The growing popularity of outsourcing
The popularity of outsourcing, which is the practice of hiring a third party to perform services or create goods, has been on the rise for the last several years. In 2018, the market size for global outsourcing reached $85.6 billion and the trend is expected to become even more widespread in the future. The numbers speak for themselves – about 300,000 jobs get outsourced out of the US each year, hence the mixed opinions about the practice. People tend to blame it for the loss of jobs and contribution to the economic crisis.
On the other hand, 78% of businesses all over the world feel positive about their outsourcing partners and about 25% of small businesses choose to outsource to improve efficiency. Jobs that are among those most commonly outsourced are accounting, IT and customer service.
No matter the attitude to outsourcing, the fact is that it is likely to continue growing. To make the process as efficient as possible, it’s important to have in mind some tips on how to effectively outsource business activities.
How effectively outsource business activities?
1. Specify the scope of tasks in detail and discuss the expected results
Be clear about the details of the tasks you’re outsourcing, so that your outsourcing partner is able to allocate their project resources and deliver the project on time and on budget. It might save your time and money, as it guarantees that there is no room for misunderstandings. Discussing the expected results will help you make sure everyone knows what they need to focus on to achieve the outcome and work towards it.
2. Provide the contractor with as much information about the company as possible
Make sure you provide your outsourcing partner with enough information not only about the particular job you’re commissioning but also about your company. It will let them identify your needs better and therefore improve their performance. Is there something particularly important from the point of view of a given task? Think about what information they need and make sure they get it in the initial phase of the project to avoid delays in project delivery.
3. Use HeySpace for monitoring tasks and communication
Once you’ve discussed the task itself as well as the needs and requirements of your company, the next crucial thing to take care of is the communication process. You want to monitor the progress on an ongoing basis and your contractor wants to be able to contact you in case there are some questions or decisions to make.
What will definitely help you streamline a process is an efficient tool for task management and communication, such as HeySpace. With HeySpace’s kanban boards and task cards, your outsourcing partner can organize the project you’ve commissioned and prioritize the workload, while you can have a clear overview of the status of each task. At the same time, it provides you with an intuitive and user-friendly chat to ensure effective communication in real-time. HeySpace comes with many useful features and add-ons, so it can be easily customized to suit the needs of your company or project.
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4. Use TimeCamp for time tracking
Apart from an efficient task management and communication app, you also need a time tracking tool to facilitate reporting. TimeCamp automatically records all activities of a user and displays the data in the form of detailed reports and timesheets. Thanks to that, your contractor will spend more time on activities related to the project which will increase their productivity and you’ll be sure that your money is well-spent.
TimeCamp can be integrated with HeySpace to further improve the collaboration with your outsourcing partner.
5. Analyze the achieved effects
Don’t forget to analyze the results of your cooperation with the contractor on an ongoing basis. Measure the performance, keep track of the progress and discuss your conclusions with the outsourcing company. Thanks to that, you’ll be able to find potential areas for improvement. Both HeySpace and TimeCamp will be extremely useful as the basis for your analyses. In this part of the cooperation, it’s good to go back to the specification of the scope of the task and your expected results, both of which were discussed at the beginning. Confront them with the actual results and see whether your expectations have been satisfied.