The biggest myth that firms often fall prey to is that offshore teams are often confused with outsourcing. Outsourcing is about hiring external agencies or firms to work on projects and take some of the load off the onshore teams. Setting up offshore engineering teams, on the other hand, is about having your own team at an offshore location, working dedicatedly on your projects. There’s no third-party involvement.

Offshore development centers are gaining popularity. It’s a well-accepted phenomenon – not only by startups but also by established enterprises.

But even with the popularity of offshore teams rising day per day, there are certain myths associated with it that refuses to die down.

Let’s look at some of the common misconceptions about offshore teams that need to be debunked right away:

Myth 1: Offshoring is same as Outsourcing

The first myth that firms often fall prey to is that offshore teams are often confused with outsourcing. In fact, in many places, outsourcing and offshore teams are used interchangeably. The reality, however, is far from it.

At a high level, outsourcing is about hiring external agencies or firms to work on projects and take some of the load off the onshore teams.

The offshore team is completely aligned with the vision of your company. They work together with the onshore teams by regularly communicating and collaborating. The talented and skilled professionals are completely reliable and provide quality services.

Myth 2: Offshore teams can be successful only for large companies

When we hear names like GE, Microsoft, American Express talking about offshore teams, many believe that it is only for the biggies. However, even SMBs can gain a lot from it.

To begin with, offshore teams can help companies focus more on their core business while the offshore team works on executing the ideas and taking the load off from the onshore teams. Moreover, with offshore teams to the rescue, it is easier to expand teams as per the needs. With an offshore team strategy, it is easily possible to hire high-quality resources at a fraction of the cost and take the business to the next level!

Myth 3: Offshore teams are suitable only for non-critical roles

One of the biggest myths about offshore teams is that such teams are suited to meet only certain kinds of non-critical roles. For instance, some firms think of voice-based contact centers or other offshore support centers or backend operations as the only possibility for offshore teams.

The ground reality is that offshore teams have talented professionals who are capable of offering a mission-critical, quality support to the onshore team. They can handle a part of or entire projects based on their skillsets and complete them within the stipulated timeframe.

Myth 4: Offshore teams are not suitable for my business

Initially, offshore teams remained an exclusive option for only the topmost technology firms. This has led to the widespread myth that it may not be suitable for all sorts of businesses. On the contrary, it is a great option that not just reduces a lot of the overhead costs but also allows businesses to expand without any hassle. Quality assurance, database management, network administration, deployment and support, technical support, product enhancement, and maintenance are some of the many roles that can be successfully managed by offshore teams.

Myth 5: Management of offshore teams is very time consuming

Managing an offshore team is not like managing the onshore team, where you can have meetings and conferences as frequently as possible. If there are time zone differences, having teleconferences in real-time can also become difficult. While these are two of the challenges that offshoring faces, managing an offshore team is not necessarily time-consuming.

Establishing robust communication mechanisms and processes, having a team manager, collaboration tools, and transparency are some of the ways these small hiccups can be taken care of, and the solutions can be delivered without any delay.

Myth 6: It is hard to maintain quality with offshore teams

Due to the lower costs associated with offshoring to countries like India, the myth that does the rounds is that offshore teams may not offer quality outputs. This is completely unfounded because the offshore teams comprise of some of the best experts in the industry working towards achieving the company’s vision. Additionally, the lower cost of hiring does not necessarily mean low-quality resources. The lower costs are because of the lower cost of living and other economic conditions in the country. The quality of the work is never compromised, bringing in more profits for the firm.

Myth 7: It is hard to keep the offshore teams engaged and motivated

More often than not, firms feel that it may be difficult to keep their offshore teams engaged and motivated from time to time. Sure enough, there are certain challenges brought forth by the distance, but advanced technology coupled with meticulous planning makes it easy to keep the globally scattered teams pursuing their work with complete dedication and enthusiasm. Some of the ways to do so are to have regular video conference meetings, indulge them in team-building activities, regularly take updates, and so on. The aim is to work together as one team no matter what the location is!

Build That Dream Team with Offshore Management Experts

These are some of the common myths that are related to offshore teams. To build your own offshore team with no sweat, you can hire experts who can help you set everything up in no time.

Want to know more? Get in touch with Braves Technologies for a better perspective. We’ve been doing this for years and know all the rules of the game.