CPH Success Story: The Key to a Winning Partnership between Nearshore Companies and their Clients 

CPH Success Story: The Key to a Winning Partnership between Nearshore Companies and their Clients 

Nearshore, Scio, Success Stories

Written by: Monserrat Raya 

Business professional touching a digital innovation icon representing nearshore software collaboration.

Introduction

True collaboration creates great software At Scio, we’ve learned through experience that great software doesn’t come from process charts or delivery checklists—it comes from people. Collaboration is what makes a product truly work. It’s the bridge between intention and execution, between what clients imagine and what developers bring to life. When a U.S. company partners with a nearshore software development firm, what they’re really doing is choosing a partner that will share the weight of innovation. A real partner doesn’t just take tickets; they listen, anticipate, and adapt. They care about the client’s goals as if they were their own. That’s the essence of collaboration—and the reason why our relationship with CPH & Associates has endured for almost a decade. This success story is more than a case study. It’s a reflection on how trust, culture, and shared values can transform a business relationship into something much greater than a contract.

From vendor to partner: the leap toward true collaboration

There’s a moment in every partnership when something shifts. The client stops seeing you as a vendor, and you stop seeing them as just a project. Suddenly, you’re solving problems together, making decisions side by side, and celebrating milestones as one team. That’s the kind of transformation we believe in. At Scio, we call it strategic nearshoring—because collaboration should never feel like a transaction. It should feel like building something that matters. That’s exactly what happened with CPH; Associates, an insurance company based in Chicago that wanted to simplify how clients interacted with their providers. Back in 2014, they came to us looking for a team that could translate that vision into technology. What began as a project soon evolved into a partnership defined by cultural alignment and mutual respect.
Scio and CPH engineering teams collaborating in a project kickoff meeting.
True partnerships begin with shared goals — not just deliverables.

Dissecting the meaning of collaboration

When both sides share similar values and ways of thinking, collaboration becomes natural. But when there’s a mismatch in culture, expectations, or communication, even the simplest project can become complicated. In software development, success depends on much more than clean code or technical expertise. It depends on how teams communicate, how they build trust, and how they respond to challenges together. A nearshore partnership thrives when both companies mirror each other’s values—transparency, accountability, creativity—and use those similarities to navigate complex projects. True collaboration isn’t just talking daily on Slack. It’s about trust, communication, experience, and technical mastery. These four factors are the backbone of every strong partnership, and in the CPH story, they became the blueprint for long-term success.

Key Factors Behind Successful Nearshore Partnerships

What Made the CPH × Scio Partnership Work
Factor
Why It Matters
How It Worked with CPH
Trust Trust allows both teams to move forward confidently, take risks, and solve problems before they escalate. CPH trusted Scio early because we focused on solutions—not just deliverables. When issues arose, we faced them together.
Communication Clear, consistent communication prevents wasted effort and keeps everyone aligned with the same vision. With overlapping time zones between Mexico and Chicago, teams worked in real time—reviewing sprint outcomes daily and maintaining a shared rhythm.
Industry Experience Experience helps predict risks, streamline processes, and design solutions suited to each industry. Scio’s background in regulated sectors like healthcare and insurance made it easier to meet CPH’s compliance needs and workflows.
Technology Expertise Innovation happens when teams master the tools and technologies that sustain the business. Scio guided CPH through modernization—updating architecture, strengthening security, and ensuring system scalability.
These four pillars became the DNA of our collaboration. They defined how we approached every iteration, every technical challenge, and every opportunity for improvement.

A first approach: from potential to partnership

In 2014, CPH & Associates had a bold vision—to create a unified digital platform for their clients and insurers. The goal was simple: convenience, transparency, and a modern customer experience. But the challenge was complex. Finding the right partner meant more than outsourcing talent; it meant finding a team capable of understanding both the business and the people behind it. That’s when CPH found Scio. Our first meetings weren’t just about timelines or budgets—they were about alignment. As Ameet Shahani, Director of Technology at CPH, recalled later, “Scio’s first approach had substance.” We weren’t selling hours; we were proposing ideas. We didn’t just ask what needed to be done—we asked why. That question—“why?”—was the beginning of everything. The collaboration didn’t become seamless overnight. It took time to find balance. CPH’s domain in insurance came with unique challenges—strict compliance, security demands, and detailed workflows. But as trust built up, both sides found a rhythm that made distance irrelevant. Almost ten years later, the CPH–Scio partnership continues to evolve. What began as a project turned into a long-term collaboration built on cultural synergy, continuous improvement, and mutual respect.
Visual network of connected speech icons symbolizing collaboration in software teams.
When communication flows, innovation follows.

Learning through collaboration: growing together

In software development, learning never stops. Every sprint, every deployment, every retrospective brings a lesson. But when two organizations commit to learning together, that’s when something remarkable happens. The collaboration between Scio and CPH is a living example of that principle. Over the years, dozens of Scio developers have contributed to the project—each bringing fresh perspectives and gaining valuable industry experience in return. For Scio, this project became an internal training ground—a place where our engineers could refine their craft, learn about compliance-heavy environments, and understand how technology impacts real people’s lives. For CPH, it meant working with a team that was always improving, always learning, and always committed to excellence. That’s one of the hidden advantages of nearshore partnerships in Latin America: the ability to rotate and refresh talent without losing momentum. Because of shared time zones, similar professional standards, and cultural proximity, collaboration feels effortless. Developers can join ongoing projects smoothly, contribute fast, and bring energy to long-term initiatives. As Ameet described it, “It’s not the flashiest project out there, but it’s meaningful.” That kind of work requires patience, experience, and a team that genuinely cares. It’s not about chasing trends; it’s about building systems that last.

