Agile practices every offshore development team should follow

With the onset of a global pandemic that brought about unprecedented change, many companies are looking at ways to augment their software development activities to keep up with the accelerated pace of digital transformation. While offshoring has been around for a while, it has resurged as a strategic move to match today’s fast-paced business landscape. Businesses are focused on achieving faster product deliveries without sacrificing on quality.

And if you think of some of the most popular methodologies to achieve that, you’ll probably guess “agile” sooner rather than later. The methodology of agile software development has been used for long as an effective and convenient framework for software development activities that helps teams deliver value to their customers faster.

While the modern-day tech community reads ‘Agile’ in synonym with the concept of innovation and efficiency, you’d be surprised by how many claim to be agile but don’t truly grasp it in its entirety.

While there are several paths to achieving agility, successful agile transformations all share some common yet crucial elements described in this blog.

If you are still not sure how agile offshore development will help your business, here’s something you need to know. An agile offshore development team can:

Generate more revenue.

Provide better customer satisfaction.

Help maintain excellent product quality.

Quickly adapt to the changes in the business environment.

Promote a collaborative environment and get things done efficiently.

Deliver the results regardless of the location, as they are self-sufficient.

60% of the companies experience an increase in profit after adopting an agile approach. (Source: GoRemotely)

Of course, managing a team remotely in another country comes with a lot of challenges like the difference in culture and time zone, miscommunication, etc. But you know the interesting part? All these challenges can be easily eliminated by implementing some of the best practices given below.

So, if you are looking to achieve your business goals faster by getting the most out of your offshore development team, here are some of the best agile practices that we have gathered over the years.

Determine the scope of work and build a roadmap

Determining the volume of all the tasks that must be completed by a given date is a necessary agile practice that offshore development companies need to follow. Making the scope of work (SOW) document will ensure a comprehensive and compelling work strategy.

The SOW should contain the milestones, timeline for the deliverable, and the updates/reports that are expected to be provided by the offshore development team.

Build a roadmap so that the team is clear regarding what are the goals and how to achieve them. This clear representation can help the team to work effectively and efficiently.

Proper communication channel

One of the best practices for any offshore development team is having constant communication between the various people involved in the software development. However, Agile Methodology is based on having regular short meetings for the entire team to coordinate their work with each other.

Use latest tracking tools

Project management tools can help the team to work more effectively. It helps to make the collaboration easy and transparent despite differences in location and time zones. As an offshore development team, you can use tools like Jira, Trello, Slack, etc. to keep track and maintain complete coordination.

Shorter Feedback Loops

Keep room for improvement. Feedback is one of the most essential parts of the agile process. Make sure to get regular feedback to ensure that deliverables are in line with the expectations. It will also help in improving and minimizing errors.

Final Words

The key to managing an offshore development team is to have a proper and effective framework. With the right strategies and a talented offshore team in place, no one can stop you to achieve your business goals.