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Faster Development Cycles with Nearshore Latin America Teams
Nearshore agile software development is ideal for accelerating your product life cycle. As a sprint-based method, agile is ultra-efficient for teams, saving you up to 60% in time-to-market (McKinsey & Company). At the same time, nearshore experts have the advantage of real-time communication within shared time zones, which streamlines collaboration.
Cultural Compatibility: Latin America & U.S. Tech
Nearshore agile teams tend to align well with your workplace, due to shared cultural and language similarities. For example, LatAm tech professionals often are well-versed in U.S. expectations and English proficiency. Ultimately, this boosts communication and unifies team culture, enabling you to boost company performance by up to five times (World Financial Review)
Cost Efficiency: Saving 40–50% with LatAm Agile Talent
A major benefit of nearshore agile development is cost cutting. In addition to the method’s efficiency, nearshoring involves lower salary rates – up to 40-50% less – for the same high level of talent. Choosing agile nearshore outsourcing also trims your recruitment cycles and extends retention, which leads to even more savings.
Common Challenges in Nearshore Agile & How to Overcome Them
Nearshore agile software development comes with a wealth of advantages. Even so, your business should tread carefully when implementing nearshore teams. Stay strategic by addressing common challenges and leveraging our nearshore agile best practices.
1. Challenge: Remote Team Integration for U.S.–LatAm Agile Squads
Building cohesion across different locations can slow down sprints if teams aren’t properly onboarded and integrated. In fact, 63% of leaders saw improvements in communication after undertaking team building activities.
Solution (Tecla.io Best Practices):
- Comprehensive onboarding: We assign a Tecla Culture Buddy to every new hire to facilitate introductions, set expectations, and share company norms.
- Aligned sprint kickoffs: We use Miro boards to live-share during onboarding calls so that both U.S. and LatAm members visualize sprint backlogs together.
- Virtual team-building: We run biweekly Coffee & Code Slack huddles for casual conversation and cross-border knowledge sharing.
For even more team integration tips, see Atlassian’s best practices for remote standups here.
2. Challenge: Communication Barriers Between U.S.-LatAm Teams
Effective team communication has the potential to enhance productivity by 5x (McKinsey & Company). Yet, it can be difficult to establish seamless communication channels, especially with fragmented tools and professionals from unique linguistic locations.
Tecla.io’s Recommended Solutions:
- Clear communication channels: We use top tools such as Slack and Zoom to set up straightforward channels (and avoid email overload!).
- Documented workflows: We keep up detailed documentation of workflows and policies for team members to consult 24/7.
- Transparency above all: We keep our virtual doors open to prevent misunderstandings and encourage proactive relationships.
Check out even remote communication best practices from Harvard Business Review researchers here.
3. Challenge: Time Zone Differences With U.S. Companies
While nearshoring removes many of the difficulties of asynchronous teaming, you may still face some friction from time zone differences. In fact, 19% of remote workers report challenges with working across time zones (Buffer State of Remote Work Report).
Tecla.io’s Expert Solutions:
- Asynchronous tools: We take advantage of communication tools like Loom and Slack to keep teams aligned off-hours.
- Project management platforms: We use PM tooling such as Jira, Trello and more to establish a single source of truth for project assignments.
- Milestone setting: We use agile practices for setting daily/weekly milestones to ensure aligned work and address questions so work can proceed seamlessly.
Learn more about the importance of sharing time zones in Harvard Business Review’s recent survey here.
4. Challenge: U.S.-LatAm Cultural Alignment Across Borders
Nearshore agile teams work best when they share cultural affinity. Cultural alignment also a huge motivator for top talent, with 39% of workers citing “poor company culture” as the #1 reason they leave a job.
Tecla.io’s Solutions:
- Hire right: We recommend taking your time to hire best-fit professionals who integrate well with your company culture from day 1.
- Clarify expectations: We put together comprehensive documentation and a virtual office space where our teams can constantly communicate and align work.
- Foster respect: We focus on showing respect for all team members' diverse backgrounds in order to find common ground.
Read more cultural alignment tips from Forbes’ Leadership here.
5. Challenge: Achieving High Quality on Hybrid U.S-LatAm Teams
Agile nearshore outsourcing has an excellent reputation for building top products. That said, it’s essential to set up rigorous standards and QA to ensure that you achieve high quality.
A “shift-left approach” is especially effective, as teams who start QA early spend 22% less time fixing bugs.
Solution (Tecla.io Best Practices):
- Check skills: We always verify the technical skills of your developers so that your teams are ready to attain top caliber.
- Integrate QA at every stage: We incorporate QA early in the agile life cycle for ongoing checks and feedback on developer work.