Why cultural alignment matters more than ever

Cultural alignment is often treated as a soft skill, but it’s one of the most powerful competitive advantages a company can have. In software partnerships, it determines whether innovation flows or stalls.

When two teams share the same values—honesty, accountability, curiosity—they make better decisions. They catch misunderstandings early and turn challenges into collaboration opportunities. That’s exactly what happened between CPH and Scio.

Unlike many offshore engagements, where time zones and cultural gaps slow things down, nearshoring to Mexico and Latin America brings U.S. companies closer to partners who think and work like them. Shared language nuances, similar work ethics, and compatible business hours turn collaboration into a natural daily flow.

For a deeper dive into this topic, check out our related article:
How to Build Culturally Aligned Nearshore Teams That Actually Work

At Scio, cultural alignment isn’t just a checkbox—it’s part of how we hire, train, and grow our teams. Through our Scio Elevate framework, we focus on developing well-rounded engineers who combine technical skill with empathy, communication, and adaptability. Because technology changes fast—but human connection is what makes it all work.
Learn more at Scio Elevate.

Hands joining to form a light bulb, symbolizing partnership and innovation.
Collaboration turns ideas into light — and partnerships into impact.

Lessons from a nine-year partnership

Every long-term partnership leaves lessons behind. For Scio and CPH, these lessons are not about technical success alone—they’re about people, adaptability, and shared purpose.
Lessons from a Nine-Year Partnership
Insight
What It Means
Collaboration is intentional It requires time, openness, and shared rituals—like retrospectives, honest feedback, and transparency about challenges.
Culture isn’t a soft skill — it’s a system How people treat each other and solve conflicts directly shapes the success of a project.
Learning is mutual CPH gained flexibility and innovation; Scio gained domain expertise and a trusted partner.
Trust compounds Every project milestone reinforces reliability. Over time, trust becomes the most valuable deliverable.
Together, these insights highlight the deeper truth behind every successful nearshore partnership: alignment creates acceleration.

Beyond technology: the human equation

Software development isn’t just about code—it’s about people working together under pressure, finding creative solutions, and growing through the process. When Scio partners with clients like CPH, what we’re really building is understanding. That understanding becomes innovation. It turns feedback into better features, conversations into breakthroughs, and challenges into trust. That’s the real key to a winning partnership—empathy and consistency. As companies across the U.S. look for nearshore partners who can scale their development capacity, this story serves as a reminder that success isn’t found in the latest framework or trend. It’s found in the daily practice of listening, aligning, and collaborating with purpose.

The takeaways

Key Lessons from the CPH × Scio Partnership
Lesson
Description
Partnerships thrive on shared culture When both sides value transparency and accountability, collaboration turns friction into progress.
Proximity matters Working in similar time zones fosters real-time collaboration and faster decision-making.
Experience builds resilience A decade-long partnership like Scio–CPH is proof that knowledge and adaptability drive long-term value.
Learning never ends Every collaboration teaches new lessons that shape the next generation of software engineers.

To explore similar success stories, read Why Nearshore is the Right Fit for Agile Software Development.

Ready to build your own success story?

If you’re a tech leader in Dallas, Austin, or anywhere in the U.S. looking for a reliable nearshore partner that values trust, collaboration, and shared success—let’s talk.

Contact Scio and start your own success story today.

Keyboard key with a red question mark representing inquiry and problem-solving.
The best partnerships start by asking the right questions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How I Learned the Importance of Communication and Collaboration in Software Projects. 

How I Learned the Importance of Communication and Collaboration in Software Projects. 

High-Performance Collaboration, Nearshore, Outsourced Engineering Team

Written by: Adolfo Cruz – 

Two software engineers collaborating on a project, discussing code details in a nearshore development environment.

I have been involved in software development for a long time. I started my career on the battlefront: writing code. In recent years, I no longer write code; nowadays, I coordinate the people who write and test the code. I have learned that every team faces some of the common challenges in software projects.

Common Challenges in Software Development Projects

Software projects often encounter several recurring challenges, which can complicate development processes and impact outcomes:

  • Changing Requirements: Unforeseen changes in project scope or client expectations that disrupt development timelines and budgets.
  • Tight Deadlines: Pressures to deliver software within short timeframes that lead to quality compromises and increased stress.
  • Complex Systems: Developing intricate software systems with multiple interconnected components can be challenging to design, test, and maintain.
  • Technical Debt: Accumulating technical debt, such as using inefficient code or neglecting refactoring, can hinder future development and maintenance efforts.
  • Security Threats: Protecting software from vulnerabilities and attacks is crucial but difficult to achieve.
  • Scalability Issues: Ensuring software can handle increasing workloads and user demands as it grows.
  • Communication and Collaboration: Effective communication and collaboration among team members, stakeholders, and clients are essential for successful project outcomes.
  • Unrealistic Expectations: Misaligned expectations between clients and development teams that lead to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction.

Some of these challenges are interconnected or are consequences of others, so I want to focus on one that can cause many of the other problems.

As we’ve discussed in The Key to a Winning Partnership Between Nearshore Companies and Their Clients, successful collaborations start with trust and clarity. These same values are what help software teams overcome challenges like changing requirements or unrealistic expectations.

Two software engineers collaborating on code during a nearshore project review.
Collaboration turns complex code into clear solutions — effective teamwork builds better software for U.S. product teams.

