are now headed for a remote future characterized by distributed work and teams, employees working from home on a permanent basis, and time zones becoming a problem of the past.
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