Successful outsourcing requires more than finding the right partner or defining the project requirements. According to Statista, 50% of projects that are outsourced fall short of the client’s expectations. In 30% of cases, this was caused by poor communication with the outsourcing provider. In fact, the quality of your communication can make or break a project. That is why it’s one of the key factors for a successful outsourcing venture.
In this blog post, we will explore the importance of effective communication in the software development process and discuss strategies that can help facilitate communication between you and your outsourcing team. So, if you’re ready to enhance your outsourced software development and improve collaboration within your team, keep reading!
The Importance of Communication in Outsourcing Development
The Negative Impact of Poor Communication
Common Outsourcing Communication Issues
Agile Communication in Software Development
Best Practices to Communicate Effectively with the Software Development Team
When you outsource software development, effective communication ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding the specifications, objectives, and schedule of the project. Also, high-quality communication in outsourced software development helps:
The more open you are about your internal structure, methods, and expectations, the easier it will be for an outsourced team to integrate into your business and provide the outcomes you require.
While outsourcing can bring numerous benefits to your company, poor communication can result in the whole project failing. Unclear communication management can result in misaligned expectations and other misunderstandings, leading to strained relationships between you and the outsourcing team.
The most common communication problems in software development include:
Fortunately, you can eliminate all these negative impacts by being aware of the most typical communication challenges and ways to overcome them.
Like any business, outsourcing comes with its own set of challenges and hurdles to overcome. Drawing on 22+ years of experience in software development, we can list several common communication issues we’ve faced in working with our clients:
Think about the cultural gap in advance when interviewing candidates for the outsourcing position. Make sure the vendor has bilingual professionals so both of you are on the same page, communicate frequently, and feel free to ask questions.
Even if you use a common language, e.g. English, different cultures may have different communication styles. For example, some cultures may be more open in their communication, while others may use more guarded language. So, keep in mind this cultural barrier while selecting the outsourcing partner globally.
Language is never an issue for our clients at HQSoftware. All our software engineers and other experts speak English fluently, making development communication a breeze.
Have a software project in mind? We’re ready to help!HQSoftware has a team of skilled professionals ready to tackle the project. Let’s talk!
Anna Halias
Business Development Manager
If you choose an outsourcing provider located in a different time zone, it can be challenging to schedule meetings and communicate in real-time. This can lead to missing timely feedback and, as a result, interfere with project delivery.
To overcome this challenge, consider flexible work arrangements such as staggered work hours or compressed workweeks to accommodate time zone differences.
When we collaborate with clients located in a different time zone, we schedule regular weekly meetings, considering our clients’ operating times. We always set the same-day response time and track all communication in a central system for accountability. All of our clients have access to HQSoftware’s Jira system to monitor the progress of development at their convenience.
When communicating during the software development process, it’s essential to use clear language, avoiding idioms, jargon, and complex technical terms. These may not be familiar to your vendor in the first stages of communication.
Vendors, on the other side, should use simplified explanations and analogies to describe technical concepts in a way the client can understand. At the end of technical discussions, you may ask to summarize the main points in simple, non-technical language, to ensure you fully understand the process.
To prevent misunderstandings, we at HQSoftware carefully verify that our clients are fully comprehending all the information we provide. We break down complex processes into simple steps, provide previous use cases, and re-explain concepts in multiple ways until there is a clear understanding.
The first step toward ensuring both parties understand each other’s expectations is to clearly define the scope of work. This should include a detailed description of the tasks to be performed, the expected deliverables, timelines, and any other relevant information. The more the team understands the “why” behind tasks, the better job they can do.
To illustrate complex ideas and establish a shared understanding of the project, implement visual aids such as flowcharts and diagrams. You can also display samples of previous work or mock-ups of the desired outcome. And to mitigate misunderstandings during development, ask your vendor for summary notes after meetings.
For example, project managers at HQSoftware prepare reports and send follow-ups to our customers after each communication, on the same day, to make sure everyone is on the same page.
It’s also easier to overcome communication issues when you use the right project management approach that can help you identify bugs in the early stage, refine requirements, and regularly review the progress. Agile methodology has proved the most satisfying for us and our clients.
Agile communication in software development emphasizes short iterations, frequent inspection, and regular feedback between you and your outsourcing provider. Here are some key aspects of Agile communication that we follow at HQSoftware:
In summary, by following the principles of agile communication, our software development teams can quickly adapt to changing project requirements and deliver high-quality products that meet market needs.
Frequent development communication helps build rapport between remote teams and establishes a climate of transparency, fostering trust in the outsourcing relationship. By following these recommendations, you can communicate more effectively with your software development team, improving collaboration and enhancing project outcome.
When you start the project, discuss the way you will communicate with your outsourcing provider. Choose the most convenient platform and schedule calls and video conferences with consideration for different time zones.
At HQsoftware, we always negotiate the method and frequency of delivering reports for our clients. If you have any prepared templates that you’d like to use, you can provide them. Also, you can choose a tool for progress tracking. It can be our internal Jira and/or your current system.
The most effective way to collaborate with your vendor is to schedule face-to-face discussions for weekly or urgent conversations and set up a chat for ongoing outsourcing communication issues. In-person interactions reduce the likelihood of miscommunication and help remote teams establish trust.
Establish communication channels such as email, Slack, Google Meet, or any other project management software, and make sure that everyone on the team has access. At HQSoftware, we always consider an alternative channel to make collaborating convenient for you.
Before starting the project, you’ll need to allocate responsibility within your internal team. You should define which employee can make decisions and approve costs and bills, who will communicate with the vendor most often, and who will merely monitor the development progress.
Then set up a schedule for when your coworkers are available during working hours and notify your vendor about the time and duties in your company, so the development team can reach out to the right person with any issue that arises. You can require the same responsibility chart from your outsourcing development team as well.
To track progress and verify decisions made, you may use meeting notes as an ongoing record. It will be easier to prepare for future meetings by referring back to past notes linked to the corresponding agenda, to keep the original context.
As your software development provider, we follow up with you after each development communication to ensure that everyone has the same goals and that the issue is being addressed effectively. All agreements are fixed and sent to you the same day, while the details are still fresh.
More frequent communication allows your team to identify issues sooner, when they are smaller and easier to fix. This avoids major delays or rework later. Checking in often helps clarify if development is progressing as planned or if course corrections are needed to stay on target.
At HQSoftware, we provide weekly status checks to keep both sides focused on the goals and deadlines.
Overall, with established communication, you can quickly catch and solve development issues and enhance mutual understanding with the development team. As a software provider, we’ve listed a few tips that will help you improve your communication skills:
If you need more information about our project management and communication processes with clients, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our specialists will schedule a free consultation to provide you with all the necessary information.
Head of Production
To ensure the outstanding quality of HQSoftware’s solutions and services, I took the position of Head of Production and manager of the Quality Assurance department. Turn to me with any questions regarding our tech expertise.
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Founder
