Central to a succesful software development process is communication. Whether it's a simple phonecall, a drawing on a whiteboard, an e-mail or a detailed document, without them a developer is helpless and you'll end up with a very unsatisfied customer.

Nowadays we have so many ways to communicate with each other that it's almost unbelievable that projects fail because things are unclear. Here is the heart of the matter: how can we ensure clarity? The answer is both simple and obvious: we need to utilize all means at the right moment.

At Shareforce we knew right from the start that communication was key and experimented with different scenarios. Since we are working with a Romanian and a Dutch office we had to find a way to ensure optimum understanding between all parties: Customers, projectmanagers and developers. A projectmanager can talk in person with both a customer and, once in a while, with the development team. Other means used are videomeetings, Basecamp for projectmanagement and chat. Even with all these tools and face to face time, there was still something missing: a lack of true understanding on the part of the developer.
Humans are social animals and you bond when you are within arms length. Talk face to face, drink a beer, have a laugh together. No technology existing today can even come close to this emotional bond. This is why we decided to bring our customers to the developers in Romania.

Recently I enjoyed 2 visits to Iasi Romania with 2 different customers and the effects are huge: people really understand each other and the project!

Conclusion: Outsourcing works if done properly!