Why Communication and Collaboration Matter in Software Development

Instead of trying to define communication or collaboration, I’ll give you an example of what I consider effective communication/collaboration or the lack of it in this case: When I was a junior developer, I received a well-written document containing the requirements of a report I was supposed to implement in the company’s ERP system. I diligently read the requirements and started coding immediately to meet the two-week deadline. I didn’t ask many questions about the requirements because they were well described in the document, and I didn’t want to give the impression that I could handle the job. Two weeks later, I delivered the report on time after many tests and bug fixes. It was released to the UAT environment, and it monumentally crashed. What went wrong? Now I know what went wrong. Back then, I was embarrassed. Here is a list of the problems that my older me identified:
  • Lack of communication: I received a document, read it, and then jumped into coding without asking about the context of the report, how it was going to be used, how much data was expected to show in a production environment, or who the final users were.
  • Deficient communication: My manager asked me every other day about my progress in development. My answer was: Everything is okay, on track. His reply was: Excellent, keep working. I was not sharing details of my progress, and he didn’t inquire more about my progress. We were not communicating effectively.
  • Lack of collaboration: I was part of a team, but our collaboration was more about providing status than helping each other. I could’ve asked for help from more senior developers about my approach while implementing the report. I could’ve requested a code review of my DB queries, which looked beautiful but performed terribly with large data sets.
So, I had a problem of scalability and a deadline that was not met, caused by deficient communication and collaboration. That is how I discovered that decent technical skills were not enough to become a good developer. I needed to learn more about effective communication and efficient collaboration.

How Communication Quality Shapes Software Project Outcomes

Factor
Strong Communication & Collaboration
Poor Communication & Collaboration
Project Alignment Teams share a clear vision and goals, reducing rework. Misunderstandings cause misaligned deliverables.
Product Quality Issues are identified early and resolved quickly. Bugs and technical debt accumulate unnoticed.
Team Morale Developers feel supported and engaged. Frustration and burnout increase.
Client Satisfaction Expectations are managed through transparency. Clients lose trust due to missed updates or surprises.
Delivery Speed Clear coordination accelerates milestones. Confusion and bottlenecks delay progress.
Scalability Processes evolve smoothly with team growth. Chaos increases as the team expands.
Comparison of outcomes when software teams communicate well vs. poorly. Designed for U.S. tech leaders evaluating nearshore partners.

Examples of Effective Communication and Collaboration

Today, when I coach my teams at Scio, I often talk about the importance of communication and collaboration between all the people involved in a project, for example:

  • After a daily Scrum, is it clear what everybody is working on? Do you leave the meeting with a daily mission to accomplish?
  • Do you know when to ask for help? Have your team defined rules about asking for help when a problem solution takes too long?
  • Are the team goals aligned with the client’s goals?
  • Do you communicate any deviations to the plan to the right people?
  • Do you feel comfortable with your team discussing inefficiencies in your development process?

According to McKinsey Global Institute, improved communication and collaboration can raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20–25%. See: The Social Economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies.

Communication is also at the heart of building culturally aligned teams. In our article How to Build Culturally Aligned Nearshore Teams That Actually Work, we explore how understanding context and values can strengthen teamwork beyond just technical execution.

Agile software team in a sprint planning meeting reviewing requirements and progress.
Strong communication keeps projects aligned — real-time collaboration helps nearshore teams protect scope, schedule, and quality.

Practical Tips for Improving Communication and Collaboration in Software Projects

To make the most of communication and collaboration in your software projects, consider these best practices:

  • Ask Questions: Encourage developers to clarify requirements and ask questions to avoid misunderstandings.
  • Keep everybody in the loop: Keep communication open with team members and anyone involved in the project. “No man is an island,” or in this case, “No team is an island.”
  • Foster a Supportive Team Environment: Promote an atmosphere where team members feel comfortable discussing challenges and asking for assistance.

Summing Up

In summary, technical skills and methodologies are necessary for successful software development, but they aren’t enough without effective communication and collaboration. By focusing on these areas, you can improve project outcomes, reduce misunderstandings, and deliver quality software that meets client expectations.

Interested in learning more about how our teams at Scio can help your software project succeed? Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve your software development goals with a team focused on effective collaboration and communication.

Communication & Collaboration in Software Projects

Adolfo Cruz - PMO Director

Adolfo Cruz

PMO Director
From Offshore Challenges to Agile Nearshore

From Offshore Challenges to Agile Nearshore

Agile Methodology, Nearshore, Nearshore Software Development

Written by: Monserrat Raya 

Team analyzing digital strategy with agile dashboard hologram, representing agile nearshore adoption.

Introduction

Agile has become the backbone of modern software development. According to the State of Agile Report, more than 90% of organizations worldwide now use agile practices in some form, making it the default framework for building and delivering digital products.

Daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and continuous feedback loops define how products are built and delivered. Yet for many U.S. companies, the promise of agile breaks down when distributed teams are spread across time zones or cultural gaps. Offshore models, while cost-effective, often disrupt velocity—the very thing agile is designed to protect.

This is where Agile Nearshore enters the picture. For technology leaders in Austin, Dallas, San Francisco, and New York, partnering with nearshore agile teams in Mexico, Colombia, or Brazil offers a way to protect delivery speed without suffering the trade-offs of offshore outsourcing. Agile nearshore is not a buzzword; it’s a model built on real-time collaboration, cultural alignment, and retention that ensures agile practices work as intended.

What Does Agile Nearshore Mean?

