When it comes to coordinating a decentralised team to work together on a project, what approach is the most effective?
Firms that appreciate the importance of having remote working engineers on their payroll have a competitive edge in the industry. Such businesses can benefit from a wider pool of talented professionals and expedite the recruitment process. Nonetheless, to fully enjoy the advantages that come with engaging remote engineers, firms must carefully consider how they integrate their new staff members into their organisation.
Statistics reveal that almost a quarter of recently hired staff members quit their job before completing their first year, with nearly one-third of them starting job-hunting again within the initial six months. It is evident that employee turnover is a concern. At Works, we acknowledge the significance of a thorough onboarding approach for remote engineers to minimize personnel turnover while boosting productivity and teamwork.
How should a company approach hiring remote workers? Based on our observations, the following three factors are crucial:
Prompt Your Programmers to Adopt a Problem-Solving Mindset Instead of Just Writing Code.
Companies must establish a workspace where their technical personnel feel empowered to tackle the most demanding tasks. Regrettably, it is frequent for teams to offload assignments to developers who work remotely, making them feel unappreciated and overlooked. It is vital to foster a culture wherein everyone can actively participate in problem-solving, irrespective of their location.
Hiring developers who work remotely necessitates familiarising them with the company’s objectives, preferences, and customer grievances. This fosters a better comprehension of the enterprise’s requirements, enabling them to provide in-depth feedback on features and devise more efficient strategies for enhancing functionality. Such an approach fosters teamwork by instilling a sense of accountability and ownership in everyone on the team.
Predictive intelligence firm, Sixsense, recognizes the benefits of collaborating with skilled remote engineers consistently. Consequently, Viral Bajaria, the co-founder and CTO of Sixsense, recommends emphasizing interpersonal skills during the onboarding process of a remote engineer to ensure that they possess the requisite aptitude for teamwork. It is also advisable that the remote engineer has a mentor who is experienced in their work, irrespective of the team or project they are working on. By doing so, the remote engineer will benefit from effective communication in the long run.
Enable a Supportive Technological Landscape for Your Developers
While some recruitment managers use the “sink or swim” approach, providing support and guidance to your remote engineers can be incredibly advantageous. Offering advice and delegating tasks to fresh recruits helps them get accustomed to their roles, learn from their mistakes, and improve their skills in ways that would be challenging to do independently. This not only guarantees their success but also empowers them to maximise their potential.
At Works, we have identified that providing remote engineers with a high-level architectural summary of the system is a practical approach to simplifying the onboarding process. It is recommended to walk new developers through a codebase tour, highlighting its elements, relevant technologies, preferred patterns, and team members available for support. Allocating minor tasks that cover various parts of the codebase is a useful way to add value and streamline the onboarding process. These tasks could include contained features, bug patches, and test coverage. Additionally, introducing new features and elements systematically enhances remote engineers’ comprehension of the entire system.
Yusuf Simonson, The Muse’s Chief Technology Officer, has devised an effective method for onboarding developers from Works and other organizations. His technique involves identifying tickets that address a wide range of the company’s architecture, which the developers can work on during their onboarding. This approach results in a more comprehensive grasp of the organization’s architecture while also providing practical experience in a productive and time-saving manner.
At Works, we highly endorse and champion the practice of pair programming to fast-track the acquisition of essential skills and knowledge for new developers. When multiple developers collaborate simultaneously on the same code, it fosters open communication and feedback from diverse sources, thus elevating product quality from the outset. Additionally, working together allows new developers to gain a clearer understanding of the team’s decision-making as they receive context-specific explanations. Pair programming also promotes collaboration among individuals with varying expertise, allowing teams to leverage each member’s unique abilities.
Boost Team Collaboration with the Appropriate Software
Remote teams can be just as productive as co-located ones, but it is critical to ensure that physical distance does not result in mental disengagement. To guarantee that remote team members participate in all team interactions, organizations should explore various solutions designed to optimise remote work and facilitate communication between remote and onsite team members. This will ensure that all team members remain engaged and collaborate efficiently.
To integrate successfully into the workplace, new hires must adopt the company’s established practices. We maintain that culture should be a collaborative process, encompassing all team members. When external employees perceive their contribution to the corporate culture’s success, it can boost employee loyalty and morale.
Developer and analyst at 2U, Sarah Salenger, stresses the importance of building strong connections among team members and treating everyone with respect. To achieve this, Salenger’s team encouraged video conversations and advocated maximum participation in team meetings, such as standups and retrospectives, with their remote developers, Isaac and Oluwafemi, whom they had not yet met in person. Salenger was delighted to highlight that strong working relationships had already been established. All developers who have worked at Works have felt like integral team members, contributing meaningful ideas and asking pertinent questions.
It is evident that a sizeable proportion of businesses are failing to fully exploit the benefits of a remote workforce, with only 12% opting for alternative work arrangements. This is worrying, considering that 32% of businesses are grappling to secure the skills and experience required to fill their vacant positions. This talent deficit puts these companies at a disadvantage compared to those harnessing remote employment opportunities. To remain competitive, enjoy enhanced productivity, cost savings, scalability, and time efficiencies, it is essential for businesses to consider including remote developers in their team. Doing so can provide a much-needed boost to level the playing field and help businesses surmount their recruitment challenges.
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