I’d focus less on whether the team is offshore and more on how they work. Before signing a long-term contract, I’d give them a small, well-defined project and see how they handle requirements, communication, documentation, testing, and deadlines.
A few things I’d look for:
A dedicated PM/tech lead who owns communication and can translate business requirements into actionable tasks.
Clear overlap in working hours and agreed communication channels.
Short development cycles with regular demos rather than waiting weeks for a “final” delivery.
A transparent process for documenting requirements, decisions, blockers, and changes.
References from clients with projects similar to yours.
A trial period or pilot project before committing to a large team.
Most importantly, evidence that the team can work independently rather than requiring you to manage every task.
One other thing that can help with the “constant supervision” problem is automating some of the repetitive coordination around the development process. For example, I’ve been looking at https://latenode.com/products/agent-builder, which lets you build AI agents that connect to tools, databases, APIs, and internal workflows. It could be useful for things like routing requests, keeping systems updated, generating summaries or notifications, and handling other repetitive handoffs.