Outsourcing: Why Trust Is The Key To Successful Projects

One of the biggest challenges in hiring and working with outsourced software development resources is building trust. The key to building a great relationship is realizing that working with people in another location is a lot like working with people in your office. Trust-based relationships are built over time and are based on people connecting with people.

Let’s consider a large software development effort, where all the developers, testers, and program managers reside in one place. In this situation you can end up with a team whose members trust each other and work well together, or you can end up with a team that suffers from bitter disputes and project delays. The factors that determine the difference between success and failure are the same for local development projects as they are for outsourced projects.

First, your team has to know what it is you want. Whether you’re the CEO of a large company or a one-person buyer looking to get a simple web site built, a clear set of goals and objectives puts you and those who work with you and for you on the same page. Unless you articulate exactly what you want as an outcome ($100 million in revenue by the end of the current fiscal year, or, a five page web site that accepts online payments for, and the downloading of, two e-books), you’re not going to get what you want. The best goals are short and too the point.

Next, you need to set clear expectations about deliverables. How often do you want your team to communicate with you? How often will you communicate with your team? How quickly do you expect to see progress? Do you have a preference about how your team accomplishes their goals (whether in terms of how quickly that $100 million comes in, or the language in which your web site is implemented).

Finally, you need to be responsive with feedback. If things aren’t going well from your perspective, don’t wait for your team to provide you with that feedback – communicate what needs to improve.