The great ‘time zone’ myth
For 6 years I lived in Vietnam helping run a 500+ head count software development agency, CBTW. 23 Years ago, our founders decided they needed a long-term solution to the talent shortage in Europe. They settled on Vietnam, as if they had some magic genie who told them Vietnam would one day be Asia’s fastest growing tech hub, and the primary alternative to the traditional Eastern European or Indian outsourcing options.
But even after 23 years of building custom software for some of the largest brands around the world (and two years of COVID), ‘time zone’ still rears its head during conversations as a risk rather than an advantage.
Is time zone really the issue, or is it that Companies haven’t found the right tools, practices or partner to help them take advantage of time zones?
In this piece we will dive into:
The common misconceptions when building software with teams in different time zones.
If done right, the benefits of working with teams in different time zones.
Processes, practices and the secrete sauce to addresses the time zone issue.
Misconceptions about software engineering & teams in different time zones.
After 6 years of living in Asia here are a few common misconceptions that I hear:
Collaboration & problem solving:
Communication delays & dependencies
Quality control & delivery delays
Cultural differences
Team culture, loyalty & retention
Whilst these are all valid, picture this:
You're building a new Product (a new state-of-the-art Neobank). Your core team logs off at 6pm in London, when they wake up the Vietnam team has already been working for 6 hours. there is +-3 hours of overlap to conduct the Agile ceremonies and transfer to the UK team to work on the same backlog.
This is not fiction, this is a real case and smart companies ARE using timezone to their benefit but you need the right approach, modern tooling, forward planning, dynamic and autonomous team structures and of course talent with the right mindset.
Lets take a look at the benefits of working with timezones;
The benefits of building software with teams in different time zones.
1. Reduced time to market / faster project delivery
At peak optimisation, multiple teams around the world can build a product 24 hours a day, thereby significantly reducing your time to market.
2. Cost efficiencies & ROI (return on investment)
Talent in developing economies is naturally more cost efficient, coupled with a faster team setup and delivery times, the ROI can have a positive material impact on your business.
3. Follow the sun & 24/7 Support
Many digital platforms and SaaS tools have access to an international Client base, therefore selecting the right partner which has presence in multiple time zones can help streamline support practices and provide consistent 24/7 support.
4. Access to modern working methods
Partners that have been collaborating across time zones for a long time have naturally built robust ways of working that address common remote working misconceptions, therefore companies have the chance to learn and adopt some these processes and practices in their Software Development Life Cycle.
5. Diversification & resilience
The socio and geopolitical world is fragile as we can see today. Having teams in various locations and time zones adds to a more strategic decision to diversify talent and build resilience.
6. Access to a wider talent pool & scale
The right Partner will have delivery centers in the 3 main time zones (Americas, Europe & Asia), therefore providing access to a broad talent pool with diverse and often specific expertise that would normally take you months to find and train.
When you find a Partner that executes correctly, the long-term benefits have a positive material impact on the business performance, however often the risk of getting it wrong will steer Companies to seek a safer local team that they can keep an eye on.
So what tools, processes & practices do we use to ensure smooth collaboration, productive problem solving, transparency and predictable delivery?
How to solve the ‘time zone’ issue
1. Building the right team structure & culture
When working in different time zones, the most important aspect is to set up teams that have the right roles, skills and mindset to run autonomously during the sprint.
We propose:
A Delivery Manager with international exposure that is responsible for the project, team, performance, line management, processes and practices.
A PO/BA who understands the business and sits with the technical teams so they can solve problems independently.
A strong technical lead that can guide the teams and take responsibility for code quality in line with international standards.
Engineers that take initiative rather than orders.
QA embedded within the team so that software is fully tested before being merged, and not reliant on teams in other time zones.
2. Forward Planning
Planning 2-3 sprints ahead ensures that both technical and product scope is aligned, that sprints are estimated, and we have clear acceptance criteria and test cases developed in advance.
We also ensure that before any sprint has begun that Stories are approved by our client, therefore closely monitoring the scope & budget, and allowing for clear forecasting.
3. Robust Agile Practices & Real-time reporting
We follow all agile practices & ceremonies in collaboration with our client, therefore we do not work alone or in silos. Our teams form an integral part of our client’s teams.
To monitor progress, we set up a suite of dashboards that track project burndown, delivery velocity, scope creep, bug leakage and bug ratios and a few other secret KPI’s that make us unique.
4. Collaborative Tooling
When working across time zones it is important that information is accessible & accurate and that everyone has real-time transparency to the state of progress and performance.
To do this we use modern collaboration tooling for real time problem solving, project management & reporting, product management & requirements gathering, code quality, test performance, deployments.
5. Quality Control Processes
When it comes to quality control across time zones, we want to ensure that we minimize the time between when a problem is found and when it can be fixed, therefore we have the QA team with the engineering team.
With modern QA tools, code quality tools and system monitoring tools, working in different time zones, and ensuring quality remains at or above standard is very easy.
6. Project Governance
Meeting frequently via project steerco’s is a fundamental part of our process, it allows us to track closely with the project KPI’s, closely monitor the project scope and budget, assess the team’s state of mind, quality & performance and make quick adjustments based on our clients unique needs.
7. Team Culture
Whilst this is difficult to quantify and measure, nothing distorts collaboration more than a fragmented culture, therefore building a strong culture founded on a common mission and values helps teams from different time zones come together.
Where to from here?
The issue is not about time zone! The issue is selecting a partner with the right processes, practices and methodologies to leverage the benefits of different time zones.
Get this right and you have a long-term solution to your software engineering efficiency, talent and cost issues. Choose the wrong partner and the perceived misconceptions become very real very quickly.
