Many believe that Near- or Offshoring will drastically decrease the quality of communication and thus the results.
However, while there are probably thousands of cases, where this is true and cultural or language barrier was one of the main reasons why a project has failed, it is rarely the “main” reason.
I don’t want to step on any toes – but the main reason shoring projects don’t work is the project management and the unwillingness of people from one country/continent, to work in international environments. Yes, most of the time the excuse is “the language barrier” – but please – its English – basically the easiest language to learn.
Never mind the fact, that if you are a developer or QA you have most certainly used internet to learn new stuff, to broaden your knowledge and keep up with the newest technologies.
So, you see – it’s not about the “language barrier” itself – it’s about willingness and openness to work with people with different backrounds in an international environment.
But let’s get back on the subject.
Why does Onshoring not guarantee better communication?
Well, it’s very simple – communication means “people interacting”. And when it comes to people interactions – even the same culture or the same language are not enough.
Speaking the same mother tongue, living in the same country and thus having the same or similar cultural background or at least the same bank holidays, is an advantage, yes. But it is by far no guaranty, that a project or the communication in team will work better.
If you think about it – speaking in a non-native language, communicating with people from different countries and cultures, even expecting that there will be some kind of miscommunication in those interactions, works in favor of the project.
Why is that?
If they know they communicate with someone from the same culture, speaking the same mother tongue – people usually don’t make much effort and assume the other person will understand them easily. This leads to vague, shorter and more unclear requirements. Whereas most of us, when communicating with people from other cultures and countries and in a nonnative for us and them language, we assume there could be some misunderstanding and thus we make an effort to give as much information and as many details as possible.
This might sound unreal, but it is actually a proven thing and a very important fact, we often neglect. Better documentation leads to better services and delivarables.
So – if anything, shoring actually promotes better IT-Services and results, rather than “making it difficult” for us.