“If you’ve got development centers all over the world, you’ve got a sales to force out with the customers, the fact that tools like Skype [and] digital collaboration are letting people work better at a distance — that is a wonderful thing.” — Bill Gates

Working remotely is the main mantra today, amidst the pandemic that has surrounded us. Call it by force or by choice, there is no other option. All industry segments globally have been impacted heavily, the IT industry is one of them. IT organizations have been forced to work remotely to align their working style to suit the pandemic norms.

It has been a tough task for all, especially for those who have not been exposed to the remote kind of working. IT organizations have been finding it difficult to manage their project schedules with teams staying at their homes rather than being at the work premises.

Courtesy: https://freelancinghacks.com/20-mind-blowing-freelancing-statistics-remote-work-future/

At such times, hiring remote developers comes up as an ideal solution to suffice the development requirements of IT hubs with developers sitting at their own premises. But, as easy as it sounds, it is more difficult to ensure a good quality selection and output from them. If the developers are not selected properly, it could lead to a huge business upheaval in terms of cost, security, and productivity.

After all, the proper selection and working of remote developers have a direct relationship with the business output/application that is being developed.

As an IT organization stuck up amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, there are certain queries that could be popping up like:

• Where will I get good remote developers?
• How do I select efficient remote developers for my business?
• What skills and attributes should I be looking for, in the selection process?
• What would be the pay scale that I should offer them?
• How do I ensure the seamless association of remote developers with the rest of the team?

Courtesy: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/remote-work-statistics/

Choosing the right set of remote developers that can help you attain your project goals as well as prove their intelligence, efficiency, and productivity is a tough task. The hiring of remote developers could be for either freelance developers or permanent developers, as need be. This article focuses on helping you out in choosing the apt resources for your teams. You can take a look at the remote work statistics 2021 and get better thoughts.

Major Benefits of Choosing Remote Developers

Focused Proficiency in Technologies

Remote developers possess proficiency in specific modern-day technologies like AI, IoT, AR, VR, etc. It is tough to find this expertise in in-house teams and hence getting these specialized resources remotely surely works better.

Reduction in Costs

Hiring remote developers works best in terms of expenses. Paying your in-house team on a regular basis could prove to be costly, especially when they are not able to deliver expertise in a particular technology that is required.

Flexibility in Hiring Developers

Now that you have the choice of having remote developers as you need it, there is no force on hiring full-time developers at all. IT companies can leverage the recruitment of developers on a remote level, as and when needed.

Scalable Operations

Hiring remote developers offers organizations the scalability to increase/decrease their resource needs, as per the demand of the industry and projects. It becomes easy to manage the resources as per the requirement rather than having to compulsorily use those resources.

Emphasis on Fundamental Activities

With remote developers taking care of the entire development activity set, IT persons are now free to focus on their specified areas of development. They can now take up newer responsibilities and thereby, enhance their business portfolio.

Continual Development

Remote developers may belong to different time zones, different geographies. Hence, they keep working all through the day and night. This offers greater productivity and completion of schedules. Also, since they work from their own premises, there is higher productivity and lesser disturbance.

Increased Productivity and Reach

When you recruit remote developers, there are chances of getting high-end potential from these resources. As compared to your team in-house, the end results will be much better and profitable. Since the remote developers belong to widespread geographies, the overall reach of the IT organization is bound to expand and offer better results.

Maintain Work-Life Balance

For both – the IT organization and remote developers, it becomes easy to maintain the work and life balance, offering equal impetus to both. Since developers take their own work responsibly, the IT members can then focus on their own area and work without intervention.

