How To Mitigate The Communication Barrier When Outsourcing Your Software Development Project
By: Elaye Nelson
Tags: Software Development, Outsourcing, SaaS

Outsourcing software development project is now preferred by 70% of businesses around the world today.

It involves inviting an external software development team to develop your software project.

The purpose of the software might be to run your own business process or to serve the perceived need of your customers.

And the development team could be within the country or outside the country but anyways, outsourcing has proven to be of great advantage to businesses who engage in it.

One of the biggest benefit of outsourcing is it low cost.

Imagine recruiting and on boarding an internal team of developers to develop and maintain your software.

It creates additional reoccurring expenses as you have to manage the team yourself.

But outsourcing demands a simple and "solid" payment for the whole project.

And while it comes with other benefits, it involves some amount of risk and disadvantages.

The most popular among them is the communication barrier between you and your remote development team.

While the communication barrier is eliminated with onshore outsourcing, it brings some amount of difficulty when outsourcing offshore.

And this barrier usually involves different cultural practice, language barrier and difference in time zone.

You might be thinking, why not go with onshore outsourcing instead of going through unnecessary hardship to outsource your software project outside the country?

Well, according to most businesses, offshore outsourcing is cheaper compared to hiring a team within the country!

Besides, you're likely to find reliable and reputable software development team outside the country with an excellent track record.

But you could eventually spend much more when you have to redo the software project with the offshore team due to poor communication.

Communication barrier could also reduce the performance of the remote team which will affect the quality of the work.

And this will surely bring you great dissatisfaction.

But not to worry my friend.

In today's world, there are lots of other software tools you can use to manage your software development project and collaborate with the remote team effectively.

You see, the software development process involves analysis, research, design, testing and deployment.

And in all of these phase, you have to be involved and engaged with the remote team to get a better result that meets your expectations.

These other tools are here to help you achieve just that.

But before I mention anything else, know that you must have your goal and objectives for the project.

You need to have a clear vision of the specifications and features the software is going to have.

This will give your remote team a greater understanding of what you want and how they can deliver a better result.

Now, here are the best tools you can use to mitigate the communication barrier when outsourcing your software development project.

I'm going to cut the list very short here, so let's begin.

1.ProofHub

Proofhub is one of the best project management tools you can find anywhere.

It's an all-in-one software that contains almost everything you need to outsource a project, onboard the remote team and manage the whole process.

Here's a brief of what you can do with Proofhub;

Get a visual representation of what your team is working on.

Set due dates for different development phase and subtasks

Available in multiple languages which helps eliminate language barrier

Use calendar to schedule events, meetings and set reminders.

Upload and share files that are required for the project.

Engage in real time chat and conversation with team members

Integrate it with other tools you already use such as Google calendar, Dropbox, Freshbooks, Google drive, ICal and Overdrive

Easily manage your project with Proofhub mobile apps platform.

So, you can see that Proofhub has lots features to help you track your project process while communicaing effectively with the remote team.

Though it has a free trial, pricing starts at $45 to $89 per month.

Do well to check it out for yourself.

2.Trello

Trello is another popular collaboration tool.

Trello uses visual cards and templates to help you organise your project, set up meetings, webinars, deadlines, milestones and email messaging.

It is popular for it simplicity easy navigation.

It also allows you to integrate other software tools into the platform.

Trello is available for free, even though it has other premium plans.

3.Slack

Slack is another collaboration tool you can't afford to ignore.

When outsourcing your software development project, communication and transparency is essential for the success of the project.

And that's what Slack is all about - Quick and easy messaging and file sharing.

It allows you to make calls, share files and engage in conversations with your team.

You can also integrate up to 100+ apps and tools

Like Trello, Slack also has a free version.

4.Skype

Skype is a video software tool that allows you to engage in a face-to-face communication with the remote team.

It gives you the opportunity to express the right tone and emphasis on the specifications and expectations of the project.

With skype, you could hold consistent video meeting with the team to get direct and genuine feedback about the progress and latest development on the software.

Skype is also free to use.

5.Zoom

You must be familiar with this one.

Zoom is another popular video tool with over 200+ million daily users.

Zoom is super simple to use and it helps you get quick update on your software project through calls and video meetings.

It has the "hand raising" and "show reaction" features which makes video meetings more interactive.

Zoom has a free basis plan where you can host up to 100 members of your remote team for a maximum of 40 minutes.

Outsourcing your software development project doesn't have to be difficult anymore.

With the above software tools, I believe you're set to communicate effectively with your team to create quality work.

Want to share your thoughts and experience. Kindly comment below.