Summer 2023 brought several of our clients visiting Bluecorp offshore offices (CMS) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In today's interconnected global landscape, numerous organizations have embraced a hybrid model, utilizing both onsite and offshore teams to maximize their capabilities. While remote collaboration tools have become indispensable in this digital age, there remains undeniable value in nurturing in-person connections through travel between these two groups. In this article, we will delve into why Bluecorp encourages and facilitates travel between onsite and offshore IT teams, which we consider vital for achieving synergy, promoting collaboration, and ultimately ensuring project success.
Cultural Exchange and Understanding:
Tech teams often span diverse cultures and geographies. Travel allows team members to immerse themselves in the local culture and gain a deeper understanding of the context in which their Sri Lankan colleagues work. Sri Lanka (previously called Ceylon) has a rich and complex history of colonization that spans over Four centuries. It has Portuguese, Dutch and British influence on its culture, society, and economic development.
This makes Sri Lanka a great offshore destination as part of a global organization. The cultural exchange that travel brings could help bridge gaps in communication, promote empathy, and reduce misunderstandings that can hinder project progress.
#Tip When you visit Sri Lanka don't forget to travel in a tuk-tuk and eat with your bare hands just like Sri Lankans do!
Building Trust
Trust is the cornerstone of successful teamwork. Meeting face-to-face fosters trust among team members. It's easier to trust someone when you've spent time with them, whether during work discussions, over lunch, or during informal outings. Trust leads to better collaboration, smoother workflows, and ultimately, improved project outcomes.
#Tip While you're in Sri Lanka, don't miss the chance to try some authentic Sri Lankan cuisine together with the team. Some food can be super spicy, so trust your colleagues' advice!
Team Building
A cohesive team is more likely to excel. Travel allows team members to participate in team-building activities, fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose. These activities can be as simple as a team dinner or as elaborate as team-building workshops. Such experiences strengthen bonds and improve teamwork. At Bluecorp, we encourage various team-building activities during customer visits or onsite visits to enhance team dynamics.
#Tip Sri Lanka has plenty of beautiful outdoor locations to organize team-building activities from beautiful beaches and white water rafting to breathtaking hikes, so you can enjoy nature with your team together.
Knowledge Transfer
Onsite visits provide a platform for knowledge transfer. Senior members of the onsite team can impart their expertise to offshore colleagues in person, leading to faster skill development and better problem-solving capabilities among the offshore team members. Furthermore, such in-person meetings offer an effective platform for developing future product plans, project roadmaps, and even collaborative problem-solving for complex challenges.
#Tip Our offices in Colombo are equipped with Smart TVs, overhead projection screens, wide-angle conference room cameras and high-speed Wi-Fi with 200+ Mbps speed across the floor. This means you could have collaborative sessions with your global team while visiting Sri Lanka.
Improve team engagement
Building social relationships is always exciting, and for a remote team, a visit from a client provides an exciting opportunity for one-on-one discussions about project and career progress and engaging kick-off meetings. All of these interactions could reveal insights, including the work preferences of your extended team members, their hidden skillsets, and interests.
#Tip While we have plenty of meeting rooms to accommodate your visit, the best place to sit is together with the team and to work with them. Not only the team will appreciate that, but the real-time work engagement will be a learning experience.
Reducing turnover
Sri Lankan engineers value being part of global projects, which enables them to work on the latest technologies and gain experience with different cultures. Bringing a few remote engineers to train and work onsite is a common practice among our clients. This may also include attending various conferences and seminars while abroad.
Opportunities to travel abroad are seen as a benefit by many offshore engineers, making it an attractive proposition when hiring senior candidates for your team.
#Tip Bluecorp HR handles all travel-related arrangements of your offshore engineers including visa and ticket handling on your behalf. Please contact us for more information.
Who doesn't love to mix business travel with fun?
Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean where you can explore numerous tourist attractions within just a few hours of travel. These include pristine beaches, misty mountains covered with tea plantations, ancient Buddhist ruins dating back to BC, and wildlife safaris, to name a few. Plenty of activities, including surfing and hiking, are available for adventurers.
Bluecorp engineers visiting onsite clients also take the opportunity to take a few days off and explore the host country, gaining new experiences they haven't had in Sri Lanka, such as seeing snow for the first time or riding in a high-speed train.
#Tip If you're planning to travel in Sri Lanka, you could speak to your team members to get help in preparing a plan for your travel. If you're on a tight schedule, you could take a sightseeing tour in Colombo.
If you're considering starting a remote team, we extend a warm invitation to visit our remote offices in Sri Lanka. You can explore our facilities, meet our staff, and make an informed decision.