- Agile-style quality checks: We set up a variety of formal and informal feedback sessions, including with peers, a scrum leader and more.
Learn more about creating a robust nearshore QA team from our Tecla.io experts here.
6. Challenge: Cost Management of Large-Scale IT Projects
Nearshore agile software development combines the cost efficiency of agile with the significantly lower salaries of nearshore experts.
Even so, 35% of software projects aren't completed within budget. It can be challenging to manage costs for large-scale or long-term projects, especially if you have revolving requirements and/or a complex tech stack.
Tecla.io’s Best Practices:
- Detailed scope: We create a rigorous scope before kicking off the project, so that everybody has a realistic understanding of costs.
- Flexible contracts: We draft flexible contracts, so it’s easy to scale the project and change directions with minimal extra expense.
Read more about IT project cost overruns in this guide from The Economist here.
7. Challenge: Guaranteeing Data Security With Global Tecla.io Teams
Data security is a vital nearshore agile best practice that guarantees your data, IP and infrastructure remain safe and compliant. After all, six in 10 U.S. businesses were affected by a cyber attack last year.
Tecla.io’s Solutions:
- Make a plan: To ensure maximum protection, we craft a data security plan for monitoring storage, backup and compliance.
- Teach and train: We establish access controls and schedule regular staff training for security awareness.
- Use only the best tooling: Third-party tools are often backdoors for data breaches and cybercrime. We choose only industry-best platforms for an airtight tech stack.
Learn more about worldwide data breach data in IBM’s industry report here.
8. Challenge: Attaining High Talent Retention With LatAm Experts
Retaining the best developers on your team can be a difficult feat in today’s competitive market. While nearshore experts from Latin America are known to be career-driven and don’t job-hop as frequently, you may still face the challenge of keeping up full, specialized teams.
Our Tecla.io Retention Playbook:
- Strategize: We define a talent retention strategy that starts at the hiring level. It’s especially important to look for candidates interested in long-term career building.
- Focus on career: At 47%, career development is the #1 most wanted factor for digital workers. We create career and learning opportunities to get our best professionals to stick around.
- Add stronger benefits: We audit and design job packages to keep top developers on board. Common factors include flexible hours, team culture and more.
See more details in Harvard Business Review’s survey of top tech talent here.
Tecla.io Case Study: Limber Health Saves 52% With LatAm Agile Team
Tecla.io’s Initial Assessment & Cultural Fit
Limber Health, a Washington, D.C.-based healthtech startup, had difficulty scaling with off-site developers in Eastern Europe and India. In particular, they were unsatisfied with the cultural gap and lack of real-time collaboration.
As a result, they needed developers with:
- HIPAA-compliant healthtech experience
- Shared U.S.-friendly time zones (EST/CST)
- Strong English communication
- Career-driven for long-term collaboration
- Cost-effective rates for sustainable growth
Tecla.io’s Expert-Led Recruitment Process
We designed a screening process that evaluated talent for a unique cultural fit – in addition to technical requirements.
First we assessed technical skills (React, AWS, Python) and HIPAA knowledge. From here, we ran culture interviews to confirm alignment with Limber’s patient-first values.
1. Discovery Call & Needs Mapping
We defined key roles: Full-Stack Developer, DevOps Engineer, React Native Specialist and Data Analyst.
2. Job Package Design
We created detailed job descriptions and competitive offer packages tailored to U.S. mid-career healthtech talent in LatAm.
3. Technical & Cultural Screening
We underwent a robust vetting process that included a:
- Technical Task: Candidates completed a HIPAA-themed coding challenge.
- Culture Interview: We evaluated soft skills, English fluency, and remote work habits.
4. Reference Checks & Onboarding
We verified three professional references per hire, then facilitated smooth onboarding through our Tecla Culture Buddy system.
Results & Metrics from Our Tecla.io Solution
At the end of our expert-led recruitment process, Limber Health achieved:
- Hires: 6 senior developers (Full-Stack, DevOps, React Native, Data Analysts)
- Time-to-Fill: 3 weeks
- Cost Savings: 52% on average salary rates
- Series A Funding secured, within two months post-hire
Read the full Limber Health story on our Tecla.io case studies page!
Lean on TECLA for Top Nearshore Agile Software Development
Nearshore agile software development is a powerful option to build your next product with top efficiency and affordability. Reap the benefits of nearshore agile development by leveraging our range of strategies and best practices.
As you put together your dream nearshore agile team, reach out to us. At TECLA, we’re seasoned talent partners with a track record of matching U.S. businesses with best-fit LatAm professionals. Discover more info on our agile-ready talent network here!
Nearshore agile teams offer the best of both worlds: cost savings and real-time collaboration. Learn how to build a winning team with us!
LatAm Making?
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