Last updated on June 16th, 2023 at 06:39 pm
Outsourcing is a common practice in business. It’s a practical way to save time and money while streamlining processes and improving productivity. As advantageous as outsourcing is for large and small businesses, it’s not without challenges. While it seems like a set it and forget it concept, there’s more to outsourcing than hiring someone else to take care of monotonous or complex tasks for you. Continue reading to learn about potential outsourcing obstacles and ways to overcome them.
Selecting The Wrong People
You can’t outsource to anyone that claims to be an expert. Whether it’s phone calls and appointment scheduling or marketing and IT, selecting the wrong company or individual to perform tasks on your behalf could prove detrimental. If they lack the educational or professional experience necessary to perform well, it ultimately falls back on you. Their mistakes not only become your company’s mistakes, but they also waste time, money and ruin your reputation.
Just as you take your time and develop set criteria, evaluations, and interviews to hire in-house employees, you must do the same when outsourcing. Determine what your needs are, create a list of qualifications you’re looking for, and consult with multiple candidates before making a final decision. Ask questions, review supporting data (resumes, portfolios, client reviews, etc.), and compare rates and services to find the best fit.
Managing Outsourced Teams
Remote teams have become more popular over the past two years. Business owners have the opportunity to hire skilled professionals from virtually anywhere in the world to work for the organization. While the loosening of geographical boundaries has its advantages, the locations, employment laws, and cultural differences make management more challenging. Managers can experience trouble with everything from communication to collaboration.
Working with an HR partner or employer of record is one of the most effective solutions on how to manage outsourced employees. Such service providers can take the weight off your shoulders by ensuring you comply with local employment laws, assisting with communication and time issues, and managing global teams for you.
Protecting Intellectual Property and Company Data
Outsourcing company tasks to an agency or individual ultimately means providing them with information about your business. Everything from company financials and trade secrets to business plans and consumer data is up for grabs. Not to mention providing access to company software and technologies. Whether the information is lost, stolen, or shared with outside sources, it could result in catastrophic consequences for your company.
Protecting intellectual property and company data is critical. For starters, you must ensure that you’ve done your due diligence to outsource to a trusted agency. Secondly, have a business attorney draft legally sound contracts with specific details that prevent outsourced parties from mismanaging any information you may provide.
Collaboration And Workflow
While they may not come in the office every day, once you’ve outsourced to someone, they’re essentially part of the team. It can be difficult, particularly in the beginning, to develop a plan that enables them to collaborate with the team while maintaining a sensible workflow. Simply allowing them to “do their own thing” could cause issues throughout your organization.
Fortunately, there are a lot of collaboration tools for businesses to make this process easier. Whether it’s sharing files, conducting meetings, utilizing databases, or completing large projects, there are cloud-based applications and other technologies that you can use to bridge the gap. Such platforms allow teams from virtually anywhere to work together for a more seamless workflow.
Outsourcing is a convenient practise that business owners use to improve and grow their brands. With the right agency, employee, or independent contractor in the mix, tedious and complex company tasks are completed more efficiently. If you’re thinking about taking advantage of outsourcing, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the potential problems. By developing solutions like those listed above, you can reap the benefits while saving yourself a lot of stress in the future.
