Outsource web development has been popular ways for businesses to save cost, acquire specialized personnel, or just free up daily divergent issues for within the companies. The problem is, however, that a lot of businesses working with external teams to help them out are afraid to lose control over their projects. The idea of relinquishing control, whether it’s due to miscommunication, lack of oversight or problems with quality, can often be risky.
The bad news is: you don’t necessarily have to lose control. But with the right strategies, you can take your web development project remote and know that the result will be exactly what you want. Within this blog post we’ll be exploring practical steps to keep you in control and thus help ensure you have a successful web development project when working with external teams.
- Right Considerations to Devise while choosing the Right Outsourcing Partner.
If you want to start a successful outsourcing project the first step is choosing the right development partner. Rather than focusing solely on cost, consider the following factors:
Expertise and Experience: Search for a team with a proven track record in developing websites, and especially in the technologies and platforms you’re using, (React, Ruby on Rails, WordPress, and so on). Request case studies, sample client testimonials or portfolio examples.
Cultural Fit: Working with an external team is all about communication. The outsourcing company must understand your company’s values and goals. Language barriers and work cultures can make it difficult to properly communicate with one another and you want to make sure to pick one that has similar work ethics and time zone compatibility.
Reputation and References: Always make a reference and read reviews before hospital selection. A reputable outsourcing agency or freelancer will also have a good online presence and is able to supply you with feedback from previous clients. See what they’re rated on independent review platforms such as Clutch or GoodFirms.
- Define Well Project Requirements and Expectations
To make sure your outsourcing project goes off without a hitch, communication is going to be key. Now you need to clearly identify what you want — what the deliverables are, and how the process happens.
Create a Detailed Project Brief: Create a well rounded project brief that will include functionality, design preferences, technical requirements, timelines and budget. In turn, it becomes a roadmap for the development team and one of the ways that it can guarantee that everybody is on the same page from day one.
Break Down Milestones and Deliverables: Make clear milestones for the project by breaking it in phases. For instance, you could have the following stages: They follow discovery, wireframes/designs, development, testing, and launch. There should be deliverables for each stage: mockups, functional prototypes, beta version etc.
Set Expectations for Communication and Reporting: Set expectations for communication, and how often you’ll meet (daily, weekly, etc.). Will you use email, such as Slack, or Project Management tools, like Jira or Trello? How often will there be regular check in reviews? There should be a transparent communication protocol in place.
- Create a Transparent Way of Project Management
Keeping control over a web development project requires that you would be able to easily track your progress. A good project management system should help you monitor milestones, track tasks and make sure that deadlines are being kept.
Use Project Management Tools: You can work together with the external team using tools such as Asana, Trello and Jira to keep an eye on the status of the task. It allows you to have a clear picture on the project’s progress and identify them on time.
Set Up Shared Documentation: Documentation for ongoing projects should be stored in shared documents (Google Docs, Confluence, Notion etc). It should cover your project’s vision, user stories, technical documentation and any other important bits you and your development team need to know.
Request Regular Progress Reports: Ask for weekly or bi weekly progress reports on what was done and what needs to be finished. In a longer term project, this is especially useful since you can keep track of the work in progress and keep people accountable.
- Never close down all lines of communication.
Communication is the key factor to any successful outsourcing project. Man, if you’re working with a remote team, you need to make sure there’s clear, consistent communication going on and with proactive communication.
Daily or Weekly Standups: You should try to schedule regular meetings—daily or weekly—to discuss progress, roadblocks, and next steps for the project. These standups are a great way to make sure you are on the same page with the team about tasks you should complete next, clarify expectations, and give feedback.
Use Video Calls for Key Discussions: Emails and chats are great for day to day communications, but wih video calls we can build rapport and take complex issues off their hands more quickly. They can help build trust and make sure that the nuances of your message are understood at better levels.
Encourage Feedback and Questions: Create an open communication environment where the outsourcing team doesn’t hesitate to question and ask for clarification. Early resolution of misunderstandings is always better than allowing them to fester and indirectly derail a project.
- Agile Development Approach must be implemented.
Agile development methodologies, Scrum or Kanban, for instance, focus on iterative progress, constant testing and flexibility of works. If you choose to outsource, going agile gives you a way to still be involved without micromanaging.
Frequent Iterations and Sprints: Typically in agile methodologies the project is subdivided into short iterations, called sprints, having a specified time-box. Following every sprint, you receive a working version of the project, which you can review and comment on. This allows you to fix issues as early as possible so that you don’t waste too much time and effort on a design that won’t work.
Flexibility for Changes: You’re able to be flexible if you need to pivot or switch the project scope. This approach helps because development is done in stages, which makes it easier to apply changes without heavy disruption.
Continuous Testing: Continuous testing in agile means that bugs are caught early. In addition, it lets you try out the website at different points and make sure it’s going to be where you want it to be during the final version.
- Protect Your Intellectual Property And Legal Safeguards
Managing the development team in outsourcing is not the only factor, legal issues also need to be considered. To avoid potential issues with intellectual property (IP) or confidentiality, take the following steps:
Use a Contract: Never work without a formal contract first. In the contract, you have to determine how is the project scope, what timelines are, how are the payment schedules, what about confidentiality agreements, and what about IP rights. It should explain you own all the code, designs, and all the other deliverables of the web site once the project is completed and paid for.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): If you have sensitive data or proprietary info you need the outsourcing team to sign an NDA. This helps your business to not have its confidential information leaked or properly utilized.
Clear Ownership Terms: Make sure your contract clearly stipulates that you own everything created during the course of a project (code, design, documentation, etc) in full, and have the right to use, modify and distribute it as needed.
- Test and Review, every step of the way
Reviewing the work and testing it regularly as you go is one of the best ways you can retain control of your project. It insures that the product goes as expected and you can pick up any possible problems sooner.
Alpha and Beta Testing: After major features have been built you test them to see that they satisfy your requirements. In order to launch, perform alpha (in-house) and beta (external user) testing.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Once the project is finalized, begin a UAT time where key stakeholders or even real users test the site for usability, bugs and general performance.
Quality Assurance: The outsourcing team works with you to perform rigorous QA to make sure website works on all browsers, all devices and meets your performance benchmarks.
- Have an Ongoing Relationship
After the project is complete, however, there’s no reason the relationship with the outsourcing team has to end. Having a solid ongoing relationship with your development partner will make the next project easier, and they can provide you with post launch support.
Post-Launch Support: After the site launches arrange a maintenance contract or support period. This will help you handle whatever issue might pop up once site is live.
Continuous Improvement: Working with Outsourcing Partner you may carry on working with the same person again in your project and it evolves over the time.
Conclusion
There are no pros and cons with the process of outsourcing web development, it only means that you have to use the right process and communication strategies, that’s all. However, picking the right partner, setting the right expectations, using the right tools and staying engaged with your project are all key to making sure your web development project stays on track and delivers results that get you your business ROI.
When working with your outsourced team, the trick is not to work passively just supervising the project, but instead to involve them as an extension of your own team. If you take the right approach, outsourcing can be a win/win situation of time and money saved while guaranteeing that your website meets the highest levels of quality.