Agile nearshore refers to software delivery where agile practices—sprints, retrospectives, demos, and backlog grooming—are supported by nearshore partners in close geographic and cultural proximity. Unlike “offshore agile,” which tries to retrofit agile rituals across 10- to 12-hour time gaps, agile nearshore allows U.S. companies to collaborate with teams that work during the same business hours and share compatible business practices. The distinction is more than geographic. Nearshore agile delivery is structural alignment with agile principles: communication without friction, iterative development cycles that don’t stall overnight, and engineers who are partners in shaping solutions, not just executors of tasks.
Two puzzle pieces connecting, symbolizing agile and nearshore partnership alignment
Agile and nearshore fit together perfectly—enabling collaboration, adaptability, and cultural alignment.

Why Agile and Nearshore Are a Perfect Match

Agile and nearshore work so well together because both are rooted in the same principles: communication, collaboration, and adaptability. Agile was created to keep teams connected, learning, and adjusting quickly. Nearshore partnerships bring the practical conditions that make those principles viable in distributed environments. When developers share the same time zone, daily stand-ups become genuine problem-solving sessions instead of delayed status updates. When cultural alignment is present, retrospectives turn into open conversations where teams share accountability for both successes and failures. And when retention is prioritized, the knowledge accumulated sprint after sprint stays with the team rather than walking out the door. In practice, this means U.S. companies can maintain their agile rhythm without compromise. Product owners don’t lose half a day waiting for answers. Designers and engineers can iterate side by side in real time. And leadership can trust that the agile discipline they’ve invested in won’t be undermined by geography. Agile provides the framework; nearshore ensures the conditions for it to succeed.

Real-Time Collaboration (Daily Standups in U.S. Hours)

In agile, a 15-minute daily stand-up should clear blockers immediately. With offshore teams, it often turns into a “status report,” with responses arriving the next day. Nearshore agile teams in Mexico or Colombia share the same business hours as Austin or Dallas, so feedback loops happen instantly. A quick check with tools like WorldTimeBuddy shows full overlap between Central U.S. hours and major LATAM tech hubs—something offshore destinations simply can’t provide. That difference often determines whether a sprint stays on track or slips behind schedule.

Cultural Alignment for Agile Rituals

Agile rituals are not just ceremonies—they are cultural practices that thrive on openness, ownership, and shared accountability. Nearshore engineers in Latin America bring a collaborative, proactive mindset that aligns naturally with U.S. work culture. Instead of silence during retrospectives or passive demos, you gain teammates who challenge assumptions, share ideas, and take ownership of outcomes.

Related: How Latin American Teams Align Culturally with U.S. Companies

Faster Feedback Loops & Iterations

Agile delivery depends on iteration speed. Offshore arrangements often insert a 24-hour delay into product cycles, creating costly slowdowns. Nearshore agile delivery removes that lag, allowing teams to adjust features, validate changes, and accelerate time-to-market without losing momentum.

Retention = Knowledge Continuity

One of the hidden risks in agile delivery is turnover. High attrition disrupts sprint rhythm, drains institutional knowledge, and forces teams to restart velocity every few months. Nearshore agile partners like Scio emphasize retention and long-term growth. With an average client relationship of more than five years and a 98% retention rate, continuity becomes a built-in advantage that protects delivery.
Golden key with surrounding digital icons, representing the benefits of agile nearshore for U.S. tech leaders
Agile nearshore unlocks speed, continuity, and flexibility while reducing risk and protecting delivery velocity.

Benefits of Agile Nearshore for U.S. Tech Leaders

For U.S. technology leaders, agile nearshore isn’t just another outsourcing model—it’s a way to protect delivery velocity while reducing the risks that typically come with offshore engagements. The value goes beyond saving money. It’s about enabling speed, continuity, and flexibility at a moment when roadmaps are more ambitious than ever.

Faster Ramp-Up Without the Hiring Delays

Recruiting senior software engineers in the U.S. can easily take six to nine months, even longer in competitive hubs like Austin or the Bay Area. For product teams facing immediate deadlines, those timelines are simply unworkable. Nearshore agile partners make it possible to onboard full squads within weeks, aligning with ongoing sprints instead of delaying them. That speed is not just a convenience—it can determine whether a product reaches the market window on time.

Cost Efficiency With Senior Talent

Every CTO and CFO knows that reducing expenses without losing quality is the real balancing act. Nearshore agile delivery provides that balance. Senior engineers in Mexico or Colombia cost 30–40% less than U.S. hires, according to Amalgagroup.

Flexibility to Match Product Cycles

Agile roadmaps aren’t static—they expand, contract, and pivot as business priorities evolve. With nearshore teams, U.S. companies can scale capacity up or down depending on backlog demand, without compromising agile discipline. This elasticity allows leaders to stay lean during quiet phases and expand rapidly when market opportunities or investor pressure demand faster output.

Closer Oversight and Stronger Trust

Even the best-distributed models benefit from face-to-face connection. With Mexico City or Guadalajara just a few hours from Dallas, Houston, or Austin, in-person visits are not only possible but practical. That proximity strengthens trust, accelerates alignment, and ensures that executives feel present in the process—not managing development from a distance of half a world away.

Related: Building High-Performing Teams in a Nearshoring Environment

Agile Nearshore vs. Offshore Agile Development

The difference between agile nearshore and offshore agile can be summed up in one word: continuity. Offshore teams may be technically capable, but lack of overlap, cultural gaps, and high attrition erode delivery stability.

For a real cost breakdown, use our TCE Calculator.

