Dianne Pajo
There are several reasons why many businesses are choosing to outsource part of their operations. The main reason is cost-effectiveness, but access to a bigger talent pool and overall efficiency resulting from the capacity to concentrate on your key objectives also play important roles. But as beneficial as outsourcing is, some issues may develop. Learn how to handle the most common problems when outsourcing to keep everything running smoothly.
Cultural Barriers
You may not recognize it unless you’ve worked in a culturally diverse environment, but cultural context and understanding play a significant role in outsourcing. Although diversity enhances long-term creativity and profitability goals, it might have a learning curve at the outset. Furthermore, because you’ll be reaching out to a worldwide market, different time zones can cause complications. Many companies prefer to outsource to teams in the United States because it can minimize some of these limitations.
Hidden Costs
Although outsourcing aims to cut costs, it might backfire if you don’t do it correctly. When budgeting to see if outsourcing is right for your business, you’ll want specific needs, dates, personnel, etc. This takes us to one of the most challenging aspects of outsourcing: establishing a realistic cost estimate.
Having a project manager go through these figures to formulate a game plan is a helpful tip when outsourcing. These individuals will highlight every hidden cost you may have overlooked initially, painting you a detailed picture of what you can expect and how much it will cost you.
Lack of Quality Help
Some managers may think of outsourcing in the same light as generals did for the frontline of the Revolutionary War. In theory, having more bodies and people giving you a helping hand should yield better results. However, that could lead to more headaches than you anticipated. Focus on the quality of the outsourced team over the number of people you need. You don’t want to treat outsourcing like a temp agency, so find a highly regarded vendor and see what they have to offer.
Inexperience From Both Sides
If you have never outsourced before, you may feel like a chicken with your head cut off because of these various issues. So, even if you lack experience handling an outsourced staff, use a vendor with years of experience. The idea of outsourcing employees is to have them step in seamlessly without a hitch. And if you lack experience and use a new vendor, you might regret your decision.
There will be bumps in the road, and recognizing the most common problems when outsourcing before you make that commitment helps you know what not to do. Outsourcing is terrific for many businesses, and there are plenty of vendors out there who excel in this area but don’t fall into these traps when you’re on the hunt for some help.
