[mseebach]

I'm doing pretty agile stuff with my offshore team. I find that it's when I give out the two-three weeks tasks I get the most problems - two-three day tasks work perfect.

> Do you have work which you understand well

This is critical either way -- if you didn't, how would you be able to do the work with a local team?

> and for which you can clearly and completely communicate the requirements in written form?

Be agile: train the developers like you'd train them locally. Put them in the chair of the user (mentally). Write usecases and userstories. Explain the goal of the application.

Again: how would you do this with a local team?

> Do you have work for which it is straightforward to objectively test that milestones are being met and quality is being maintained?

Yup, the same as I'd use with a local team the only one that matters: whether the client's satisfied. Pay your team by the month, just like you'd pay your local developers.