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I tried using oDesk because I thought it would speed up my development. It didn't. I'm sure that the people I engaged had the skills, but unless I had a daily conference call the project just got way off-track. It started off as bi-weekly, conf calls - I'm not an obsessive micro manager, besides I don't have the time for that, but it was quickly apparent that they were doing the absolute bare minimum, and actually not strictly following spec. I gave them a bit of leeway to fix the stuff, until I realised I was being taken for a ride, nothing was really being delivered. I think I spent about 250 euros, nothing really, and I ended up taking the project back and finishing it myself, in a week. I'm not saying my experience is everyone's, but my advice is only give very small tasks, specify exactly what you want them to do, don't expect them to do any thinking, and they only seem to work if you have the time to micro manage them. Check the screenshots very carefully. That will tell you if they are working or not, and finally make sure they actually deliver something to you at the end of each week. Lastly, make sure they are in a similar time frame as you. I'm in Europe, and had Indians. Half their day was over by the time I got up, which meant I lost a day when they'd gone off track. India works for the states because they are beginning their day during the US day. |