Nearshore developers: 4 tips for success

Software developers are the most valuable source for every IT organization. Given the large increase in IT organizations, and with it, vacancies, it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies around the world to find and retain good software developers. The colleges and universities do not supply enough new programmers and the people who start their IT careers often need a long way to be productive. Hiring nearshore developers is a good solution for this shortage of software developers.

Nearshore developers, the solution

When there is a shortage somewhere, you might need to look in different places to find supply. That is also how nearshoring came about. In nearby countries such as North Macedonia, Ukraine, Serbia or Poland, many talented developers are looking for work. The countries concerned often lack interesting local organizations where developers can get to work and as a result, many international companies start an office there to take advantage of the local talent. A nearshore developer is, therefore, a developer who works remotely with the employer from a nearby country. Personal Programmer offers companies the opportunity to hire a team of nearshore developers in Northern Macedonia. These developers work dedicated for your organization, from our offices in Skopje.

4 tips for working with nearshore developers

Are you planning to work with nearshore developers, then it is important to keep a number of things in mind before you start. This ensures a flawless and smooth start to the collaboration with your nearshore developers. Grab a cup of coffee and view the following 4 tips for working with nearshore developers:

1. Take your time with the selection process

It often happens that when we ask new customers when they want to start with a nearshore developer that the answer is “yesterday”. The faster the better is understandable in the time we live in, but the more you are in a hurry, the less careful the selection can be. That is why we always recommend that you take the time because attention to detail can be crucial for the successful cooperation in this phase. Therefore, view multiple resumes and hold multiple interviews with potential candidates. Try to keep the selection process as identical as possible to your selection process in the Netherlands. A nearshore developer must fit within your organization as well as someone who sits at your office every day.

2. Ensure adequate management

Sufficient management of the nearshore developers is one of the most important points in the entire nearshore process. If this does not happen enough, it can be the start of many problems. Often someone in your company is assigned with the task of managing the nearshore team. For this person, this can be an extra task on top of his or her already present tasks and it is conceivable that the person does not have enough time for it. This gives you insufficient explanation of the projects, incomplete transfer of tasks and all in all a greater chance of miscommunication. We recommend having daily contact with the developers. Some of our customers do this in the morning and at the end of the day in order to have a good insight into the work and to be able to intervene in time when things are going wrong.

3. Involve them in the entire project

Just like the developers in your company, the nearshore developers must have a good overview of the entire application/project they are working on and not just individual modules. This helps them to see the big picture. This is often forgotten, especially when there is a hurry to get people to work and thereby skip this important step. Good involvement also ensures motivation and creativity with the nearshore developers.

4. Meet the nearshore team in person

Remote communication is becoming easier thanks to the many innovative technological tools. However, currently it will not replace the human contact that you have when you meet someone in person. Our customers often bring their nearshore developers to their country for the first 1 to 2 weeks to meet the rest of the organization there. It is good for all employees to get to know each other in person and this contributes to overall communication.

Synopsis

Nowadays it is almost impossible to imagine working with developers abroad. Hiring a team of nearshore developers, which acts as an extension of your organization, is a good investment in personnel that is difficult to achieve in the Netherlands. If you are about to start deploying nearshore developers in the near future, take the above-mentioned tips into account and ensure patience when selecting, sufficient management, showing them the big picture and the encounter in person. It will make your path to nearshoring a lot easier.

If you want to know more about using nearshoring for your organization, do not hesitate to contact us.