Remote Development for Startups: Need, Benefits, Challenges, and Solutions

Startups and businesses of all sizes and shapes have adopted the remote work ethic.  The fact that 87% of professionals claim that having remote work options has helped their overall work-life balance makes this not at all surprising. In addition, 4 out of 5 remote workers said they would recommend it to a friend, and more than 50% of adult professionals say that WFH's greatest benefit is increased productivity.  Freelancing and remote employment have drawn interest from ambitious entrepreneurs and multinationals alike.

The advantages of remote development teams are immense. It offers employees a better work-life balance and also assists them in enhancing their productivity. Work from home (WFH) concepts are on the rise, and companies are also open to remote jobs.

For startups, it is necessary to make the right calls in hiring remote development teams, as it will become crucial in succeeding in the global marketplace. In this blog, we will discuss some of the pros of remote development teams and what are the challenges as well. It will help the startups to set their hierarchy structure right to get the best out of their teams.

Why should startup owners consider hiring remote development teams?

Among various reasons, the top reason startup owners consider hiring remote development teams is because it can be cost-effective and provide access to a larger pool of talent, besides it helps owners to focus on business rather than maintaining an in-house development team. Let's explore a few reasons here.

1. Reducing Attrition Rate

Employee turnover is never a positive thing for a business. After all, you have dedicated time and money to hiring an employee.  In this aspect, using remote teams has proven to be very advantageous.

Nearly everyone enjoys the flexibility that comes with working from home, and the attrition rate for remote employees is lower. There is no doubt that in order to reduce employee turnover, a business still needs to play its cards well. The organization still needs to put emphasis on things like engagement aspects, flexibility, better communication, and so forth. Offering possibilities to work remotely is, nonetheless, a wonderful place to start.

2. No Need for a Brick and Mortar Office

There are currently startups that have made the decision to work entirely remotely and with a distributed workforce. Making this choice also enables them to reduce their real estate expenses. This is a wise financial decision given the rate of property price growth, particularly in the city's well-liked commercial neighborhoods.

The cost of renting office space will still be too costly in comparison to working remotely, even if a company decides to acquire it.

3. Contributing to Employee Happiness

Startups that employ remote workers frequently encourage them to follow their own personal productivity plan. It's not necessary to work at a desk from 9 to 5 every day. Perhaps a certain employee wants to work into the night after finishing his day's worth of duties for his family. Or perhaps another person prefers to work in the morning because they feel most concentrated at that time. The advantage of remote development teams is that employees are encouraged to work during their peak performance hours. In addition to keeping people content and more motivated to work, it raises the bottom line of the business.

What are the advantages of remote development teams for startups?

There are a plethora of reasons why startups and bootstrapped businesses must consider hiring remote development teams. To understand the perspective, here are some intriguing stats.

• 48% of businesses have invested in cloud-enabled tools to support their remote workforce.
• 94% of the employees believe that working remotely doesn't impact their work productivity.
• In fact, 51% of the employees report higher productivity while working from home.
• 70% of the workforce will be more likely to work from home by 2025.

1. Access to the Global Talent Pool

With remote development teams, startups have the opportunity to tap into the global talent pool and take their business productivity to the next level. It's now simpler than ever to connect with outstanding professionals, no matter where they are in the world, thanks to the development of the internet and better communication technologies. This allows startups access to a larger pool of possible employees, which may be quite helpful when looking for the best candidates.

2. Financial Benefits

For startups that are bootstrapping their operations, a remote development team can be a more cost-effective option than an in-office crew. You can significantly reduce overhead costs if you don't need office space or equipment. Additionally, it is not necessary to offer employees transportation or other workplace amenities because they can frequently work from home or other locations.

3. Agile Work Environment

The present-day business environment is a very dynamic one. Thus, there can be many instances where startups have to move quickly to adapt to changing situations, and for this reason, having a rigid business environment is not ideal. Compared to a traditional, in-office workforce, a remote team can be far more adaptable and quick to respond. It is simpler to scale up or down as needed when people work from diverse places, and there is no need to stress about locating office space for new hires.

4. Improved Productivity

One of the greatest advantages of hiring remote development teams is better productivity. The fact that remote workers are more productive than their office-based colleagues is supported by many startups. It is also true that when someone works remotely, they are not surrounded by the typical office distractions. There isn't a single co-worker who idles away time while you have a deadline or unexpected office meetings to attend to.

