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Outsourcing instead of having in-house software developers is, more than anything, a business choice. It helps you solve issues regarding time, money and skills. If it is well-organized, it can provide you with easy access to talented developers and hire good professionals at reasonable costs. But, like any business endeavor, first, you need to find the right partner.
What does “the right partnership” looks like? There are many different things, like for instance, we’re thinking that it looks like money, professionalism, and work ethics. Albania’s market can give you all that and more. So, let’s have a quick look at what this country in the middle of Europe, has to offer.

GREAT LOCATION

Remote working turns communication within teams into a real challenge. That is why you have to make sure you’re outsourcing developers from countries that share acceptable time differences with you.

Albania is situated in the southeast of Europe and is only a couple of hours away by flight from any country in Europe, Britain, and Israel. The country shares the same or similar time zones with these areas. The difference in time with the USA is approximately 6-9 hours. So, with this reasonable difference in time and proper remote team management, you can have full control over the implementation of the project.

A GROWING MARKET
There is a significant rise in software companies in the last years with several of them expanding internationally. The market is opening to foreign opportunities and it’s pushing more and more young Albanians to pursue a career in software engineering.

 SIMILAR WORK ETHICS

Regardless of certain cultural differences, the country is in the center of Europe and has close ties with the United States. So, Albanians, especially those working in the software development industry are very familiar with western work ethics.
Companies in Albania organize their daily tasks and manage their time and work relations the same way as any company situated in the west, making any kind of collaboration move on flawlessly.

EXCELLENT ENGLISH
Communication, the number one requirement of working with an outsourced remote team, is based on speaking a common language. Thankfully, young people in Albania, especially those into software and coding, due to their professional training, are usually fluent in English. This way there are no language barriers, and you can easily speak with your team and understand them.

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY

Everyone wants to hire the best developers, however not all companies can afford to do so. Outsourcing comes as the solution, although a good entrepreneur knows that outsourcing is not about hiring the cheapest developers. Outsourcing it’s about hiring the best with the money you have.

Like many western countries in Albania, you can find highly qualified professionals, but unlike other countries in the west, outsourcing in Albania can be profitable and inexpensive. Here you can find developers that offer top services at favorable prices.

Going back to just a couple of years ago, we all remember thinking of remote working as the vanguard future in the innovative industry of software development. That’s right… the future. Then Covid-19 happened, and the world had no other way to keep moving but remotely. We had no option but to make the future happen now… and strangely enough, it worked. Fast-forward today, tech companies, and startups all around the world have already adopted this new practice and are operating with full-scale distributed teams. In just two intensive years we’ve gathered a great amount of experience and we can now easily recognize the obvious benefits of working with remote teams as well as identify the challenges it poses. This experience has shown us that if addressed properly, we can overcome the difficulties and build great outsourced teams.

EDUCATE YOUR CLIENT
You’ve searched for a long time and you’ve finally managed to recruit new promising talents. Hang on a minute. Don’t rush to start working. Take some time to train your clients instead. They should be well aware of the process that waits for the project and how it will work. Make sure they understand that your goals are in line with their business goals and that the team you’ve built is there to build THEIR product.
Also, tell to them everything about the limitations related to working hours and availability, especially if you’re working in different time zones. Better do it earlier than later.

DISTRIBUTE THE TEAM
Finding the best fit for the specific project is great. It’s arranging them into teams, that is tricky! Are groups of 2-3 people too small? Are 9-10 people too much? Should you group them by their nationalities? There are no right or wrong answers, but experience has shown that teams of 5-6 people work best. Communication between them flows easier and each one of them understands better his specific role.

ESTABLISH A COMMUNICATION
Communication is without a doubt the biggest challenge that remote teams have to deal with. Talking at any moment and discussing things face-to-face is difficult when part of the team is in Asia, part in East Europe, and part in Israel. Use specific tools that will help you facilitate the communication. Choose from the beginning a platform that works best for you and your team and stick to it.
Establish core working hours. Since you are probably working in different time zones, you have to set up a minimum of 3-4 hours when all team members are available online. Discuss it with them prior, understand which hours work best for them, and be flexible. The important thing is to find the best solution for everyone.

SET UP CLEAR ROLES
You have to assign a specific role to each team member and clearly define their responsibility. Make sure they’ve understood what is expected of them, they know the tasks they have to complete and how to do them.

INTRODUCE A CLEAR ROADMAP
At the beginning of the project and throughout the process, you should have clear long-term and short-term goals and make sure all team members are aware of them. They should have a clear view of where the project is going. It’s important to set up precise mile-stone and deadlines.

SET UP A MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Dealing with a big project and managing several distributed teams at the same time can be an overwhelming endeavor. There are too many things to do and you should have control over all of them. That is why platforms like Backlog, Wrike, Monday, etc. can be a great tool for project management.

CREATE AND ENCOURAGE COMPANY CULTURE
Working for 8-hours straight inside an office with other colleagues helps create personal connections. Personal connection makes communication and collaboration between teams easier. Communication and human relations stand at the core of every company’s culture.
Even though with remote work building human relationships seems difficult, that doesn’t mean it is impossible. You should constantly organize team buildings, offline meetings, and outdoor activities whenever it is possible, even if not everyone can join.
Create a just culture among the teams and within each team. Make people feel appreciated for what they do. Make them feel safe to step up and share with you any mistake they’ve made. This way you’ll have the chance to fix it immediately instead of doing it much later when the problem is too big to go unnoticed.

In the end, when building distributed teams, you have to TRY, IMPROVE & TRY AGAIN. You have to be willing to improvise when needed and adapt your practice to whatever works best for the team and the project.