Basic Tenets To Manage Your Remote Software Development Team In 2021
It is reported that, in the US alone, 71 percent of the employed adults are currently working from home at the end of 2020; 54 percent of them stated that they would want to continue to work from home after the coronavirus outbreak ends. According to Gartner, more than 80 percent of CEOs said they were planning to allow their employees to continue work from home post-COVID19. In the same Gartner survey, 47 percent said they would approve full-time WFH, while 42 percent claimed that they would offer flexible working hours.
Remote working has now become the norm since the pandemic. We all witnessed a historic shift in the job market last year. All of this has forced business leaders around the world to re-evaluate their business operations.
Although two-thirds of businesses who allow their workforce to WFH reported that they saw a significant increase in productivity, there is still a sizable number skeptical about it.
Of course, there are some downsides to it, some of which must include an unmotivated workforce, employees who find it hard to concentrate, no truly delegating responsibilities, potential cybersecurity issues, etc.; but most importantly, poor management practices.
There is no trick to managing your remote software development workforce sufficiently. A good manager can manage their WFH crew just as well as they do when their employees work in the office.
The tenets of management are pretty much the same. All we have to do is be flexible and adapt the same principles to the remote workforce.
This article will provide you with information on how to well-manage your remote software development team, and if you already knew, we will reinforce these management tenets.
Set clear goals and expectations early and often
When setting priorities, the first thing you need to do is set clear goals and objectives. This is the primary management principle that all managers have to know. However, when shifting to the remote working environment, some managers fall down on this tenet.
For example, suppose you need a specific piece of code at one particular time, clearly communicate with the team your requirements, the goal, your expectations, and set a deadline.
At the same time, managers should also model behavior around working hours, such as telling their employees about their expectations about responding to emails or texts after work. This helps employees to keep up with a healthy work-life balance and prevents them from exhaustion.
Without a specific goal in mind, the WFH crew can easily end up staring at a blank screen, especially when working remotely.
A clear schedule and deadline for your remote software development team
When working from home, your software development crew needs a deadline to keep them on schedule.
Without deadlines, projects can fall apart because people may not actually deliver. This is not because they are lazy or unproductive. It’s because when there is no deadline, a project can always need more revisions and changes, especially if you’re working with perfectionists.
Although it is strongly advised that businesses should focus on the results and outcome instead of the deadline, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t set up a deadline when it comes to product-based IT.
And like we have said earlier in our “5 things to do to ensure your product management success”: when it comes to software development success measurement, we should use benchmarks to evaluate the software engineering teams’ work quality/the final results, and use deadlines as the motivation booster.
Time management
Another important management principle is time management, which means encouraging (1) flexibility so that the software development team can get the work done on time, (2) time-saving meetings, (3) calendar sharing and synchronization, (4) regular breaks every 90 minutes, the Pomodoro method can also be applied to maximize the working productivity.
In most cases, managers should focus on the results. Managers also need to encourage employees to schedule their work and pay attention to what their remote software development team actually brings to the table.
Company culture should be on each individual’s mindset
Although the remote software development team members do not physically interact, it is crucial for each member to keep the company culture in mind. And as for managers, company culture lies at the core of your managerial practices.
You can set up online workshops to keep your WFH software development crew continue upskilling. Social activities should also encourage outside of the working hour. You should also communicate to your staff that they can stay organized as they did in the office. It is recommended that you set aside some budget for your employees to adjust their home working areas. These small actions can motivate all team members and build goodwill.
In today’s technology-driven world, you don’t need always to manage your remote software development team physically. Many offshore development centers operate autonomously with their own management structure, which we can learn from them. There are many software engineering solutions that can help you manage your team while tracking productivity.
Notwithstanding, you’ve already had your in-house development team or not, you can always augment your staff to improve the work’s quality whenever you need it by reaching out to other software development outsourcing services to corporate and getting some extra support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if businesses want to successfully manage a remote development team, they need to accept, and embrace remote work, find contentment despite adversity, and provide a high level of support to their employees to ensure efficiency and productivity, as well as employee satisfaction.
Also, bear in mind that these mentioned managerial principles are crucial not only in-office but also in the work from home scenarios.
If you want to know more about software engineering solutions that can help you to better manage your software development team, contact us now! Besides custom software development services, we do offer business and digital transformation consulting services to manage your software development team better.
