Digital Transformation in the Pandemic How Remote Teams Can Help Build Your Project and Offset Costs

The pandemic has changed the way we work, and businesses need to be more agile than ever to stay competitive. As per this report, the pandemic speeded the adoption of technologies by several years and changed the way businesses operate in several regions and sectors. In 2020, consumers drastically moved toward online channels, and businesses that responded to this shift were the ones who won. While this is just the beginning, companies that are reluctant to change or adopt digitization may now go out of business after losing their customers to their competitors who acted fast and embraced digitization sooner. The three questions that arise for entrepreneurs who are thinking about improving their situations are:

• What is the best way to accelerate my company’s digital capabilities?
• How can my business adopt digitization quickly to ensure business continuity?
• What if I don’t have the budget to make this drastic shift to online mediums?

The answer is to all 3 questions is rather simple: Act fast and strategically.  For example, if you can’t build a product with advanced features, launch an MVP and kickstart your project. In the case that you have budget constraints and can’t set up a full-fledged team of in-house native developers, hire a CTO, build your remote team, and go online.

The Benefits of Building a Remote Team with Leading Agile Talent

Around a decade ago, a conflux of Agile system and Remote teams made no sense.  However, with the world-changing fast due to the pandemic, having remote teams is the new normal, and businesses that are leveraging the benefits are winning.

1. Remote Developers are Leaner, Smarter, and Less Distracted

While building a team of remote developers sounds challenging, there are obvious benefits for the company. If managed well, a remote team of developers can accomplish more tasks than a team of in-house developers in a given timeframe. You will also find that a strategically managed international team will bring more perspectives to drive digitization for businesses, and your project can be running on a 24/7 basis with developers working from various countries if you choose. Imagine a team of developers working for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week – wouldn’t it be amazing? If you build a team of in-house native developers, you can continue the work for, at most, 12 hours a day, but with people from different time zones, you can work 24/7 with virtual collaboration. On top of that, studies say that people who work remotely are less distracted by things like office politics and interruptions by colleagues and are more focused on the work assigned to them.

2. Remote Developers are More Productive

Productivity is crucial for budding as well as established businesses. Without it, you can not get the work done, which, in turn, will affect your sales and overall revenue. One of the most significant benefits an organization has when working with remote developers is an increase in productivity. According to statistics, 86% of developers hit their maximum productivity and complete their tasks on time when working remotely. Click To Tweet According to statistics, 86% of developers hit their maximum productivity and complete their tasks on time when working remotely. The pandemic broke the technological and cultural barriers that prevented remote work in the past. But, now things have changed. Here are some reasons behind the increase in productivity of remote developers:

• They aren’t distracted by noisy colleagues
• They don’t waste time commuting
• They can go on breaks when they feel exhausted
• Their schedule is flexible, and they are self-motivated

There are distractions at home as well; however, it is all about control. People have more control over their personal workspace at home while in the office it is difficult to ask someone to lower their voice and not have loud discussions or chatter. Moreover, the ability to work remotely acts as an incentive for many developers that strikes a different chord. They believe that their employer is trusting them and are more likely to work towards perfection to maintain that trust. As a result, they often end up doing much more than expected and outperform the expectations of employers. The flexibility that comes with working from home is converted into value the employee delivers.

3. Remote Developers Help You in Cost Saving

Money is the lifeblood of any business. Besides, if an I.T. model is helping you save, why not? Remote development models help you save money in more ways than one. If you plan to build an I.T. team of in-house developers, you need to have a proper infrastructure in place. On the other hand, the remote model helps you set up a team even if you don’t have a definite space to call “the office.” You can establish your entire business and run it efficiently with the help of remote developers. From a cost-effectiveness and efficiency standpoint, remote developers can be a big advantage for your business. Because you won’t be operating completely from an office, you will save on several expenses, including:

• Utility costs
• Rental Space and supplies
• Infrastructure cost

These expenses are large when you need to support several people and can make a significant difference in the overall cost structure of a business. For example, Dell saved around $12 million per year in real estate costs by creating more flexible work options for its employees. All a remote team requires is a great set of tools and the right technologies to communicate and collaborate in real-time with each other. With remote and distributed development teams, you always get a higher return on investment. Another advantage associated is that hourly rates of developers vary from country to country, and you can save with the same talent expectations using a remote model. For example, the USA presently offers the highest wages for developers with an average hourly rate of around $60-$120 per hour. “You can not just build a team from home” was at the beginning of this, but didn’t seem to make sense. It makes sense without it. Money is the lifeblood of any business. Besides, if an I.T. model is helping you save, why not consider it? Click To Tweet On the other hand, you can find developers with the same skill set in Asian countries for around $20 – $60. But, while hiring, you must be very careful not to simply choose the lowest price range. In Asian countries, you will find developers working on as low as $20 per hour, but they may not be trustable, reliable, and skilled enough to fulfill your needs.

Managing a Team of Remote Developers: Is It Difficult?

Being part of a remote team or managing a remote team is a common practice these days. However, it wasn’t as common until businesses were forced to stay at home during the pandemic. So, for some organizations, it is still new. Additionally, it is here to stay because of the several benefits it provides. In the beginning, it was often scary for managers and supervisors to manage a remote team and ensure that developers were engaged, productive, and thriving. But with a strategic approach, the process is seamless and more efficient than ever before. The best practices to manage a remote team include:

• Set clear expectations early and often
• Proper planning and flexibility for employees
• Emphasize communication and collaboration
• Do not micromanage but track productivity
• Appreciate developers by offering perks and celebrating success
• Build connections and address every concern that hinders productivity
• Go Agile, organize quick daily scrums, and streamline delivery

Conclusion

We won’t say organizations that are adopting remote work cultures are free from risks. They can also come across the same problems as having non-remote workers, such as poor quality of work and poor communication if they hire the wrong team or less experienced developers. However, an ever-increasing number of organizations are opting for the remote work model due to the benefits it provides, which include better adaptability, cost-and-time-adequacy, and access to a global talent pool. Seeing these benefits and considering the unavoidable deficiency of developers that local markets will experience in the coming years, remote development teams might be the work model of the future for several organizations. The only question that remains is: can you afford to avoid digitalization of your business?