
The Secret to Successful Offshore Flutter Development: Communication and Collaboration
Offshore Flutter development is a great way to save money and get access to a large pool of talented developers. However, it is also challenging to communicate and collaborate with a team that is located in a different time zone and culture.
One of our first Flutter clients from Auckland learned this firsthand from his own experience with an offshore Flutter development company like ours. Fedrick, co-founder of a E-bicycle startup needed to build a customer facing Mobile App. He and his founding team decided to outsource the development to our offshore team. At first, he was excited to get started on our project. But he and his core team quickly from different time zones started facing a number of challenges, including:
- Time zone differences: It was difficult to schedule meetings and communicate in real time with our offshore team, since Fedrick and his core team were in a different time zone.
- Cultural differences: In our project debrief meeting, we discovered Fedrick and his team had to adapt to our offshore team’s communication style and work ethic. For example, they found that we were more reserved in our communication and that preferred to work on tasks independently while they cared for daily progress and visibility.
- Language barrier: Fedrick also mentioned although our offshore team spoke English, there were still some communication challenges due to the language barrier. For example, Fedrick had to sometimes explain ideas in multiple ways before our offshore team understood.
Despite these challenges, we were able to successfully develop the Flutter app for Fedrick and his startup. We learned a lot along the way about how to communicate and collaborate effectively with onshore teams.
In this blog post, I will share some of the communication and collaboration strategies that we found most helpful. I hope that this information will help you to successfully develop your Flutter app with an offshore team.
How offshore Flutter development works?
Offshore Flutter development is the practice of hiring a team of developers from another country to develop a Flutter app. This can be done for a number of reasons, such as to save money, access a larger pool of talent, or get the app developed faster.
There are a number of challenges that can arise when working with an offshore Flutter development team, including:
- Time zone differences: It can be difficult to communicate and collaborate with a team that is located in a different time zone. This is because you may not be able to overlap schedules or have real-time conversations.
- Cultural differences: It is important to be aware of cultural differences when working with an offshore team. This includes things like communication styles, work ethic, and holidays.
- Language barrier: If you do not speak the same language as the offshore team, it can be difficult to communicate effectively. This can lead to misunderstandings and delays.
Why is it important to have a good communication and collaboration strategy?
A good communication and collaboration strategy is essential for the success of any offshore Flutter development project. By having a clear plan in place, you can overcome the challenges of time zone differences, cultural differences, and language barriers.
Communication strategies
- Use the right communication tools. There are a number of different communication tools that you can use for offshore Flutter development, such as Slack, Zoom, and Google Meet. It is important to choose tools that are easy to use and that support the needs of both the onshore and offshore teams.
- Set clear communication expectations. It is important to set clear communication expectations for both the onshore and offshore teams. This includes expectations for things like frequency of communication, response times, and communication channels.
- Be transparent and open. It is important to be transparent and open with the offshore team. This will help to build trust and create a better working relationship.
- Be respectful of cultural differences. It is important to be respectful of cultural differences when communicating with the offshore team. This includes being aware of time zone differences, holidays, and cultural norms.
Collaboration strategies
- Use a project management tool. A project management tool can help to keep both the onshore and offshore teams on the same page. It can be used to track progress, manage tasks, and share files.
- Use a code versioning system. A code versioning system, such as Git, can help to track changes to the code and manage different versions of the app.
- Hold regular meetings. It is important to hold regular meetings with the offshore team to discuss progress, answer questions, and resolve any issues.
- Get to know the offshore team. It is important to get to know the offshore team on a personal level. This will help to build trust and improve communication.
Final Thoughts
By following the communication and collaboration strategies outlined above, you can overcome the challenges of offshore Flutter development and build a successful working relationship with your offshore team.
Tips for implementing a successful communication and collaboration strategy
- Start by setting clear expectations. This includes things like communication expectations, project goals, and deadlines.
- Use the right tools. There are a number of different communication and collaboration tools available. Choose tools that are easy to use and that support the needs of both the onshore and offshore teams.
- Choice of Tool: We tried a lot of tools for various customer projects such as Trello, Asana, Jira. The one tool that helped in every situation is ClickUp. It helped by providing a centralized platform for agile development, time tracking, milestone tracking, bug tracking, and sprint management.
- Be transparent and open. Keep the offshore team informed about the project and be responsive to their feedback.
- Be respectful of cultural differences. Be aware of time zone differences, holidays, and cultural norms when communicating with the offshore team.
- Hold regular meetings. This will help to keep everyone on the same page and identify any potential problems early on.
- Build relationships. Get to know the offshore team on a personal level. This will help to build trust and improve communication.
By following these tips, you can create a communication and collaboration strategy that will help you to successfully develop your Flutter app with an offshore team. Set clear expectations, use the right tools, be transparent and open, respecting cultural differences, and building relationships, you can overcome the challenges of offshore development and achieve success.
Book a meeting with us to learn more about how we can help you develop a high-quality Flutter app with our offshore development team.