The other day I answered a question about working with outsource partners. The guy who asked the question complained that he had been trying to find reliable outsourcing partners but the level of responsiveness he got was ways below his expectations. He was asking what the reasonable level of responsiveness is. Here is what I answered him:
Whenever you are working with somebody, always give them a deadline that is at minimum a week before your actual date that you need it. Do not let them know that that is the case. Most often, the people you are outsourcing from have multiple clients and the challenge there is that their time is divided between all of those people and they tend to address the projects that are most current or that need the attention at that particular time.
It is important that you establish your expectations upfront because whenever you are working with somebody, the first thing that you want to ask them is, "Do you have time? Are you able to take on new clients?"
If the answers to both questions are yes, then you can start negotiating the turnaround time for the project. They will tell you when they will be able to finish it.
Then you want to follow that one up just to make sure you say, "Okay, so from my understanding, if I give you a project on Monday, it is going to be completed by XYZ date," whatever their timeline may be. That way, you won their commitment in terms of they are the ones that have shared with you their timeline and they have agreed and committed to that.
My next step is to give a trial project. A trial project is meant to test the waters and to see how we communicate. So give them a project, which is not time-sensitive.
One of the other questions that I would give you to ask them is, "How do you like to communicate with your clients? Is it via telephone or is it via email? If it is via email, what is the best one to reach you at? Is it via instant messaging? If so, do you use MSN, Yahoo, Skype? What instant messaging do you use and what is your ID name and what hours do you generally work?"
The best time for communication is important to know because different people work at different times. Some people work mainly at night because then they work best. Other people work during normal work hours.
You really have to gauge that in that sense as well because if you have an important or crucial question for them and they generally work from 10 pm to 4 am and you try to get them through regular business hours and you do not know why you cannot reach them.
Another trick I use when working with outsourcing partners is to eliminate all the quesswork for them. I don't know if many other people do it but I really like it and it works for me because it makes our cooperation more effective.
For instance, when I have outsourced the creation of a website, I browse a lot and find many sites I like. Then I show them to the webmaster, so that he can use them as reference while creating my site.
I pick up five to ten sites and tell the webmaster what I like in each site - i.e. the colors, the fonts, the layout, etc. I provide many examples to illustrate my point.
As you guess, the process of picking sites takes a lot of time. However, in fact it does save a lot of time and effort because when your outsourcing partner has clear guidelines, less communication is necessary and their task is easier. As a result, this is a very effective approach and that's why I use it with my outsourcing partners.
I have already stated that the most important issues you need to clarify are managing your expectations and getting commitment (including clarifying the timeframe) from your partner. Another very important issue is to discover the best way for communication and the best time to do it.
Then also, your first project with any Outsource partner definitely make it a project that for you is not time sensitive but you are basically using that project to test the waters. If you are not comfortable with them, do not give them any other work because there is something that is telling you that it is not right so move on to the next.
Very often the process of finding responsive outsourcing partners is based on trial and error. You might have to try many providers till you find The One. Once you find somebody you enjoy working with, rest assured - you can use them for as many projects as you have! - 15246
Whenever you are working with somebody, always give them a deadline that is at minimum a week before your actual date that you need it. Do not let them know that that is the case. Most often, the people you are outsourcing from have multiple clients and the challenge there is that their time is divided between all of those people and they tend to address the projects that are most current or that need the attention at that particular time.
It is important that you establish your expectations upfront because whenever you are working with somebody, the first thing that you want to ask them is, "Do you have time? Are you able to take on new clients?"
If the answers to both questions are yes, then you can start negotiating the turnaround time for the project. They will tell you when they will be able to finish it.
Then you want to follow that one up just to make sure you say, "Okay, so from my understanding, if I give you a project on Monday, it is going to be completed by XYZ date," whatever their timeline may be. That way, you won their commitment in terms of they are the ones that have shared with you their timeline and they have agreed and committed to that.
My next step is to give a trial project. A trial project is meant to test the waters and to see how we communicate. So give them a project, which is not time-sensitive.
One of the other questions that I would give you to ask them is, "How do you like to communicate with your clients? Is it via telephone or is it via email? If it is via email, what is the best one to reach you at? Is it via instant messaging? If so, do you use MSN, Yahoo, Skype? What instant messaging do you use and what is your ID name and what hours do you generally work?"
The best time for communication is important to know because different people work at different times. Some people work mainly at night because then they work best. Other people work during normal work hours.
You really have to gauge that in that sense as well because if you have an important or crucial question for them and they generally work from 10 pm to 4 am and you try to get them through regular business hours and you do not know why you cannot reach them.
Another trick I use when working with outsourcing partners is to eliminate all the quesswork for them. I don't know if many other people do it but I really like it and it works for me because it makes our cooperation more effective.
For instance, when I have outsourced the creation of a website, I browse a lot and find many sites I like. Then I show them to the webmaster, so that he can use them as reference while creating my site.
I pick up five to ten sites and tell the webmaster what I like in each site - i.e. the colors, the fonts, the layout, etc. I provide many examples to illustrate my point.
As you guess, the process of picking sites takes a lot of time. However, in fact it does save a lot of time and effort because when your outsourcing partner has clear guidelines, less communication is necessary and their task is easier. As a result, this is a very effective approach and that's why I use it with my outsourcing partners.
I have already stated that the most important issues you need to clarify are managing your expectations and getting commitment (including clarifying the timeframe) from your partner. Another very important issue is to discover the best way for communication and the best time to do it.
Then also, your first project with any Outsource partner definitely make it a project that for you is not time sensitive but you are basically using that project to test the waters. If you are not comfortable with them, do not give them any other work because there is something that is telling you that it is not right so move on to the next.
Very often the process of finding responsive outsourcing partners is based on trial and error. You might have to try many providers till you find The One. Once you find somebody you enjoy working with, rest assured - you can use them for as many projects as you have! - 15246
About the Author:
Answers to all the frequent business questions you have are only seconds away. If you want live and recorded, audio, visual and written responses, Instant Business Answers can help with small business support.
