Remote is happening, ready or not! Even companies that want to return to an office, or various hubs around the world, need to embrace remote work in one form or another.

Software engineers are among the top 5 professionals in the world who work predominantly in remote jobs in one manner or another. Moreover, the rise of the pandemic has challenged the long-standing notions of work, and more and more industry leaders are adopting remote work models for their businesses.

Even after the pandemic ends, more than 80% of the CEOs are open to the idea of letting remote work continue in their companies. As for employees, they too are inclined towards working remotely, with nearly 40% going as far as to say that they would quit if they weren't allowed to work remotely when the pandemic ends.

All of these stats raise two questions. How can hiring remote and international teams benefit a software engineering company? And what are some of the most effective and recommended methods to run a remote engineering team efficiently?

Why Hire International Remote Team Members?

Many CEOs and industry leaders hire remote software professionals mainly because of the global talent pool. By hiring remotely, companies get access to a wider talent arena with more choices than ever before. Plus, once the company hires someone, they don't have to worry about spending money, time, and resources on visa and relocation packages.

Research also indicates from a management point of view, CEOs, leaders, and managers themselves also benefit from hiring internationally. For the roles and jobs that demand deep concentration (a necessary ingredient of software development), remote work often increases employee productivity. On an individual level, it’s not just management benefitting from a remote team - an astonishing 75% of engineers prefer working remotely to avoid long and costly commutes and achieve a better work-life balance.

Another big benefit of hiring remote reactJS developers from all around the globe is diversity. Finding a new way of looking at a problem, or even more exciting a unique way of solving it is a very real thing when hiring people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds.

With this data, it makes perfect sense to hire remote and, often, international software teams. This leads us to the second question. What are some of the most efficient and industry-vetted methods to run a remote team efficiently?

Over Communicating: The Right Way to Communicate

“It is always better to over-communicate than risk under communicating with your team” Noval Swift, Engineer @ Apple.com

It might sound counterproductive but using briefing documents to “over-communicate” is a tried-and-tested way to keep remote software teams efficient. It means going beyond how you normally communicate to the in-house teams, i.e., saying only what is necessary and writing down exactly what is required. This working document can be constantly referred to and helps individuals ensure that they’re on track.

When it comes to remote developers, under-communication can make team members feel insecure because, without clear communication, they might feel like they’re not in the loop or don't know what's going on - simply because they are not physically present in the office. This can affect productivity, efficiency, and confidence in one’s abilities.

It’s key to note that if this is the management style you adopt, be clear about that too so your team doesn’t feel like you don’t understand their knowledge and abilities – or in other words, doesn’t feel like they are being babied.

In a way this transition period as companies are not sure if they will remain fully remote, return to the office or go hybrid, makes it harder to ensure consistent communication. My feeling is that if everyone in a company asked themselves what others in the company would want to know about what they are working on. And simply share that info on Slack - things would run so much smoother. Would it be crazy to let someone know about a cool new design you are working on or a new feature that was released into the test environment? Often people will be reluctant to take the approach, seeing it as boasting, but at UpStack, we all do it, all day, so we are on an even playing field and it is a chance to celebrate work being done throughout the day.

Tool Up!

Using the following tools can greatly enhance communication within remote teams, irrespective of time zones.

Slack

Slack is an easy, efficient, and popular tool used by development teams for communication. Using slack, managers can create specific task-oriented channels, communicate in groups, and send direct messages. Slack helps always keep remote teams on the same page while allowing for collaboration, editing, and document sharing, as well as that all-important space for office chit-chat, to help keep team members engaged.

Zoom

We are no strangers to Zoom or the other extremely popular video tools, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. A highly useful video conferencing app that has been used excessively since the pandemic began, the Zoom app is a lifesaver for remote teams as it allows video calls with up to (a seriously impressive!) 10,000 members. Whether it is strategizing, planning, sharing ideas, socializing, or doing regular everyday meetings, Zoom is a reliable tool for remote development teams. I am a big fan of the record feature too, where you can share videos with the team after an event or use it for improving client-facing calls.

