RS026: Finding, Hiring, and Managing Remote Team Members

Rogue Startups

RS026: Finding, Hiring, and Managing Remote Team Members

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Welcome to Episode 26 of the Rogue Startups Podcast.  Today Dave and I jump into the world of finding, hiring, and managing a remote team.  Specifically we’re focusing on managing technical staff, namely developers, and how to bring this process from beginning to end successfully.

There are several things to consider when working with a remote team.  For Dave and I the highest priority is communication.  This comes in several forms.  One is language skills.  If they’re not domestically based is their writing and communication skill high enough to convey messages across a long distance?  Often a lot is lost in translation in these instances.

Continuing the communication discussion, one other thing that is a major consideration is time zone differences.  Unless your team member is very self sufficient then it won’t be possible to work well without at least a 4 hour overlap with your home time zone.  Outsourcing to India, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia in general is very popular, but this requires a bit more work at times because of the time zone differences for US based companies.

The process to recruit, test, and select a developer include:

• Create a descriptive, contained, and detailed project scope.  These can be placed on sites such as Virtual Staff Finder, Freelancer, Codeable.io, Toptal, Gun.io, and of course Upwork (formerly Odesk)
• Have candidates complete a small, related project to test their ability
• Review the project.  If you’re a non-technical founder you can use a resource such as AirPair.com which will give you access to top notch developers to help you.
• Set expectations about the project, including: time frame, scope, communication preferences, version control, deadlines/code checkins, development methodology (Agile)
• Pay your team.  Pay them on time, pay them well, and reward them for the job well done.  These are the essential part of your business, so take good care of them.  Turnover is the bane of every company’s existence.