In offshore software development, you must be aware of 3 vital factors below that will certainly help you to get the maximum value from your offshore team.1. From working agile to living agileA lot of organizations found that agile processes …
One recurring theme in software development is ‘requirements’. This seems to be one of the most challenging starting point of any software development project. My experience is that the crucial point is ‘explaining what you have in mind, what you …
I read about the IBM and TCS layoffs. Everest Group did an interesting analysis of both cases: http://www.everestgrp.com/2015-02-the-truth-in-ibm-and-tcs-layoffs-and-what-it-means-to-services-industry-customers-and-providers-sherpas-in-blue-shirts-16509.html A short excerpt that I address in this blog: Both companies recognize that they don’t have enough of the new skills needed …
Many organisations outsource their software development. After decades of experience, it is still a challenge to find and select the right provider and get your ideas implemented as you envision.The recently launched marketplace Ekipa.co changes this. Based on over 10 …
Lisette Sutherland, author of Collaboration Superpowers, did an interview with Hugo Messer. In the interview, Lisette and Hugo discuss Hugo’s experience setting up Bridge, starting offices in India and Ukraine, the books he’s published and what does and does not work …
The past decade, more work is done remotely than every before, all fueled by technology and globalization. Companies facilitate working from home, outsource more and move work offshore. I think it fits us humans. Before the industrial revolution, there were no offices. People worked from home. Our ancestors were chasing deer in the forest and would probably think we’re crazy sitting inside a cubicle all day long. Working from home gives more freedom, time with your family and less distractions.
The traditional notion of outsourcing projects, whether it’s to a nearby firm or a team on the other side of the planet, is that you need to specify things. Many people believe that in order to outsource a project far away, they need to specify everything. And because it takes time to specify, they are reluctant to engage remote teams. Usually, the idea of outsourcing starts because of time constraints – you don’t have the people or the time to do it inside your own company. So we have a chicken and egg problem.
I’ve been pondering a question all week and need your help: what things do you want to know in order to pick the right (remote) team for your software project? This is not going to be a long blog post, rather I would like to have your views as comments, so others can learn from it. If you have a team, it would also be good to read on and reply, just imagine what your clients (would) ask.
Retrospectives bring benefits to agile teams. They help them improve and deliver value to their customers. And by improving team performance, retrospectives deliver value to your business.
This article is based on chapter from the book Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives by Luis Gonçalves and Ben Linders. This book contains many exercises that you can use to facilitate retrospectives, supported with the “what” and “why” of retrospectives, the business value and benefits that they can bring you, and advice for introducing and improving retrospectives.
Are there any risks in offshoring? That’s the first questions that comes to my mind when people are afraid of moving work offshore. I think that many ‘risks’ are just perceived (how many things that you were afraid of in your life really happened?). I also believe that this perception can be altered and that certain steps can be taken to reduce the (perceived) risk.
When people across cultures collaborate, there’s always an influence of culture on the communication. When they’re working distributed across the globe, there are other factors that can influence communication. What I always find striking is that people assume there are ‘more’ or ‘less’ cultural differences between one country or another. I always wonder whether it’s true and whether it matters.
I just read a very interesting blog post on managing Indian teams, written by Dutch culture trainer Frank Garten. His article starts with a phrase that I indeed have heard many times:
“People from India always deliver late, and when a project is delayed, they will never tell you but rather say everything is fine”.