Introduction

In an increasingly globalized workforce, offshore team members have become a vital part of many IT organizations. While the benefits of cost efficiency and access to global talent, like ours in Turkiye, are clear, one recurring concern among hiring managers is: “Does my offshored team member actually work the hours I expect?” This question stems from the lack of physical oversight, time zone differences, and cultural variations in work habits.

Let’s explore this uncertainty, analyze its root causes and go through our practical strategies to foster trust and assure accountability and transparency. In the end, this is what we do as KBTS,  making sure you get true and honest value for money, building a long term relationship.

Understanding the Concern

The concern about whether offshore team members are working expected hours often arises from:

- Lack of visibility into daily activities
- Time zone or working hour differences that limit real-time collaboration which is very limited at KBTS and Turkiye
- Communication gaps or delayed responses
- Absence of clear performance metrics
- Cultural differences in work reporting and availability

Even when the offshore team member is performing effectively, then still these factors can lead to wrong assumptions and mistrust. So let’s elaborate about how to deal with these uncertainties.

Building Trust and showing Accountability

It’s important to distinguish between actual performance issues and perceived lack of presence. We can get grip on those with 5 strategies. These strategies are part of the onboarding plan of our member in your team (blog).

1. Setting Clear Expectations

- As part of the team introduction we agree on overlapping working hours explicitly.
- We determine availability for ceremonies, events and online response times
- Where individual project is concerned we jointly set deliverables and timelines

2. The Use of Tools

- Our team members use your (shared) calendar
- Our team member works in your project management platform (like Jira or Trello)
- We agree on timesheet / log (activity based if needed/ deliverable based is preferred)

Which brings us to the following more over important strategies.

3. Focus on Outcomes, Not Hours for team and team members

- Measure productivity based on deliverables and quality of work which is set in Definition of Done
- The whole team is encouraged to show autonomy and ownership
- Avoid micromanaging individual (or even some)team members and foster a team results-driven culture

This will mature every team member, hence also our offshored members in your teams

4. Foster Open Communication

- Schedule regular check-ins and one-on-ones (daily stand up is the least)
- Encourage feedback and two-way dialogue via ceremonies and structure
- Use video calls to build rapport and reduce ambiguity ‘off line’

5. Build a Culture of Transparency and Trust (fail and learn fast)

- Recognize and celebrate achievements (Motivation)
- Be transparent about concerns and address them constructively (Just culture)
- Promote inclusivity and equal participation in team activities (even when the team members are offshore)

Summarizing

Your question of whether your KBTS offshore team member is working the expected hours is logical to raise. However it is not to be worried about as long as we jointly apply a proper onboarding and follow our inclusive strategies; approached with empathy, structure and a focus on outcomes. By (1) setting clear expectations, (2) using transparent tools, and (3,4,5) fostering a culture of trust, you can bridge the physical distance and build a high-performing, accountable team (fully or partially remote). Ultimately, success lies not in monitoring hours, but in enabling your team to continuously deliver value and outdoing themselves sprint by sprint — wherever they are.

This is what we stand for at KBTS.