Role of Effective-Communication in Offshore Engagement

Proliferation of Virtual world has minimized the gap among businesses in the Global village. But, the appealing factor of virtual development that is implemented in Offshore Model of “High quality, low cost endeavor” is often wrapped up with the complexity of being able to understand the other side.

A weak Communication between the Offshore Client and the Vendor can lead to problems such as

Productivity Loss
Mismatch of deliverables and expectations
Loss of valuable time
Redundancy of tasks

There is more to communication than merely conveying the content. Besides the semantics, which is the key to being at the same wavelength, Attitude and Diction with which the information is shared are equally important. Software development outsourcing is the main field which mainly depends on the communication. Apart from the problems that arise from differences in culture, language and time zone, the communication could be fudged if there are multiple people communicating from the offshore vendor side to the client. Such ambiguities can be alleviated by implementing appropriate Strategies for communication, as mentioned below:

A. Using Communication Tools:
Email
Instant Messenger
Phone calls
VOIP ]Extranets ]
Web Meetings
Virtual Office Cabinets
Ticket Management System
Customized communication applications

B. Guidelines, Practices and Discipline

The two shores should communicate by following certain guidelines and practices

Design the Discusson Document that takes into account the perspective from the both the offshore client and the vendor. The Document should outline the following:

Tasks
Roles assigned for the tasks
Mode of communication between the client and the vendor
Mode of intra-communication between the Software Teams and the Business Teams
How to tackle or mitigate any unexpected Issues or Risks
Status Reports [Daily, Weekly]
To avoid any communication gap, the correspondence should take place with discipline according to the defined schedule.

Risk of information loss is eliminated if both the client and the offshore vendor delegate their tasks through the Project Managers from either side, which enables smooth information relay among the client and the vendor employees.

C. Techniques
Clarity of goals before any meeting or phone conversation
Concise to-the-point discussion
Documents with bullets and points
Send summary of discussion

Though E-Business communication tools such as e-mail, tele-conferencing, fax, chat, video–conferencing all serve as a conduit to effective and efficient means of information transfer, their usage can be more productive if used with a planned approach. An effective communication does not end with a healthy initiation, but is sustained keeping the momentum by maintaining agile response loop. Hence, a proactive approach from both the client and the Offshore Vendor is mandatory to further the business goals.