Everything you need to know about communication issues and employee attrition
By outsourcing software development or projects, you can better achieve business goals. In nearshoring, you have two options: Working with a service provider who develops the final product for you (outsourcing) or who provides you with the developers you need in the nearshoring country (dedicated team or staff augmentation).
If you choose the second model, you have more freedom in the design, but you bear the project responsibility and manage the software development team yourself.
Projects are not self-perpetuating. Your team will face some challenges that need to be managed.
In the following, we explain why you should pay attention to problems in communication and high employee attrition. You will also learn how to successfully implement your nearshoring projects with cultural, technical, and management skills.
Most common challenges in nearshoring projects
But first, let’s look at the challenges software development teams face in nearshoring.
This is not a complete list but narrows down the selection to very typical and the most common issues.
Prioritization and shifting goals
Even if requirements were specified and project goals defined and prioritized in the beginning, changes are quite frequent. What are the reasons for it? Often, new requirements and features arise that need to be developed additionally. Or a product vision cannot be implemented as initially planned and must be adapted.
Every change inevitably affects the three parameters of time, costs, and quality/performance. Changing priorities and still successfully achieving project goals is therefore not a trivial task, but a major challenge in software development.
Production speed – The time factor
A common problem is the speed at which software is developed. Often it takes longer than initially thought and planned. Or changes and additional features slow down the entire project. The product is finished later, which drives up development costs, for example.
Pressure
Pressure inevitably arises because of the above two points.
When requirements and goals change during the project, tasks are reprioritized, and development times increase. This creates pressure: to still finish on time, still stay within budget, and still deliver very good quality.
Quality and development process
Speaking about quality – Of course, it also happens in nearshoring development projects that the quality of the software is not as expected. Here you need a very good project or delivery manager to counteract this.
In general, the processes and methods according to which the software is developed should also be precisely defined and specified for a nearshore team.
Communication
Communication problems occur quite frequently in development teams. Especially when time pressure prevails, the tone usually becomes rougher.
But technical, language and cultural reasons also lead to communication problems and even conflicts in the team. That’s why we’ll take a closer look later at what these reasons are in detail and how you can prevent them.
Motivation and Team Spirit
Nearshore teams work in a remote setting. The team consists of an internal team and an external team at the nearshoring location. Or the development team is completely based in the nearshoring country and only the project manager or CTO is based at the home location.
Whatever the constellation, it is important to form a team, keep employee motivation high and work towards a common goal.
Because as soon as motivation decreases, the quality of work also decreases, and it is more likely that employees will leave.
Employee turnover
This brings us to the topic of employee turnover. The attrition of employees can throw an entire project into disarray.
In fact, it is more common for employees to leave the team in nearshoring projects. Due to short notice periods, a change to a new employer is quickly completed.
This is something that needs to be prevented, which is why in this blog post we also address the question of why someone leaves the team and what you can do about it.
But first, let’s look at the topic of communication.
Communication problems: What are the causes?
Communication takes place in a cultural context. Mastering the English language does not cause difficulties. However, although the English is correct, language difficulties exist because of the nuances of meaning (What exactly is meant when someone says “Maybe”?) or structure.
The latter can be seen, for example, in long emails where the reader wonders what exactly the other person wants to communicate. In nearshore projects, there is often too much written communication, with too many emails. Misunderstandings are preprogrammed, since it is not possible to determine more precisely and better what is meant from facial expressions and gestures or by asking questions, as in a conversation.
You should also be sensitive to cultural differences. A large power distance combined with respect for superiors can mean that someone will not say “no” if they are in a subordinate position. Likewise, the person will not say that something cannot be done or that he cannot get something done. We then think that the person will work on a task, which is not the case.
From the product owner’s point of view, requirements are clearly described and unambiguous. However, the development team does not understand them. This can be due to the language, the previous experience, and the knowledge that everyone brings with them.
The same applies to processes: They either don’t exist or are poorly set up. It is not always clear when who talks to each other. Meetings are not sufficiently prepared.
What often stands out in nearshoring is that the company’s goals are not communicated. Even if the development team is geographically remote, it still wants to know where the journey is going and what its contribution is.
Finally, technical problems (hardware, remote working tools) can also be the reason that communication does not work smoothly.
How do you avoid issues in communication with the nearshoring team?