Factor Agile Nearshore Offshore Agile
Time Zone Alignment Full overlap with U.S. hours 0–2 hrs overlap
Communication Quality Real-time, proactive, collaborative Lagged responses, status reports
Collaboration in Rituals Active engagement in retros/demos Passive participation
Retention & Stability High (avg. 5+ years with Scio) High attrition (frequent restarts)
Costs 30–40% lower than U.S. hiring 50–60% lower, but with hidden costs

How Scio Delivers Agile Nearshore Teams

At Scio, we’ve spent over 20 years helping U.S. companies succeed with agile nearshore models. Our Scio Elevate framework ensures not only technical excellence but also performance enablement, coaching, and long-term retention. That’s why our average client partnership lasts more than five years, with 98% retention. Unlike volume-driven vendors, Scio builds dedicated agile nearshore teams that integrate into your culture and roadmap. They don’t just “deliver sprints”—they become an extension of your product team.

When to Choose Agile Nearshore

Agile nearshore is especially effective when:
  • You need to scale fast without waiting for long in-house hiring cycles.
  • Your product roadmap requires continuous velocity across months or years.
  • You’ve been burned by offshore delays, attrition, or cultural gaps and need stability.
For leaders in Austin, Dallas, and across the U.S., agile nearshore has become the default option to keep velocity intact while scaling strategically.

When Agile Nearshore Makes the Difference

Illustrative snapshot
Scale Speed (weeks)
Agile Nearshore
~2–4
In-House Hiring
~8–12+

Nearshore teams can be onboarded in weeks; in-house cycles often take months.

Velocity Continuity
Agile Nearshore
High
Offshore Teams
Lower

Retention and cultural fit sustain sprint rhythm and team knowledge.

Delivery Risk
Agile Nearshore
Low
Offshore Teams
Higher

Time-zone gaps and attrition increase offshore risk; nearshore mitigates both.

Conclusion

Agile nearshore is more than outsourcing—it’s the strategic alignment of agile delivery with nearshore collaboration. By combining real-time overlap, cultural fit, cost efficiency, and retention, U.S. companies can protect the velocity that makes agile successful.

Discover how Scio’s agile nearshore teams keep your roadmap moving at full speed.

Question mark key on a keyboard, representing FAQs about agile nearshore
Common questions about agile nearshore highlight its benefits for U.S. companies compared to offshore models.

FAQs About Agile Nearshore

  • Agile nearshore is the practice of applying agile software delivery principles with nearshore teams in Latin America, ensuring real-time collaboration and cultural alignment.

  • Agile nearshore offers full time zone overlap, stronger cultural alignment, and higher retention compared to offshore agile, which often struggles with delays and high attrition.

  • Because agile nearshore teams preserve velocity, reduce risk, and provide cost efficiency without sacrificing collaboration or quality.

  • Benefits include faster ramp-up, real-time communication, cultural alignment, lower costs than in-house, and long-term team stability.

How Is Value Really Created? The Forgotten Formula of Perception, Resources, and Satisfaction

How Is Value Really Created? The Forgotten Formula of Perception, Resources, and Satisfaction

Communication & Collaboration, Customer Experience, Nearshore, Project Management, Shared Value, Success Stories

By Guillermo Tena
Customer evaluating satisfaction with stars, representing value perception in marketing.
“We want to create value.”

You hear it everywhere—meetings, pitches, resumes, LinkedIn profiles. But… what does it actually mean to create value?
And more importantly… who decides what’s valuable?

This article doesn’t just answer those questions—it gives you a practical (and actionable) model to understand how value is created from the customer’s perspective, and how that translates into real satisfaction, loyalty or abandonment.

What does it mean to create value?

From a behavioral and strategic standpoint:

Value is anything a person is willing to spend their resources on.

And those resources aren’t just money. They include:

  • Time (the most limited asset)
  • Money (the most exchangeable)
  • Effort (a mix of cognitive, emotional, and physical load)

Every time a customer buys, subscribes, or interacts with you, they’re making an implicit judgment:
is what I get worth what I give? That’s where the key concept comes in:

Value is not what you say it is. It’s what the customer perceives.

In marketing, you’re not selling products or services. You’re selling perceptions.

Perceived value is the real engine behind any purchase decision. Which is why, as a brand, business, or professional, you don’t get to define if you’re creating value. The market does.

This simple principle requires something complex:

  • Humility to listen
  • Empathy to observe without bias
  • Curiosity to constantly validate

If you don’t know how your offering feels from the other side of the counter, you’re guessing.

Person using smartphone with review stars, symbolizing perceived value and customer satisfaction
Perceived value is the real driver of loyalty, satisfaction, and repeat purchases.

The Satisfaction Formula (and Why Most Forget It)

Once you understand that value is perception, you can apply a fundamental formula:

Satisfaction = Perceived Value – Resources Invested

Picture it like a scale. Depending on how it tips, you’ll get one of three outcomes:

Satisfaction

Relationship
Perceived value ≈ Resources invested
Customer feeling
The customer feels it was worth it.

High Satisfaction / Promoter

Relationship
Perceived value > Resources invested
Customer feeling
The customer feels like they won—and becomes a fan.
Business impact
Repeat purchases, loyalty, and positive word of mouth.

Dissatisfaction

Relationship
Perceived value < Resources invested
Customer feeling
The customer feels like they lost, won’t return, and may warn others.

Satisfaction is an emotional equation, not just a functional one. It’s built through the entire experience—not just the product.

Why This Formula Matters to Your Business

Because if you understand this equation, you can diagnose and improve every part of the
customer journey. You don’t need more features, you need to deliver more perceived value with less friction.

Key questions to apply this thinking

  • How much effort does it take for your customer to get what you offer?
  • Are you communicating value clearly—and emotionally?
  • Where can you reduce the perceived cost of your experience?
  • Are you focused on exceeding expectations—or just meeting them?