Key Reasons Why Hiring Remote Developers is Apt Amidst the Pandemic Times

There are certain reasons why this model of recruiting remote workers in the Covid-19 days turns out beneficial for all, here are they:

• Choosing the correct means of working
• Boosting profitability and productivity
• Easily manage and control teams
• The right amount of experience in technologies
• Virtual collaboration and remote working
• Accelerated business with digitization
• Bang on newer opportunities
• Long term associations

Things to Consider While Choosing Remote Developers

Before you hire remote developers, here are a few points to ponder upon, prior to the hiring process:

• Are your organizational goals aligned thoroughly with the remote developer’s competencies?
• Are your developmental requirements identified and resource requirements jotted down?
• Are you sure the remote developer is trustworthy enough to share the organizational information with?
• Have you carried out an exhaustive process of interviewing the developer to ascertain the capabilities?
• Does the remote setup suffice all organizational needs in terms of undisturbed communication and continuous flow of information?
• Have you studied and analyzed the geography-specific constraints, timings, languages, holidays, etc. to ensure a timely project schedule?
• Are you flexible and scalable enough in your project development approach so that the remote developers are comfortable enough?

An Ideal Skillset of Remote Developers

There is a specialized skill set that remote developers must possess, since their working model is a tad different from those developers who work in office premises, amidst their immediate management or customer group. Remote developers must possess the following skills to perform at their best and offer optimum results:

• A high level of discipline and self-organization is a must. Since these groups of developers are always confined to their home premises, it is essential that they are highly self-driven and understand their own roles and responsibilities, without continuous monitoring.
• Competence to communicate regularly, effectively, and easily is essential. They must have good communication skills, a good network to support regular interaction, and the willingness to stay in touch with the team and superiors.
• Willingness to be innovative and forward-thinking is required. Since they are on their own premises, there is less motivation and interaction as compared to the office premises. In such times, it is vital for them to take more initiative and show their futuristic approach.
• Maturity to handle remote tasks must be there. Since there is no one monitoring the remote developers continuously, it is essential for them to mature enough to continuously keep their superiors in the loop, offer the best estimation possible, and confine to the timelines committed.

Some Challenges That Could Hinder the Hiring Process

It is not that having remote developers is an easy task. Yes, it is quite vital for companies but has its own share of hiccups which can be overcome with the help of experienced IT partners. Here are some of the key challenges:

• Choosing amongst the huge bulk of probable candidates as a remote developer is a tough task. To ascertain the developer’s qualification, capability, trustworthiness, and that too from his/her working location is challenging. And it forms a considerably basic and worrisome factor for any IT company going in for remote developers.
• When it comes to remote developers, they could belong to any part of the world and the very first thing that comes across is the language barrier. Though programming may be unified, the communication is not and that needs management for non-English communicating developers.

Key Best Practices to Hire Efficient Remote Developers

There are certain key guidelines that remote developers must adhere to, for efficient and effective operations. Here are they:

• Understand the basic purpose of hiring remote developers. Why is there a need for remote development, what are the risks involved, how far has the project understanding been, is there a budget allocated for that – these are some of the questions that better be answered well before taking the decision of hiring remote programmers. Expectations must be clearly jotted down, discussed, and finalized.
• Set the budget limits right, at par with what is expected out of the project. Sometimes, it may happen that the costs involved look high but then you realize, that they are worth it. Sometimes, the costs may not match up, in that case, you need to analyze beforehand if increasing costs is required or not.
• Take your time, look for reliable and desired resources, and then finalize. Have a detailed look at both angles – your need, budget, and skillset and the developer’s experience, history of work, recommendations, etc. Overlooking these factors may cause a disturbing working later.
• Finalize contract terms and conditions well in advance so that there is no confusion or disappointment later. Since there is a distance between the developer and the office environment, it is better to be clear from the very beginning.
• Ensure a secure setup from the developer’s end. Prior to hiring such remote developers, set up a security protocol that safeguards the organizational information and sees to it that the developer does not misuse any authority given.

Hoping for the Pandemic to Shoo off

We certainly hope that the Covid-19 trouble that has engulfed the world goes away as soon as possible. But, for IT companies to survive at their best, some decisions must be taken and implemented instantly, one of them being hiring remote developers.

This article has given a transparent and comprehensive view of how and why remote developers can offer plenty of benefits to software teams, with them sitting in the comfort of their homes. Yes, the crux lies in selecting the right kind of developers that can be worked upon best by taking guidance/resources from an experienced IT services provider. Who better than these IT partners to offer organizations the best remote developers!

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