During the hiring interview, check whether English skills are available and how good these skills are. Without sufficient language skills, any cooperation will be difficult or impossible.
Act respectfully and appreciatively toward all employees, regardless of where they are from and whether they are part of the internal or nearshore team.
Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be precise and check that you have been understood.
Even more important: take your time, listen. Make sure that you have understood what your counterpart wants to communicate.
Setting up a communication plan can be very helpful. This also requires an agenda and goals. By using the W questions (what, who, when, where etc.), you can ensure that nothing is forgotten during meetings. While these should be time-bounded, make sure that a common understanding of what everyone needs to do is achieved.
Reasons for high employee attrition in nearshoring
Employees do not usually stay with the same company for the rest of their lives. A certain amount of fluctuation is normal. However, if employees only stay with the company for a very short time or if several employees leave within a very short time, then there is certainly a reason for this high employee turnover. You should get to the bottom of this because in the worst-case scenario, this will put an entire nearshore project in trouble. The project could fail.
In our view, there are two main reasons for employees leaving: poor management and better career opportunities at another company.
Better career opportunities may be available through financial incentives. You earn more money elsewhere.
But they can also arise in terms of work content. The new job, the associated project, and the technologies used are more interesting. The software developer can thus build up new skills, which promote his career in the long term.
A new project also means new supervisors and project managers. It is not uncommon for employees to switch because they get along better with the new boss and escape the poor management of the current job.
What does “poor management” mean? A team is poorly managed when there is no team cohesion. When there is no team identity. This is a sure indication that something is wrong.
Even if the team splits into two or more camps, something is wrong, and problems are inevitable. In nearshore projects, this often happens because a kind of class system prevails. While the internal team is “allowed to do everything”, the nearshoring team is restricted. This can be quite diverse: Information is withheld, there is less communication with the team, it is technically less equipped, and much more.
The same applies in nearshoring: wherever we act as a boss rather than a leader, problems arise. Leadership skills are needed more than ever.
How can you keep employees on the team?
Talk to employees at eye level. Establish a connection by, for example, allowing small talk and setting aside time for it. Find out what makes each individual tick.
Equally important: Regularly set out “where the journey is going”. What are the next goals, tasks, milestones, etc.?
Meet regularly with your employees in person. Face-to-face meetings can also take place online, but there is no substitute for personal contact. Personal exchange is easier to implement in nearshoring than in offshoring projects, which are characterized by a large geographical distance.
Team-building measures help to form a team and maintain motivation and team identity. These can be team events or parties. Consider how you organize this and who you entrust with the role of “Happiness Manager”. For very large teams, it may make sense to have one person who is primarily or exclusively in charge of this.
Assign tasks to the team based on the roles and skills of the employees. Through good skills management, you prevent someone from not fitting the job or performing the role poorly. The employee then leaves, or much worse, the colleagues leave because they consider the manager to be incompetent, for example.
As a last resort, you then often have no choice but to fire an employee. This refers not only to the programmer but also to the manager. If bad management is the reason for employee turnover, you will inevitably have to replace the manager. Only with a new manager can the project then be saved. There is a point, so to speak, where unfortunately there is no other way.
Before employees leave, motivation has usually dropped significantly and the mood in the team is bad. How do you find out what the mood is like, whether something is changing for the worse? By observation, by asking the project manager, by conversations, and by regular surveys. Anonymously.
Stay up to date on salary levels. Find out how salaries are developing in the respective country. Strong headhunting for programmers ensures that good developers can be quickly poached if their salary is no longer in line with the market. So, salaries need to be adjusted accordingly.
What improvements are possible? – Our conclusion
In our view, when a team is well managed, performance increases by 50-100%. So good management is critical in nearshoring and large teams.
It takes leaders, not bosses. Managers who have their ears to the team, feel its pulse, balance the interests of the team and the stakeholders, and act in good time when changes are necessary. Sometimes a little diplomatic skill is more than helpful.
This means that companies must spend time and money to get there. 5-10% of the total software development budget should be allocated to this. Depending on the size of the team, this can be a full or part-time person who is responsible for this holistic improvement program, taking care of the team, and setting up processes.
And don’t forget the fun factor – your team, as well as yourself, need to feel comfortable and motivated for your nearshoring project to be successful.
