How to Transition to a Remote Engineering Team: The CTO’s Cheat Sheet

The pandemic changed the world, including the working formats. According to Garter's research, most of the employees did not return to physical offices even when the coronavirus outbreak came to an end. 52% of people worldwide practice remote working from the very beginning of their professional careers.

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The same story is observed in the context of app development. According to the Statista survey, about 67.8% representatives of the IT sector work remotely. And these statistics are going to grow every year. It can be explained with the high-level adaptability of tech environments to online cooperation, interaction, and communication formats.

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Most industries, together with information technologies, realize all the benefits of remote engineering, designing, copywriting, SEO, etc. That is why even experienced offline local teams with physical offices, regular real-life contacts & meetings decide to switch to online for:

• The opportunity to power the company with new skilled experts. It is possible to hire top-talent IT experts according to the project requirements, cultural fit expectations, and other demands.
• Saving costs on local offices, snacks, coffee breaks, physical conferences, business lunches, and other arrangements. Working from home is more about comfort, zero traffic jams in the morning, stressful public transportation, and queues.
• 100% digital friendliness and maximally robust security measures. It is worth noting that the human factor is minimized with various automation, management, and tracking tools. While data is protected better. Disaster recovery has become more progressive and efficient with remote employees. 
• High-level retention of skilful and experienced developers. Remote working can solve numerous challenges concerning private life and time management. Schedules become more flexible - devs will have more time for hobbies, travelling, family, etc.

It is impossible to list all the advantages of a remote engineering team in comparison with a local one. Nevertheless, CTOs might face difficulties if the preparation for the transition process does not take place. Take a closer look at the cheat sheet for chief technology officers to get ready for the engineering teamwork launch hassle-free.

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The CTO’s Cheat Sheet on How to Transition to a Remote Engineering Team

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If you have an opportunity to switch from an offline to an online working format step by step, it is recommended practicing hybrid or partially remote engineering. This way, you will decrease the level of stress in your team and experience various situations gradually. You will understand when your devs are ready to work fully remotely - everything will be coming by roses! 😌

Now, let’s switch from organizational moments to preparation. Review the CTO’s cheat sheet so as not to miss anything before the transition process:

1. Start with an assessment of needs. Conduct surveys to determine the list of tools, software & hardware, resources, office supplies, and other items required for preparatory arrangements. The intro step is to understand what your remote team needs.
2. Surfing the best-matching digital solutions to make remote working proactive and convenient for all the team members. Think of the schedule if you have workers in various time zones. 
3. Get ready with online tool subscriptions first. For example, you may pay for Asana, Slack, Zoom, Trello, or ChatGPG premium corporate accounts, set up Google Docs or Microsoft Office for file sharing, pick sides with the platform for virtual meets, etc. Note that you may change software — avoid annual subscriptions without testing programs with your staff.
4. Ensure clear teamwork processes from the very beginning - set all the channels for interactions to make completing tasks, tracking, management, and communication extremely comfortable, even from a distance.
5. Maintain a healthy atmosphere and team cohesion. Support your engineers, show your care, and provide all the necessary conditions for a smooth remote working experience. 
6. Decide how you will measure the productivity of the team and individual engineers. Even your top talent should be checked and tracked regularly. Think of software for virtual meets, find metrics to measure results, implement time/task trackers, and many more.
7. Explore AI-powered tools as soon as possible. Your team will be thankful for a reliable helper to undertake routine tasks like data structuring, processing, and segmentation. Both coders and managers can gain from artificial learning.
8. Foster a cultural fit for the same working rhythm and similar workflow dynamic. Some talented technicians who were great team players offline can fail to perform at a distance. Do not be afraid to hire developers for new open positions with solid cultural fit.
9. Seek regular feedback for timely optimization and adjustment. Your staff will guide you through weak spots and challenges to solve. Make virtual communication almost daily (or weekly at least) and train devs non-stop with the help of digital workshops, conferences, tests, etc.
10. Set real expectations to reach goals according to the approved roadmap. It goes without saying that the transition process can affect your workflows negatively. So, do not hurry with high statistics in IT departments. Focus on structuring digital environments.

Finally, Wild.Codes recommends dividing in-personal and team progress. Use different metrics for KPI & KRI measurement for any IT specialists - senior engineers or in-house hiring management staff. Remember to set boundaries so as not to blur private life and working operations. 

If you need competent technicians for a ready-to-transition or just-transitioned remote engineering team, try Wild.Codes options for successful employment with zero recruitment costs and guaranteed matches.