Working With Someone in Another Country: What to Agree at the Start
Most of the differences that matter in daily work sit between teams, not between countries. Two companies in the same city can differ on when someone raises a problem, how they disagree and how a review comment is written. A professional who has worked for international clients for years can know your way of working better than a new hire from down the road.
So it comes down to a few agreements at the start. Tunga staffs digital professionals from across Africa and prepares both sides: the professional in selection, the Tunga Academy and an onboarding call, your team at a kick-off where the delivery manager puts these habits on the table. The same delivery manager checks in with both afterwards.
What to agree in the first week
Most of these habits have two normal answers. What matters is that both sides know which one your team uses.
- When to raise a problem. Some teams flag a blocker the moment it appears ("stuck on the payment API, still looking"); others flag it once there is a fix to go with it. Say which you want, and react well the first time someone raises a problem early.
- How to disagree. "I don't think this design will hold" is said in the stand-up in some teams and in a private message afterwards in others. If you want it in the meeting, say so, and ask for it the first few times.
- How feedback is written. A short review comment such as "this won't work, redo it" is normal in some teams and reads as a reprimand in others. Agree how review comments are written, and that criticism in a review is about the code, not the person.
- Writing or calling. A question sent at 4 p.m. can mean "when you get to it" in one team and "before you log off" in another. Agree what goes in writing and what in a call, how quickly a chat message needs an answer, and whether cameras are on.
- Hours. Most of Africa is 0 to 2 hours from Central European Time, and most African countries do not change their clocks, so the gap shifts twice a year. Lagos: same time in winter, 1 hour behind in summer. Nairobi: 2 hours ahead in winter, 1 in summer. Agree which hours both sides are reachable.
- Time off and public holidays. A release planned for a day that is a public holiday on the other side can leave you without the person who built it. Agree how time off is announced, and check the dates before you plan. The public holidays page lists them for the countries where Tunga's professionals work.
This takes one conversation at the start and a check a few weeks later on whether the agreements hold. The 3 questions for that first conversation are in the blog There is a manual for hiring across cultures.
How Tunga prepares both sides
- The first blocker reaches you while it is still small. Every professional is interviewed on communication and situational awareness, with particular attention to speaking up when something is unclear or wrong, and trained in professional skills and communication with international clients in the Tunga Academy (see how Tunga selects professionals).
- Nobody on your side starts by explaining the basics. An onboarding call before day 1 covers how to work well with your team, alongside the practical setup (see the first weeks with a new professional).
- Nobody has to remember to bring these habits up. A delivery manager and an account manager join your team's kick-off, where time off, time zones and communication channels are agreed, and where the delivery manager puts the other habits above on the table too.
- You hear about a mismatch early, before it settles in the team. The delivery manager calls the professional at the end of week 1 and checks in with both sides at least once a month.
What your team expects can only come from your team. Tunga makes sure the question is asked at the start, and someone checks afterwards whether the answer landed.
Where Tunga fits
Tunga takes the staffing side off the plate of companies that need digital professionals: software engineers, AI operators, product managers and other digital roles, from across Africa. The client directs the work. Tunga handles finding and vetting, contracts, payments and compliance, onboarding, keeping people, and replacing them when someone leaves or it isn't working. The professionals are independent contractors or employed in their own country through an employer of record, and work remotely from their own country; the client has one contract, with Tunga, and a delivery manager who checks in with both sides. In 2025, about 1 in 56 placements ended because the professional left for another job. Founded in 2015; 3,500 professionals across 38 African countries and 300+ client companies, as of September 2026.
Tunga is not the right fit when the role has to be on site, when the work means talking to your clients in a language other than English or French, or when saving on cost is the main reason you're looking.
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