In the digital age, the brands that can provide a superior customer experience will outshine their competition. Entrepreneurs have the vision for game-changing digital products, the only problem is they may not have the right tech team to bring their vision into reality. That’s why many business leaders are relying on a team of dedicated remote developers.
One study showed that 62% of employees work remotely at least occasionally [1], and that number is only going to increase because of the pandemic of 2020.
The remote development team is well on its way to becoming the norm for tech work. And this is a good thing; our post on the business case for remote teams shows that there are multiple advantages to working with them, all with direct benefits on the bottom line Advantage of Remote Development Team.
But perhaps the biggest benefit of working with dedicated remote developers is that you can pick and choose your team as per your requirements and budget.
Of course, hiring the right set of remote developers can prove to be a tough nut to crack.
It’s true that there are now more platforms to hire remote programmers globally, but that can actually make things more complex. There are so many online communities brimming with developers; even attempting to choose from them can seem like a time-consuming, costly, and burdensome endeavor.
But in many cases, it is the best path for a product company to take. Opening yourself up to working with a remote development team will free you from problems like local talent shortages, the high cost of local talent, and limitations in technical expertise, just to name a few. Opting for dedicated remote developers opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide on how and where to hire remote developers. There is more than one way to go about it, and the degree of difficulty will depend on what you feel is best for you.
Where to get Remote Programmers Globally
Obviously geographic location is not a limitation. You can choose developers from locations that suit your plans.
So first let’s have a look at which platforms you can hire remote developers from:
- Freelance networks
- Dedicated remote developer networks
- Remote development companies
Hiring Remote Developers From Freelance Networks
There are a number of freelance networks such as UpWork, Outsourcely, Fiverr, Freelancer, and AngelList (especially for startups), and there are tens of thousands of developers to choose from. Another option is going through LinkedIn or developer forums to look for suitable candidates.
Whatever you choose, there is a high possibility that this will take a lot of time because you will have to do the job of vetting them. Working with freelancers is a great option if you are a small company (with only a few members), with simple requirements, and on a very tight budget.
However, it does come with complications. You can never be too sure about their credentials, and you probably will not get 100% of their work time. This often makes them unsuitable choices for more complex projects.
Hiring Remote Developers From Remote Developer Networks
For more complex requirements and bigger budgets, you can look to remote developer networks like RemoteOK, FlexJobs, WeWorkRemotely, Stackoverflow, and so on.
The advantage of these platforms is that they do perform some amount of vetting before onboarding a developer. However, they are still not accountable for the work the developer actually does.
Further, you will still have to do the HR paperwork, make individual payments, and the usual back office tasks that come with normal hiring.
Hiring From a Remote Development Company
If you have a very complex project that you need thoroughly vetted developers for, consider a remote development company. They would have an entire roster of developers skilled across a variety of technologies
Icicle operates in this domain, and we provide a superior option for building your remote development team. All of our developers go through a strict vetting process. They are on our payroll, so we are always there to be held accountable for the work they deliver.
Further, we handle all the back office tasks of payroll, HR, and so on. All you have to do is tell us your requirements, we put together your team, and you get to start working with them immediately. You save tons of time, effort, and you get access to top talent from around the world.
How to Hire Your Remote Development Team
So you’ve made the decision to work with remote developers. Congratulations! You’ll be saving on lots of costs. The following steps will take you through how to go about it. What you do exactly will depend on your company size, the complexity of requirements, and budget at your disposal.
Step 0: Detail out all of Your Project Requirements
It goes without saying that before you embark on this journey, you need to have your course charted out. Getting down all your project requirements on paper will help you get a clear idea of what you really need on the development front. Then and only then should you go shopping for remote programmers.
Step 1: Choose Your Preferred Location for Your Remote Development Team
As discussed before, this will depend on your requirements. If you need to cover particular time zones, then you will select locations to fulfill this criterion.
If you are simply looking for less costly developers than the US and EU, then you might want to hire remote developers from Eastern Europe, Asia, or Latin America, for example.
If your requirement is location agnostic, then you are in luck, you can simply select remote programmers globally based on skillset and price points.
Step 2: Choose the Right Engagement Model for Your Project
These options have been covered in the previous section.
If you are going with the freelancer or remote programmer network model, spend some time to shortlist candidates based on the following:
- Technical skillset (does it match your requirements?)
- Developer location (does it fulfill your needs?)
- Developer Cost (are they within your budget?)
