Tech Leads
You need to have a technical lead for for every five or six offshore engineers. These leads act as the bridge between the offshore and US teams and must, therefore, work a shift that overlaps both teams. They must be senior enough to be able to track the work done by both teams without becoming a burden to either team. They must also understand the implications of daily decisions, and be able to clarify any misunderstandings before they create a crisis.
For a nearshore or onshore location, this ratio can be much higher, or even eliminated altogether, lowering the overhead cost. That is because the proximity (i.e., within two time zones) allows the local and remote teams to communicate throughout the day, as needed (e.g., using IM or voice). This casual style of communication just about eliminates the need to hold formal meetings at off hours.
Many offshore projects fail for not paying attention to this role, or worse, for not staffing it sufficiently or at all.
Without the appropriate talent in this role, a few things are likely to happen,
- The teams will play email ping-pong, sending questions and counter-questions back and forth. One team will ask a question today only to get a request for clarification to the question the next day.
- As the email trail grows longer and more frustrating, after a while, the teams will quietly detach from one another, making more and more local decisions without closing the loop with the other.
- The work of each team will eventually divert from the other and by the time anybody notices, it may be too late.
Having US-based technical leads will avoid this trap and give the project a chance to be successful.