What are best tools to use to track offshore developers time spent on projects?

[Chris Mak]

Hired a team of offshore developers and got an unexpected high bill. What are commonly used tools to track developers or contractors time on projects? Any other best practices for managing hours/costs for offshore?

[MMcCarthy]

You should always agree a price in advance of a project. Have a spec drawn up of the work on the project and make sure it includes time and cost. Then both parties sign off on it.

Any changes to the spec during the project should also be agreed in writing quoting both time and cost.

You should never enter into an arrangement with any contractor, offshore or not unless the spec, time and cost is agreed.

Mary

[Niheel]

It's also hard to get offshore development teams into a management tool that you use. It takes time for them to learn how to adapt to your workflow and they probably have their own internal management tools.

The best tools are pre-planning, communication and strong contracts. Make sure you have hard cost control measures in your contracts.

Here are somethings that can make offshore development easier

• Have a project leader on their end that is responsible for making sure project delivered to you.
• Visit your offshore team or setup some facetime (skype conferences) regularly.
• Be in constant communication. Sometimes project managers on the client side feel like they are bothering the other side, but you should avoid that misconception and get in there and communicate. It helps as stated before to have a project leader on the other side that will be your gateway between the developers and you.
• Make sure you reiterate any decisions made verbally in written form too. Repitition seems annoying, but it gets results. Also written communication comes in handy when there's confusion.
• Plan, plan, plan, plan and plan some more before you even start. Get all your project details as concise as you can get them. Offshore teams will get the job done for you, but don't expect them to do all your strategic thinking.
• Have a timeline for deliverables in your contract. Stick to it and don't give in with delays.
• Place a requirement for regular status reports in your contract.
• Monitor the results, make sure you are there for the testing of your application / ip as it's getitng built.
• Have a contract. A very detailed contract with what you expect, the costs, any change approvals, time lines, reports.
• Treat your offshore team like people. Lot of people get demanding and frustrated. Usually it's not either party's fault just a miscommunicatio n between parties and expectations.
• Your best tool will be your communication. There is no magic tool to managing people!