Written by: Marc Boudria, Chief Innovation Officer / Dario Trevisani, Director of Talent Operations at BetterEngineer
In Part 2, we proved that culture, communication, and ownership don’t stop at the border; they scale when you export them intentionally. Today, we bring that same human-centric philosophy to outsourcing—because crossing borders shouldn't mean losing culture, communication, or quality.
When Bill Gore founded W. L. Gore & Associates, he pioneered the "lattice" organizational structure, radically transforming corporate culture. Gore embraced peer-to-peer accountability, autonomy, and trust, empowering employees to select meaningful work and mentors instead of following traditional hierarchies. Having personally worked with Gore teams, I’ve witnessed how genuinely employees embody these values, resulting in long tenure and high morale.
“Finding the right talent is not just a matter of skill alignment. Strong cultural alignment is critical. Our recruiting process evaluates cultural alignment first—only those aligned with our core values proceed to the technical evaluation. Communication skills aren't just about English proficiency; they encompass clarity, receptiveness to feedback, and leadership in collaborative processes. Cultural alignment is foundational to building a community of like-minded individuals contributing meaningfully beyond just technical tasks.”
Harvard Business Review describes Gore’s model as exemplary "participatory workplace democracy," significantly outperforming traditional hierarchies in innovation and employee retention.
Implement Gore’s lattice concept in global teams by pairing each remote engineer with a dedicated home-office sponsor who acts as a mentor and cultural ambassador, ensuring seamless cultural integration.
Effective remote collaboration depends significantly on structured asynchronous communication frameworks, especially across multiple time zones. Properly executed async workflows dramatically improve productivity, minimize interruptions, and optimize synchronous communications for critical decisions or problem-solving. However, achieving this balance requires clear processes and integrated tooling.
GitLab’s 2024 Remote Work Report indicates over 25% of fully remote companies credit asynchronous communication with boosting productivity and employee satisfaction. Additionally, the 2023 DORA report highlights that transparent DevOps practices and structured async communication can enhance delivery performance by up to 50%.
Identifying red flags early prevents costly outsourcing failures. Key warnings include vendors operating without transparent roadmaps, unusually low labor costs, and opaque processes. Such indicators often lead to poor quality, ethical issues, and operational chaos.
“Clients commonly flag communication skills, availability, and time zone alignment. Nearshore teams facilitate real-time collaboration, easing communication and team integration. Conversely, contractors with an isolated mindset—just "solving tickets"—hinder effective integration. From the candidate’s side, rigid or biased client processes based on previous poor experiences can unjustly exclude exceptional talent.”
Deloitte's 2024 Global Outsourcing Survey underscores joint governance and transparency as critical to outsourcing success, while Forbes reports unrealistic cost-cutting consistently leads clients to abandon low-cost vendors due to compromised quality.
Viewing remote talent as mere resources rather than integrated team members results in diminished innovation and productivity. Genuine team extension integrates remote professionals fully into company culture and strategic processes, unlocking their full potential and promoting continuous improvement.
“Body shopping dehumanizes contractors as interchangeable parts, expecting only basic task completion. We advocate viewing staff augmentation as a true team extension, embedding contractors within internal teams. This approach encourages contractors to voice their ideas, suggest improvements, and celebrate team successes, fostering a genuine sense of ownership and deep engagement with the product.”
MIT’s Workforce Ecosystems study indicates integrated teams outperform transactional staff augmentation models significantly, and Google's Project Aristotle identifies psychological safety, achievable through integrated team models, as essential for high-performing teams.
Successful outsourcing transcends transactional relationships, embedding your company’s values, culture, and operational excellence across global teams. By combining principles like Gore’s lattice structure with transparent async communication and deeply integrated team extensions, your organization positions itself for sustainable success and innovation.
BetterEngineer is your strategic partner in transformative global hiring and outsourcing, delivering immediate impact and sustained value. Let’s redefine global team potential—without borders, and without losing your company’s soul.
This article is part of our Hiring Series by Marc Boudria, Chief Innovation Officer at BetterEngineer. Catch up on the full series:
🔹 Part 1 – Beyond Checkboxes: Why It's Time to Rethink How We Hire Tech Talent
🔹 Part 2 – Signals Over Skills: What Really Predicts a Great Engineering Hire
🔹 Part 3 – Outsourcing Without Losing Soul: How to Build Remote Teams That Actually Work (you’re reading it!)
📅 Want to go deeper or explore how these ideas could work for your team?
Book a meeting with Marc to talk about building remote teams that actually work.