Scaling High Performing, Multinational Teams (feat. Andy Hilliard)
Software Development, Finance and AI6 Maalis 2024

Scaling High Performing, Multinational Teams (feat. Andy Hilliard)

In this podcast episode, Krish Palaniappan interviews ⁠Andy Hilliard⁠, CEO of ⁠Accelerance⁠, about offshoring and building effective globally distributed teams. They discuss the importance of understanding cultural differences in offshoring, the challenges of offshoring for different types of positions, and navigating the risks of offshoring with defined vs undefined vision. In this conversation, Andy Hilliard discusses the challenges and trends in outsourcing software development to offshore service providers. He highlights the importance of having a strong product ownership role and the need for both clients and service providers to invest in developing product ownership capabilities. Andy also emphasizes the proliferation of overnight service providers and the importance of vetting and integrating offshore teams into the client's ecosystem. He discusses the challenges of understanding cultural differences and the need for clients to spend time overseas to build relationships and trust. Finally, he introduces his book, 'Synergia,' which provides a blueprint for building effective globally distributed teams in the new era of software development.

Takeaways

  • Understanding cultural differences is crucial in offshoring to ensure effective communication and collaboration.
  • Different types of positions may have different suitability for offshoring, and it is important to choose the right offshore partner based on their expertise and track record.
  • Offshoring with a clearly defined vision is more straightforward, while offshoring to fill a knowledge gap requires a partner with subject matter expertise.
  • To navigate the risks of offshoring, it is important to become a servant leader to the service provider and integrate them into your environment. Clients and service providers need to invest in developing strong product ownership capabilities.
  • Vetting and integrating offshore teams into the client's ecosystem is crucial for successful outsourcing.
  • Understanding cultural differences is essential for effective collaboration with offshore teams.
  • Building relationships and trust through spending time overseas can lead to better outcomes in outsourcing.
  • The book 'Synergia' provides insights and strategies for building effective globally distributed teams in software development.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

06:42 Understanding Cultural Differences in Offshoring

13:01 Offshoring for Different Types of Positions

22:15 Navigating the Risks of Offshoring

28:21 The Role of Product Ownership in Offshore Service Providers

30:13 Challenges of Outsourcing to Service Providers

32:43 The Proliferation of Overnight Service Providers

36:00 The Importance of Leadership Positions in Service Providers

38:22 Understanding Cultural Differences in Offshoring

41:04 The Importance of Trust and Commitment in Offshore Relationships

45:42 The Book: Synergia - A Blueprint for Building Effective Globally Distributed Teams

Andy Hilliard (Accelerance)

Snowpal Products

Jaksot(414)

Where to focus your energies when building an MVP?

Where to focus your energies when building an MVP?

When you start out to build an MVP, or a new feature in an existing app, how you go about approaching the problem in the initial days or weeks will make a ton of difference.   #projectmanagement   Manage projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

5 Helmi 202210min

Are you sure the requirements are complete, and you understand them?

Are you sure the requirements are complete, and you understand them?

If your requirements aren't complete, there is a problem. Sounds obvious? It sure is but, unfortunately, this is one of those recurring issues in Software Development that happens all too often and before you know it, your team is developing software to a specification that is not even close to being complete. #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

13 Tammi 20226min

Microservices: Always the best option?

Microservices: Always the best option?

A Microservices-based architecture is a desirable one. Sure. But, is it the best solution always? #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

13 Tammi 20228min

A few things to consider while using private methods

A few things to consider while using private methods

Private methods should be used as much as possible (to improve maintainability amongst other things) but not all private methods are created equal.  #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

13 Tammi 20228min

Found the gem, module or library that does what you are looking for and want to use it? Not so fast!

Found the gem, module or library that does what you are looking for and want to use it? Not so fast!

Before using a new Ruby gem, an NPM module or a dependent 3rd party library, you need to check a few things at the very minimum. #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

12 Tammi 20228min

(Part 2) What you do repeatedly, it better be efficient (certainly more efficient than the items you do less frequently)

(Part 2) What you do repeatedly, it better be efficient (certainly more efficient than the items you do less frequently)

(Part 2) "Every drop makes an ocean". Keep an eye on things you do repeatedly regardless of the *tiny* amount of time they take. It all adds up in the end. #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

12 Tammi 20222min

(Part 1) What you do repeatedly, it better be efficient (certainly more efficient than the items you do less frequently)

(Part 1) What you do repeatedly, it better be efficient (certainly more efficient than the items you do less frequently)

(Part 1) "Every drop makes an ocean". Keep an eye on things you do repeatedly regardless of the *tiny* amount of time they take. It all adds up in the end. #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

12 Tammi 20226min

Restaurant Web App #1: How does learning a bit of software in the context of food sound to you? :)

Restaurant Web App #1: How does learning a bit of software in the context of food sound to you? :)

If it sounds appealing, let's build a Web App. And let's do it while dining in a nice restaurant :)  #projectmanagement Manage your projects on https://snowpal.com. Keep it simple.

19 Marras 202135min