Github

Github (and other code repos) are probably the most important and popular work tool for software engineers and developers. It is used every day by development teams for managing coding projects, collaborating on a project, hosting codes, reviewing codes, and version control. Without Github it’s likely your team won’t be running as efficiently as possible – if you don’t use it already, you really should. Integrate it with Slack for maximum fun!

Trello, Asana, or Jira

Of course at the core of all teams is your project management tool. Trello, Asana, and others are popular project management tools that make it easy to organize tasks. They all have an easy user interface that lets developer teams and managers create topic-oriented dashboards, share ideas under those topics, and bring all of this work to one place for everyone to see. Keep it up to date, and keep all your tasks and info there. Don't rely on other sources of truth for what is being worked on, or what work is upcoming

"We use Zoom for video calls, Slack for real-time communication……and Trello for project management. Finally, we use HeyTaco (a Slack app) for recognition and celebration." - Kevan Lee, VP Marketing at Oyster.

Daily Standups and Planning

Daily standups are a spiritual moment in time each day for your team to share what is being worked on, and blockers and other updates. Set a time and stick to it. It can be lonely being an engineer and having time to chat and share is priceless.

According to Muness Castle, Zapier's former director of Data Operations, dedicating time periodically to discuss and agree upon a working plan can improve efficiency and communication across the board. He believes that asking and answering certain questions such as:

● Where the team stands today?

● What are the long-term goals?

● What are the goals for the day?

● How will we achieve these goals?

● Who will handle different parts of the plan?

● And what they will need to achieve this?

Can help projects get going while also setting clear and identifiable priorities for everyone. If each day is taken care of, the whole quarter, and by its extension, the whole year, will be taken care of. These sets of processes and routines are the key to running remote engineering teams so that everyone’s tasks are completed on time so that the project keeps moving as intended and there's little room for errors.

Muness Castle had to say this about setting periodic agendas:

"We write these down periodically and make sure to be explicit about the reasons we change our plans. It's not that the plans are set in stone, rather what matters is that we understand each other's priorities and concerns."

Limiting Meetings

No one likes long, unnecessary, and recurrent meetings. Least of all software professionals. Software development and engineering require concentration and focus to successfully work on projects and drive results; constant interruptions are counter-productive to this style of working.

Planio CEO Jan Schilz-Hofen explains the importance of avoiding chats and letting the team stay focused.

“Our etiquette is: When someone is logged on to chat, it's okay to ping them by mentioning their name to start a conversation. Whenever we need time to do concentrated work, it's totally okay for everyone to be offline in chat and to have our phones in silent mode as well."

Recurrent meetings also make employees feel like they are being micromanaged, and that management does not trust them. Combine that with a lack of personal interactions, and you suddenly have on your hands a software engineer that is insecure, nervous, and consequently inefficient.

Meetings should be limited to only the most important issues, problems, agendas, and talking points and should occur sparingly. That does not mean that a manager shouldn't consistently communicate with the team, just that a fully-fledged meeting is not always the best way to achieve that.

Oh, yeah.. And come prepared to a meeting, start a document before the meeting and share it. Allow others to prepare too. Even end early if you can if the goal of the meeting is achieved.

Socializing

There is plenty of room for interpersonal communication and interaction in a traditional office. Such interaction brings people together and builds trust within the team and with managers. Coffee breaks, water cooler discussions, and lunch breaks are some ways employees interact with each other. Even though managers can not exactly replicate that with their remote teams, they can set time aside for teams for fun interactions like playing multiplayer games, having non-work-related conversations, and discussing each other's days. These regular interactions help gel employees together and make work feel less corporate and more personal.

Remote Year employs a similar tactic and calls it "virtual water coolers."

"For example, we have a ‘books and music’ Slack channel to allow team members to share what they’re reading and listening to.”

A little hard to imagine right now, with the last 2 years being so heavily impacted by the pandemic, but team retreats are a great way to connect a remote team. Can be smaller teams, or company-wide. Rent an Airbnb or all meet in your central office. Have some fun and get work done together too.

Final Thoughts

Seeing the current industry trends, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the future of software development and engineering will be predominantly remote. Executives who understand this will be able to create efficient and high-performing teams earlier than competitors and create products that'll lead to innovation in the industry.

With these five essential and practical methods any CEO, manager, or leader can efficiently run a remote and international team and drive maximum results. Have fun!