From a place devoid of distractions, the person can give their full attention to the work. Additionally, startups have a tendency to give their employees a lot of freedom, which is beneficial when trying to motivate them to be more productive at work.

See More: How To Hire Developers For Startup: All You Need to Know

Overcoming Challenges When Managing a Remote Development Team

Without a doubt, the pros of remote development teams have contributed to the increase in popularity of remote work over the past few years. Hiring managers are unable to take advantage of the many advantages of remote hiring due to the difficulties in doing so.

In this section, we'll examine the major obstacles and their solutions.

1. Time Zone Differences

Problem

Your ability to engage with professionals all around the nation and the world can be greatly increased by creating a remote workforce. However, there's a significant probability that the top individuals you hire from a global talent pool will reside in several time zones.

Solution

You don't want your team members to rely on you for quick, basic instructions while you're leading a multinational team. Spend time creating detailed, thorough information that will help employees with typical problems and inquiries. Maintain regular updates to these common resources to ensure that advice is never false or out of date.

2. Cultural Differences

Problem

Creating a strong company culture while managing a distributed staff necessitates adjusting conventional methods. It takes more than just getting together for bagels on Mondays to foster togetherness.

Solution

The effectiveness of remote work, however, depends on cultivating and sustaining a pleasant and good team atmosphere among team members. Discuss the highlights of everyone's workweek to celebrate success. This will increase remote workers' feelings of being noticed, acknowledged, and included, which will result in a higher willingness to work hard for the business.

3. Levels of Communication

Problem

Every team is made or broken by communication. The manner, frequency, and style of your communication, however, might be particularly significant for distributed workforces.  While misunderstandings may occur in conventional office environments as well, remote teams' reliance on these tools significantly raises both the likelihood of their occurrence and the implications when they do.

Solution

Pick a center for communication. A central location where general updates and interpersonal discussion can occur asynchronously is necessary to manage remote collaboration. Establish explicit guidelines for communication. Keep your team informed on how they should communicate with you and other team members. When they join your team, be sure to make your communication requirements clear, including who to update when, how often, and with what tools.

4. Security Issues

Problem

More endpoints are produced by a remote workforce, increasing the risk of security breaches. Exposure to malware and phishing attacks, data access by unmanaged endpoints, auditing of employees using unmanaged resources, and ensuring compliance of regulated users were some of the potential dangers mentioned when users connected remotely.

Solution

The majority of large organizations will provide their personnel with episodic training and education. But you must continuously provide these programs to ensure that staff is aware of all the risks associated with remote work. This is crucial when it comes to phishing and ransomware assaults since threat actors are constantly coming up with new techniques to trick their victims and pose as reliable sources.

See More: Outsourcing Software Development for Startups: Benefits and More

Why Consider TRT as a Remote Development Team?

We have a  team of skilled and professional individuals who are committed to creating stunning apps for our clients.

We developed the Riyaz app for a music-savvy tech startup. The app offers classes in Carnatic, Hindustani, religious, Bollywood, and Western music and includes a unique tanpura tool for real-time feedback. It provides basic voice training, quick assessments, recommended courses, and in-app purchases for more practice.

Another  application we have developed -named Sharit. The program eliminates the need for users to carry around physical business cards by utilizing NFC tags to store and share their professional profiles.

Also, it is easier for users to create a profile on all the popular social media platforms. In addition, the users can download the Vcard and access their contact information along with changing the sequence of showing their social media accounts.The pros of the remote development team at Third Rock Techno are immense. Feel free to connect with us as we can become your able remote development assets and take your business sky-high.

FAQs

1) Can remote development provide access to more affordable talent?

Remote development can provide access to more affordable talent, as talent from different regions and countries may have lower salary expectations than those in more expensive markets. However, it is important to ensure that the talent being hired is still of high quality and has the necessary skills and experience for the project.

2) Can remote development teams provide ongoing support and maintenance?

Yes, remote development teams can provide ongoing support and maintenance for startups. It is important to establish clear maintenance and support contracts to ensure that the team is available for any necessary updates or fixes.

3) Can remote development teams work on multiple projects at once?

Remote development teams can work on multiple projects at once, but it is important to ensure that the team has the necessary bandwidth and resources to handle the workload. Proper project management and coordination can also help to ensure that deadlines are met and quality is maintained.