Mental Tool: The “Emotional Fairness” Model

People don’t just want value. They want fairness in the exchange.

When what they receive feels fair—or better—than what they gave, they feel good. When it doesn’t,
their defense system kicks in: they hesitate, withdraw, or walk away.

You’re not just competing with other brands. You’re competing with your customer’s emotional memory of their best—and worst—experiences.

Hand pointing at customer journey icons, showing how satisfaction comes from balancing value and effort
Reducing customer effort and friction increases perceived value across the journey.

Conclusion: Understand to Serve

Creating value isn’t about adding more. It’s about delivering what truly matters.

And that only happens when you stop looking at your offer through your own eyes— and start seeing it through the eyes of the one who chooses (or rejects) you.

If you’re not creating high perceived value with less cost, you’re not creating satisfaction. You’re creating friction.

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s the customer’s subjective judgment of what they gain versus what they invest (time, money, or effort).

By comparing expected value with perceived value received. Tools like NPS, CSAT, and interviews can help.

Because effort is one of the key “hidden costs” affecting value perception. Smooth, simple experiences create fans.

Want to dive deeper into how to design high-perceived-value offers, reduce friction, and boost customer satisfaction?
Happy to chat.
Guillermo Tena

Guillermo Tena

Head of Growth
Founder @ KHERO (clients: Continental, AMEX GBT, etc.) Head of Growth @ SCIO Consultant & Lecturer in Growth and Consumer Behavior

Remote Work: Soft skills for a successful team

Remote Work: Soft skills for a successful team

Entrepreneurship, Nearshore, Outsourced Engineering Team, Project Management, Successful Outsourcing

Written by: Monserrat Raya 

Wooden blocks with teamwork, communication, and leadership icons on green background

Introduction

If you’re leading a development team in Dallas or Austin today, chances are your engineers aren’t all in the same office—or even the same country. Your roadmap is ambitious, deadlines are aggressive, and the talent shortage keeps your recruiting pipeline thin. To stay competitive, you’re working with distributed or nearshore teams.

But here’s the reality: technical skills alone won’t keep your team moving. A sprint can fall apart not because your developers don’t know React or Python, but because messages are misunderstood, feedback feels harsh, or ownership isn’t clear. That’s why soft skills—communication, adaptability, accountability, empathy—are now the backbone of successful remote engineering teams.

At Scio, we’ve been working remotely with clients in the U.S. for more than 20 years, long before “remote work” was a buzzword. From Dallas startups to Austin scale-ups, we’ve seen first-hand that the most effective teams are not just technically strong—they are culturally aligned, communicative, and built on trust.

Why Soft Skills Matter More in Remote Tech Teams

In a traditional Dallas office, a CTO could walk over to a developer’s desk, sense frustration, or overhear an informal conversation that cleared up a misunderstanding. In remote environments, those subtle signals vanish.

When collaboration depends only on Slack threads or Zoom calls, the cost of miscommunication increases exponentially. An ambiguous message can stall a sprint. A lack of accountability can delay a deliverable without anyone realizing it until the next retrospective.

Soft skills are no longer “nice to have.” They are the invisible infrastructure of distributed teams:

  • Clear communication: it’s not about writing more, but writing better—documenting decisions so they survive across time zones.
  • Empathy and cultural awareness: what sounds neutral to an engineer in Dallas may feel abrupt to a teammate in Monterrey. Empathy reduces friction and builds trust.
  • Radical accountability: when you can’t see people at their desks, you need to rely on ownership of deliverables, not hours online.

Engineer typing on laptop with hologram icons of soft skills for remote communication
Illustration of remote communication soft skills such as adaptability and empathy, crucial for tech leaders managing distributed engineering teams.

Communication Beyond Zoom and Slack

We’ve all experienced the awkward silence of a Zoom call: is it confusion, a muted microphone, or lack of engagement? In distributed settings, these doubts erode confidence and slow execution.

For CTOs and VPs of Engineering, mastering remote communication isn’t optional—it’s the lever that determines whether your roadmap is achieved or derailed.

Practical strategies that consistently work for high-performing teams:

  • Set meeting etiquette: structured agendas sent in advance, rotating facilitators, and “camera on” for critical sessions.
  • Define meeting types clearly: client demos should not be run like internal brainstorms. Intent clarity reduces wasted time.
  • Create living documentation: if the decision isn’t captured in Confluence or Notion, it effectively doesn’t exist. This ensures progress even when teammates are offline.
  • Foster psychological safety: create “ask anything” channels, run bi-weekly learning reviews, and normalize recognizing mistakes without blame.

Comparative View

In-Person
Remote
Read body language, gestures, and tone easily Context missing, misinterpretations more likely
Quick desk-side clarifications Requires async clarity (Slack, docs, Loom)
Serendipitous chats build trust Needs intentional online social spaces

Choosing the Right Tools for Remote Collaboration

The wrong tools can fragment a team faster than timezone differences. A Dallas CTO once told us: “We had six platforms, and nobody knew where decisions lived.” That’s tool overload.

Tools That Matter Today
  • Collaboration & Docs: Notion, Confluence, Google Workspace.
  • Project Management: Linear, Jira, Trello (but used consistently).
  • Async Communication: Loom, Slack clips.
  • Code Collaboration: GitHub Copilot Chat, GitLab.
  • Whiteboarding & B BreadcrumbListrainstorming: Miro, FigJam.

At Scio, we complement these with custom internal tools like an updated employee directory and proprietary time-tracking systems. They help our nearshore teams integrate seamlessly with clients in Texas, ensuring knowledge isn’t lost in silos.

