Managing your offshore team: 4 Tips for success

Offshoring is not just about saving financial resources. Having a competent offshore team as an extension of your in-house employees can speed up your business growth and development. 

For one, you can delegate your non-essential tasks to your offshore team, giving your in-house staff more time to focus on your core business. Offshoring also enables you to tap into a global talent pool, which is a big help in filling in talent gaps. 

But for some businesses, offshoring can be a challenging and risky business move. Despite this misconception, offshoring has proven to be an effective strategic business model throughout the years.

A considerable part of the success of your offshoring venture will depend on how you properly manage your offshore staff. Follow our tips to help you manage your offshore team and achieve the results you are aiming for. 

Tips for managing your offshore team

Key differences between managing an in-house team and an offshore team

Managing your offshore team is relatively the same as managing your in-house team. But with offshore teams, you will be required to put on extra effort and time as you will not be physically working with them. 

Below we have the two primary differences between in-house and offshore teams: 

Time-zone differences

Working with an in-house team makes it easier to hold emergency meetings or discuss specific topics that need immediate action. With offshore teams, meanwhile, both ends have to adjust to time-zone differences. 

On the other hand, you can use time-zone differences to your advantage as you can perform your daily operations over extended periods. What’s good about offshore outsourcing providers is that they offer specialized services 24/7. 

Cultural differences 

Your in-house team share the same physical work environment and the same workplace culture. Working with an offshore team, you may find that you do not entirely match the same culture and values. 

It is also essential to choose a reliable offshoring partner that understands and shares the same vision as your company. 

A good offshoring company has a full grasp of your business necessities. Booth and Partners, for example, provides business process solutions according to your kind of business needs.

4 tips for managing your offshore team

Know that managing your offshore team does not have to be an arduous task. Follow these four tips to help you supervise your offshore team efficiently:

Utilize different communication tools 

Communication and transparency are essential to the success of your offshoring pursuits. Enhance your interaction with your offshore staff by using various communication and collaboration tools. 

While you can always communicate through chat, it is also vital to do virtual catch-ups. Ensure that everyone on your offshore team is available during your scheduled video conferences. 

Motivate your offshore team 

Aside from clear communication, employee motivation is another essential factor for the success of your offshore team management. Working collaboratively with your remote team is challenging enough, and influencing and keeping them motivated to perform their best is another. 

You can assign a local team leader who will function as a “communication channel” between you and your offshore team. Although you have a local team leader handling your offshore team, you still need to be present and check upon your team once in a while. 

Adhere to your SLA 

Offshoring providers often have service level agreements (SLAs). SLAs cover the changes required, the kind of work environment, and the degree of complexities of the project. Some SLAs may also require you to provide infrastructures or upgrades, so you must be prepared for it. 

Be accessible and accommodating

You will not be physically present as you work with your offshore team. Be as accessible and accommodating as possible so everyone will remain updated about the developments of your project. 

Take the time to do daily catch-ups to see how your offshore team is doing, track their progress, and so you could also give them feedback. 

Offshore with Booth and Partners – the key to your business growth!

Get the kind of support you need through Booth and Partners, one of the most trusted outsourced staffing providers in the Philippines! Booth and Partners boasts offshoring solutions that are tailored to your business requirements. 

Start building your offshore team. Get in touch with Booth and Partners today!