When you’ve shortlisted a number of candidates that you are satisfied with, then you must spend some time to vet their profiles. A few key things that you’ll want to consider during the vetting process:
- Their past projects- Who did they work for, what technology did they work with, what skills did they require, and what did they deliver.
- References- It’s always good to check if they have any references that you can contact. Client testimonials or reviews can work in lieu of a direct reference.
- Website or portfolio- Serious and dedicated remote developers will have some kind of showcase for the work they have done, particularly if they’ve been in the game for a while. It might be a web page, GitHub repository, a CV, or something else. Go through it in detail.
Steps 1 and 2 are very much dependent on Step 0. That’s why it’s important to spend sufficient time to put down a strong project plan.
Step 3: Hire Your Remote Development Team
The recruitment process is the core element for the success of your remote development team. And don’t forget, your dedicated remote programmers are not simply outsourced help, they are an extension of your team. You must check not only their technical knowledge, but if they are good team players and a good culture fit for your team.
- Check the candidate’s motivation- How dedicated are they to delivering your product?
- Soft skills and communication- Project management will be unnecessarily difficult if there is a very strong language or culture barrier.
- Conduct multiple interviews if need be, but don’t delay feedback!
One of the major advantages of partnering with a dedicated remote team company is that they will handle all of these things for you. Icicle is particularly well equipped in this aspect because:
- We have been a remote company since 2011. We have all the remote tools in place, and the experience required to integrate with your ecosystem easily and quickly.
- Most of our programmers have been with us for years, so our developers are well trained in remote collaboration and software development models.
- All of our developers have skillsets across multiple technologies, so we have a fit for whatever requirements you might have.
- Since our developers are already on our payroll, we are there to be held accountable for their output at the end of the day. You do not need to go through a hiring process (although you can certainly vet our developers if you’d like).
- The practical offshoot of all of this is you get to custom build a team based on your needs and start working with them immediately. You can focus on your business and product and leave the rest to us.
Step 4: Onboard Your Remote Development Team
Now that you’ve selected and hired your dedicated remote developers, it’s time to bring them into the team. You’ll want to make this process as smooth as possible, and you’ll be laying out this process in step 0, as part of your project plan.
A few important things that you must cover are:
- Instruct the team on your data security protocols.
- Introduce the team to the project management toolkit. Give them their login credentials as required, and some quick training if needed.
- Explain to them your chosen communication strategy.
- Discuss the team’s preferred payment model.
Step 5: Set Goals , Priorities, And Tasks for Individual Remote Programmers
The first team meeting of any project is crucial, and even more so for distributed development teams. It’s important to get everyone on the same page.
Each one of your team members must know what they are working towards, what success looks like, and what their individual responsibilities are. If you are getting your money’s worth, then these developers will know the drill.
Step 6: Organize Efficient Collaboration With Your Remote Development Team
Good communication is the key to keeping everyone aligned and the project on track. Build a solid and open communication channel with your remote programmers, particularly when they are working in different time zones.
Remember, they are part of your team. They are helping build your vision. It is of utmost importance for you to make them feel that they are a part of it.
- Take care of virtual team building. Make them feel like part of the family! It’s natural for people to contribute more when they feel like a member of something.
- Your processes need to be in place so that remote developers can focus on their core competencies and produce high quality software.
- Communication must be bi-directional. Leverage the value that they can add with their experience. Enable them to communicate their vision and influence critical decisions. Promote knowledge sharing across the team.
Step 7: Collaborate With Your Remote Development Team
That’s it. This step really is just a repetition of step 6 until the project is successfully delivered.
Be sure to have regular sync-ups. Keep an open door for your remote programmers to reach out to you for anything. Treat them like you would your own employees. And at the end of it, you will have made a valuable contact for life.
If you’ve got a medium to very complex project, then what you need is a partner that you can trust, that has years of experience in this field, and that has already delivered a number of complex projects in the past. You will have access to the developers that have worked on those projects.
Icicle has been helping companies build products with remote developments teams for over a decade. With Icicle, you can hire developers from across the world easily, quickly, and get started working on your project in no time. We let you focus on your business while we handle all of the back office stuff.
References:
- ‘State Of Remote Work 2019’ report by Owl Labs.
Spread the word – Feel free to re-tweet and share the article.
If you think there is any other information out there that we have missed here, please tweet at @icicletech and let us know. Happy Developing!
Guide to Hire Remote Development Teams https://t.co/PKdOC531EZ?amp=1 via @icicletech
— Icicle (@icicletech) 27 August 2020