Wooden blocks with teamwork, communication, and leadership icons on green background
Symbols of teamwork, adaptability, and accountability—representing the essential soft skills that keep nearshore development teams performing effectively.

Building Remote Company Culture Across Borders

Remote culture isn’t built on virtual happy hours or emoji reactions. It’s about how people feel about their work, their teammates, and the mission—even when separated by geography. The most resilient distributed teams are those where culture is designed, not left to chance.

What Works in Nearshore Teams

  • Structured onboarding: Culture starts on day one. Successful nearshore teams combine technical onboarding with cultural immersion—introducing new engineers not just to the workflow, but to the “why” of the product and the expectations of the client.
  • Shared rituals with intent: Daily standups, retrospectives, and demos create rhythm. Extending rituals to include cross-border celebrations—such as observing U.S. holidays with Mexican teams—strengthens alignment and reduces the “us vs. them” gap.
  • Continuous feedback loops: Strong cultures thrive on feedback, not annual reviews. Monthly one-on-ones, open retros, and tools for anonymous feedback allow issues to surface early and prevent disengagement.
  • Social bonding beyond tasks: Slack channels for hobbies, virtual coffee chats, and periodic in-person meetups (in Austin, Dallas, or Monterrey) transform coworkers into teammates. This sense of belonging directly improves retention and productivity.
  • Recognition and visibility: In remote setups, wins can easily go unnoticed. Structured recognition programs—where contributions are highlighted in cross-team meetings—help engineers feel valued across borders.

Nearshore teams in Mexico offer a unique advantage: shared time zones and cultural proximity mean rituals don’t feel forced. Instead, they blend seamlessly into daily collaboration, making remote culture less about distance and more about shared purpose.

Soft Skills Every Remote Engineer Needs

Here’s what CTOs in Dallas and Austin should look for when evaluating remote engineers:

Soft Skill
Impact on Remote Teams
Communication Ensures clarity across async and synchronous channels
Adaptability Smoothly navigates changing tools, processes, and time zones
Accountability Replaces “visibility” with ownership of deliverables
Cultural Awareness Builds trust between U.S. and LATAM team members
Feedback Skills Drives continuous improvement without tension

Final Thoughts: Why Nearshore Teams Excel at Remote Collaboration

For CTOs and VPs of Engineering in Dallas and Austin, the future isn’t “remote vs office”—it’s distributed, flexible, and collaborative. But without strong soft skills, even the best technical teams stall.

That’s why nearshore partnerships with Mexico are so powerful:

  • Shared time zones = real-time collaboration.
  • Cultural alignment reduces friction.
  • Frameworks like ScioElevate ensure talent growth and accountability.
  • Over 20 years of Scio experience = proven success with U.S. tech leaders.

Scio helps you build trusted, skilled, and easy-to-work-with remote teams—designed to truly extend your capacity without losing culture or speed.

FAQs About Remote Team Soft Skills

  • Because distributed teams can’t rely on proximity to solve problems. Soft skills like empathy, clarity, and accountability ensure collaboration works across borders and time zones.

  • By creating structured onboarding, shared rituals, and open feedback loops. Nearshore partners like Scio help reinforce these practices with cultural alignment and proven frameworks.

  • Communication, adaptability, accountability, and cultural awareness are non-negotiable. Technical skills matter, but without these, delivery suffers.

  • With shared time zones, cultural familiarity, and long-term partnerships, nearshore teams eliminate many of the barriers offshore teams face, while keeping costs competitive.

Building Remote Company Culture Across Borders

Remote culture isn’t about virtual happy hours. It’s shared purpose, clear expectations, and repeatable rituals that make collaboration feel natural across Dallas, Austin, and nearshore teams in Mexico.

Structured Onboarding

Blend technical ramp-up with cultural immersion. Day one clarifies mission, quality standards, communication channels, and the decision log (Notion/Confluence). Assign a buddy for the first two weeks.

Rituals with Intent

Daily standups, bi-weekly retros, and monthly demos must have a clear agenda and documented outcomes. If a meeting doesn’t produce an artifact, it didn’t scale culture.

Feedback Loops & Psychological Safety

Establish a cadence of 1:1s, learning reviews, and an “ask-anything” space. Early, blameless surfacing of issues is the hallmark of resilient cultures.

Recognition & Visibility

Make contributions visible across borders—shout-outs during demos, rotating speakers in tech talks, and explicit recognition to prevent remote disconnect.

Time-Zone Alignment (U.S.–Mexico)

Synchronize critical decision-making within overlapping Dallas/Austin–CDMX/Monterrey hours. Use async video/docs for everything else to reduce hand-off loss.

Cross-Border Rituals

Observe U.S. and Mexican holidays, host bilingual tech talks, and celebrate milestones on both sides to replace “us vs. them” with shared identity.

Shared Quality Bar & Definition of Done

Maintain a single artifact with quality standards and DoD. Align QA and code reviews within overlap windows to speed feedback cycles.

Knowledge as a Product

Centralize context and decisions. If it isn’t documented in the source of truth (Notion/Confluence), it doesn’t exist.

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Top 8 Red Flags in Agile Retrospectives

Top 8 Red Flags in Agile Retrospectives

High-Performance Collaboration, Nearshore, Outsourced Engineering Team, Strategic Digital Nearshoring

Written by: Yamila Solari

Agile retrospective meeting where a team leader presents sprint improvements

In Scrum, the Retrospective is a vital ceremony—a moment for the team to reflect on what went well during the sprint and what could be improved. It typically happens at the end of each sprint, just before the next one begins, giving everyone a chance to apply lessons learned from day one. It’s how we close the learning loop.

