Remote work has grown in popularity over the past decade, and there can be hardly any wonder that the software development industry has been at the forefront of adopting this trend. Advances in cloud-based platforms and collaboration tools have made remote developer hiring more practical and familiar. As a result, the future of the IT workspace is expected to be significantly influenced by this trend.
Businesses can access a global network of skilled professionals by expanding their hiring beyond the local talent pool. This approach enables companies to locate the best talent regardless of geographic location, leading to more specialized and diverse teams that deliver better project outcomes.
But building a successful remote development team requires meticulous planning and adherence to some time-honored steps. In this article, we’ll explore some of these key steps and considerations.
1. Document project requirements
To hire remote software developers, you first need a clear understanding and documenting your project requirements. This means identifying the project goals, required skills and expertise, and level of experience needed from team members. By having a clear picture of your project requirements, you can better identify the specific skills and experience needed from your remote team members.
It’s also important to consider the project timeline and any potential challenges that may arise during development. By planning and setting clear expectations, you can ensure that your remote team members have a solid understanding of project goals and timelines, which can help keep everyone on the same page.
2. Know how to attract skilled talents
To attract skilled talents, you must create attractive job posts by highlighting the perks of the remote position, flexibility, and work-life balance. This can always be a good starting point to gain attention. This, along with the detailed job responsibilities and career opportunities, can attract candidates interested in remote positions.
The job requirements you need to mention include details of the skills and experience, day-to-day responsibilities and tasks, etc. Candidates should be able to understand what the job entails before applying. Companies should also consider offering competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract the best candidates. This can include offering health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
3. Know how to screen developer portfolio
When hiring a remote developer, it’s essential to thoroughly screen their portfolio to ensure they possess the necessary skills and experience to deliver the project. Here are the key factors to consider:
Quality of output: Evaluate the developer’s portfolio to assess the quality of their work. Look for examples of projects similar to the one you are hiring for.
Experience: Consider the developer’s breadth of experience. Have they worked on various projects, or do they specialize in a specific area?
Tech Stack: Determine whether the developer is proficient in the specific technologies required for your project. Review their work experience and technical skills.
Communication: Assess the developer’s communication skills, which can be done through interviews or by reviewing their online presence, such as their blog or social media accounts.
References: Request references from the developer’s previous clients or employers. This can give you insight into their work ethic, ability to meet deadlines, and overall performance.
You can make a more informed hiring decision and choice by checking the remote developer’s portfolio with all these considerations.
4. Know how to do the collaborative technical screening
A technical screening process along with a peer programming session is a must for the hiring process of remote developers. Software like HackerEarth helps to reduce your effort while tech screening. Here we briefly mention the steps for technical screening.
Conduct a Technical Interview: Schedule a technical interview with the developer to ask more in-depth questions about the project’s technical requirements. This will allow you to evaluate their problem-solving skills and technical knowledge.
Define a Programming Challenge for Test: Create a programming challenge that’s relevant to the project and requires the skills you are looking for in a remote developer.
Schedule the Test Session: Set up a time for the peer programming session that works for you and the developer. Carry out the Peer Programming Session: During the peer programming session, the developer will share their screen and walk you through the programming challenge. You can observe their problem-solving skills, code quality, and how they work in real-time.
Ask Questions: Ask the developer questions during the session to get a better understanding of their thought process and decision-making skills.
Evaluate the Results: Evaluate the developer’s performance during the peer programming session to determine if they meet the job requirements.
Hiring a remote development team is just the first step towards a successful development journey. You also need to understand and deal with the challenges of managing a remote development team. Here are some steps and key considerations.
Establish clear communication channels: Effective and streamlined communication is crucial for managing a successful development team since you cannot have the scope of face-to-face interaction, set up regular communication and collaboration channels through tools like Slack, Google Chat, Zoom, Twila, etc.
Establish strong team bonding: It is essential for any project, mainly involving remote developers. Use tested and tried team-building practices like holding virtual social events, creating a space for fun activities, rewarding and recognizing individual talents, etc.
Handle expectations: Handling expectations is crucial for keeping motivations high for a remote development team. Establish clarity on project timelines and deadlines with online timeline maker and sensitize developers on best practices to deal with changes or project delays.
Ending Notes
A thoughtful and well-planned approach is essential to build a successful remote development team. It involves defining specific requirements, attracting and hiring the best talent, establishing efficient communication channels, creating a well-defined workflow, building a solid team culture, providing the necessary tools and resources, managing expectations, and also measuring success. You cannot do away with any of these in a project involving remote resources.
