Artificial intelligence

How to Build an Offshore Team for AI Project Development

AI Project Development

Putting together an offshore team for any kind of project can be a daunting task, especially due to the associated challenges. The case is not particularly different when looking to build an offshore team for AI. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has further increased the demand for quality talent and teams, irrespective of the location, providing a case for developing a remote workforce, even for an AI project.

Companies, depending on their budget and financial strength, adopt different approaches to building an offshore team. One of the most popular approaches is outsourcing the project to experienced product development companies that can manage the project remotely. While this could help in cutting down on hiring costs and expedite their time to market, it is not always the best of choices, which underlines the importance of building a team. Consequently, more businesses, especially tech brands, are beginning to set up their research and development teams in offshore locations.

Benefits of Building an Offshore Team for AI Project Development

Building an offshore team comes with its challenges. However, the benefits, as identified by experts, outweigh the cost, a phenomenon that has led more companies to embrace the approach. Some of the benefits are highlighted as follows:

  • Technical expertise
  • Ease of team management
  • Scalability
  • Access to top talents across the globe
  • Cost-effectiveness
  • Innovativeness and quality results

Steps to Building an Offshore Team for AI Project Development

Develop a business strategy

The first step for any business looking to build an offshore team for AI is to consider the existing process and identify the ones that can be offshored with minimal impact to strategy while also looking at the efficiencies that can be generated by offshoring. Offshoring should offer high availability of skilled people and result in a faster turnaround of work, with the right talents improving work efficiency.

Team Collaboration

It is called an offshore team for a reason, underlining the need for team building and collaboration. Team collaboration will help in increasing the spirit, connection, sense of identity, and of course, staff retention. An offshore team with a structured environment is more encouraged to participate equally within the team, ultimately resulting in a synergy between the onshore and offshore teams. This, in turn, motivates every member of the organization, further strengthening learning and development.

A Strong System of Communication

One of the major components of building a team is strong communication, making it an important part of offshoring. Having formidable communication channels should be a priority when building a pool of international talents. Emails, videos, or teleconferences can be used in communicating with remote staff when needed for sustaining smooth procedure and project development.

Participation in the decision-making process

One of the commonest challenges faced when managing offshore talents is the participation of the dispersed staff in the decision-making process, especially as they can easily feel neglected. This unfortunate phenomenon can easily deteriorate team collaboration and even put the team culture at risk. The situation can get worse with managers based in central locations and do not communicate regularly with offshore teams.

Enforcement of Team Unity

Trust and empathy are extremely important to the success of any successful high-performing offshore team. Global companies need to identify team unity and put it at the forefront of their strategies from the onset even before embarking on the offshoring journey. Team building occasions and company trips are proven ways of effectively breaking these cultural barriers, allowing staff to meet with their colleagues physically as opposed to communicating through emails or cold screens.

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