Just holding a Retrospective is already a step in the right direction—it encourages a growth mindset and signals that continuous improvement matters. But it’s not uncommon to see a team skip one… then decide to do them every few sprints… and eventually stop doing them altogether. That’s a red flag.

If your team is deprioritizing Retrospectives, it’s worth asking: why? Time constraints are often the default excuse. But if Retros are consistently the first thing cut, chances are they’re not delivering value. And that’s something worth digging into.

In my experience, even high-performing teams benefit from a well-run Retrospective. There’s plenty of advice out there on how to run one effectively. But in this article, I want to focus on something that often gets overlooked—the warning signs that a Retrospective isn’t doing its job. Below, you’ll find the red flags I see most often—the ones that quietly stall improvement and chip away at team performance over time.

8 Common Red Flags in Agile Retrospectives

1. No Action Items Come Out of the Session

If your team reflects but doesn’t leave with clear, time-bound, measurable action items—each with an owner—then you’re just talking in circles. Reflection without follow-through is one of the most common ways Retros lose value.

2. Not Enough Questions Are Being Asked

Curiosity fuels growth. If no one’s asking questions—Why did that happen? What else could we try?—you might be dealing with low engagement, surface-level conversations, or even fear of speaking up.

3. There’s No Follow-Up on Previous Action Items

Improvement only happens when we follow through. Starting each Retro with a check-in on the last action items keeps accountability alive and helps the team see real progress over time.

4. Team Members Avoid Talking About Questionable Behaviors

Healthy teams need to feel safe calling out what isn’t working—including behaviors or attitudes that quietly go against the team’s values. Silence here builds resentment, not trust.

5. The Same People Stay Quiet Every Time

Everyone brings value, and every voice matters. If the same folks are always quiet, even with techniques like sticky notes or anonymous voting, it might be time to rethink your facilitation approach.

6. The Team Spends Time on Issues Outside Their Control

Time is a limited resource. While it’s okay to acknowledge blockers outside the team, energy should be focused on things the team can influence and improve directly.

7. The Conversation Drifts into Product Strategy or Architecture

Retrospectives are about how the team works together—not what to build or how to architect it. These important conversations need their own time and space to be effective.

8. The Team Leader Holds Back Too Much

Some leaders avoid speaking up in Retrospectives to prevent dominating the discussion. But done with care, their experience and context can be invaluable—as long as it’s shared as input, not instruction.

Table: Red Flags → Symptoms → Risk → Next-Sprint Fix

Red Flag
Typical Symptom
Risk to Delivery
Next-Sprint Fix (Owner · Measure)
No action items Retro ends with discussion only Issues resurface; morale dips Facilitator enforces 1–3 SMART actions; publish in Confluence · % of actions completed by next Retro
Few/no questions Silence; superficial comments Low engagement; blind spots Scrum Master uses “5 Whys” + round-robin prompts · # of unique voices contributing
No follow-up Past actions never reviewed Accountability erodes PO + SM start Retro with action check-in · Completion rate & cycle time
Behavior topics avoided “We’ll skip that…” Unspoken tension, churn Team uses “facts–impact–request” format · # of behavior items surfaced
Same people stay quiet 2–3 voices dominate Missed signals, bias Facilitator applies silent-write → dot-vote → speak · Participation ratio
Focus on externals Time spent on “can’t control” Helplessness, drift Team splits board: “Control / Influence / Observe” · % of actions in Control/Influence
Strategy/architecture hijacks Debates derail Retro Process issues persist PO captures parking lot; schedules follow-ups · # of off-topic items redirected
Leader holds back too much Lack of context, stuck Decisions lag Team Lead shares context as input (not mandate) · Decision latency between sprints
Agile retrospective meeting where a team leader presents sprint improvements
Agile Retrospective — Team reviewing sprint outcomes to spot red flags and align on continuous improvement.

Questions to Reignite Your Agile Retrospectives

If any of the red flags above hit close to home, consider asking your team:

  • Are we noticing the same patterns?
  • What’s really going on here?
  • What would we gain if we changed this?
  • What can we commit to as a team?
  • What should our next Retro look like?

These questions can spark meaningful dialogue—and help you co-create a format that actually serves your team.

Conclusion: What Experience Has Taught Me

After years of working with Agile teams, one thing’s clear—Retrospectives are often the first thing to go when the pressure is on. And yet, they’re one of the most powerful tools we have to ease that pressure. They create space for reflection, clarity, and change. But they only work if we’re honest with ourselves about what’s not working.

If you’ve seen these red flags before, you’re not alone. They show up even in mature teams. What matters is what you do next.

Retrospectives don’t need to be perfect. They just need to be real. Consistent. Intentional. A little more effort here can make a big difference—not just in how your team works, but in how your people feel.

FAQs About Agile Retrospectives

  • Typically 60–90 minutes. Keep discussion focused on outcomes and ensure 1–3 concrete, owned action items.

  • Rotate formats (Start/Stop/Continue, 4Ls, Sailboat), vary facilitation, and always begin by reviewing last sprint’s actions.

  • Start with silent writing and anonymous voting, use neutral prompts, and explicitly separate people from process. Celebrate candor.

  • Leaders should contribute context as input, not instruction. Facilitate space for all voices, then help turn insights into owned actions.

  • One to three, maximum. Assign an owner and a measurable outcome for each; review at the start of the next Retro.

Yamila Solari

Yamila Solari

General Manager