The extended team model consists of remote teams which are like extensions of the home-office across the globe. Through this model, the people in the home-office and remote office are always in direct contact with each other about all business dealings. Moreover, the responsibility and management of the project are in the hands of the core team that initiated the project.
Businesses opt for extension team models to integrate professionals and diversify their workforce. These are qualified specialists with experience in their relevant fields. The extended team model provides a strategic advantage to businesses as compared to offshoring. This is because the team in the head office is spread out internationally.
The extended team model can help your business grow due to its various benefits:
Shared Workload
There are instances when your in-house team would be working on an extremely important project with a tight deadline. They have to complete this project. Along with this project, other projects with tight deadlines also come about. In such cases, with the help of the extended team model, you can divide the increasing workload of your business among the remote teams while the in-house team completes the project it had been working on. This makes it easier to handle various tasks at once.
Mutual Contract
In an extended team model, a mutual contract is signed between the in-house team and the remote team. In other words, the in-house team chooses the remote team and vice versa. In the long run, this helps to increase the productivity of work.
No Conflict of Interest
Since you have complete control over your business operations, there are no conflicts of interest. Making the final decisions becomes easier with a single entity in charge and others present to follow that decision. With everyone in your business on the same page with the same interests, overall productivity is bound to improve.
Integration between Teams
Due to efficient communication, all the members of the team (whether in-house or remote) are integrated into the business’s operations. They have an equal contribution as there is greater transparency between team members. A business with a completely integrated team offers more productive strategies for the growth of the business.
Access to Diversified Knowledge
As your business is not restricted by location, you will get access to a wide knowledge base and the cultures of different markets through your remote teams. With the help of new technology and diversified skills, your business will flourish as it will promote diversity. When there are different people from different backgrounds working together on a similar project, they bring about their unique set of skills and knowledge to the table because of their distinct experiences. Thus, the accumulation of different ideas and experiences will lead to business growth.
Integration of Different and Diverse Cultures
With a remote team employed in different parts of the world, you can tap into different markets. The remote team will help you with the knowledge of what people in a particular geographical area want based on their cultural preferences. In this way, your business will become more diverse as you include products and services for people of different cultures.
Global Impact
With the help of remote teams spread out all across the globe, your business will have a global impact. The global outreach of the business will attract more customers in the international markets, making the business grow.
Increased Transparency
The extended team model promotes effective communication among team members, which leads to greater transparency as compared to traditional offshoring and outsourcing. The increased transparency inculcates a culture of trust and accountability among different teams of the business. With trust developed, the business becomes more productive.
The potential for Scalability and Development of the Business
The extended team model offers the option of scalability to businesses. As a business grows, more remote teams can be added to it to ensure the completion of projects. It is easier to include developers from different areas rather than concentrating all the developers in the head office.
Good Fit for a Range of Projects
The biggest benefit of extended teams is that the diverse workforce makes it easier for your team to work on a diverse range of projects. These can be long term and multi-part projects. The requirements of such projects keep increasing over time and if you had only one head office dealing with it, you wouldn’t have access to the required tools and resources to complete the project.
There are also side projects which are not related to the core business, which is why you wouldn’t want your in-house team stressing over it. For such projects, the remote team takes responsibility for completion. This way, the core business does not get distracted and operates at its maximum capacity.
Lastly, there are some projects that go on for a long period of time and require a lot of manpower for completion. For such projects, the in-house and remote teams coordinate and integrate workflow so that the project is completed smoothly.
