Outsourcing has become a trendy way to save time and money and increase the quality of your business. But sometimes, things go south in outsourcing. Sometimes this happens because you hire people who are not competent or don’t speak good English. At other times it could be a bad employee, or some people you brought on for extraordinary performance turn out to be … extraordinary bad employees. Let’s read on to know when outsourcing fails!
1. You outsource the wrong tasks
When it comes to outsourcing, it’s easy to get carried away and start thinking about how much you can save on labor costs by using an outsourcer. The problem is that when you do this, you will likely end up with a bunch of useless tasks that won’t help your business at all. Instead of outsourcing everything in sight, take some time to think about what aspects of your business don’t need to be handled by employees or contractors.
A good rule of thumb is to ensure that any task that takes up more than an hour or two of your time should be outsourced. This includes data entry or writing content for your website or blog.
2. You hire a freelancer or contractor not qualified for the job
This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people make this mistake.
You must choose someone with the right skill set for your project. If you need help building an app, make sure you find someone who has experience in building apps; if you need help with content creation, make sure you find someone who has experience writing articles and blog posts. It’s always best to partner with an outsourcing agency to ensure you get the best people working for you without hiring headaches!
3. You don’t manage your outsourced team
This is perhaps the biggest mistake when hiring an outsourced development team. Whether outsourcing for the first time or doing so for years, it’s important to keep tabs on how well your team is performing.
Outsourcing is not just about bringing in a team to take over a process for you; it’s about building a relationship with them.
You can’t just give your vendor the tasks and let them do their job as they like. You have to be involved in their work because this is how you’ll improve their work’s quality and ensure that they’re following your specifications.
4. You don’t know how to solve problems effectively when they arise
You might have outsourced your jobs and have an expert team working on your project, but if you’re not there to support them and help them solve problems as they arise, you’ll spend more time trying to resolve issues than actually getting work done.
It’s important that if you outsource your projects, you have a plan in place for when things go wrong. You need to ensure that someone can step in and take over when needed without disrupting the project’s progress or creating delays in delivery dates.
5. Internal conflicts can blow up
You might think you’re saving money by outsourcing to a cheaper provider, but if you don’t have solid contracts, you’ll be left with nothing but headaches. If the outsourced team exceeds the budget or fails to meet your expectations, the provider will just pass the buck back to you. This can lead to some serious internal conflicts. This will result in low morale, which can cause productivity issues or even sabotage activities.
6. When you fail to set goals and expectations
How will anyone else know what you want if you don’t know what you want?
Your outsourced team may be able to do some amazing things, but they can’t read your mind. For them to deliver on your expectations, you need to articulate them clearly in advance. If you don’t, it will be difficult for both of you to succeed.
If there are no clear goals, specific deadlines and milestones, and adequate resources allocated for each task or project, then the chances of success are slim. It might not even happen at all!
7. When it is too expensive to outsource
It costs money when you outsource a project, whether a small job or a full-time employee.
You may have heard the saying, “you get what you pay for.” While this might be true in some cases, there are many other instances where simply paying more will not necessarily result in better quality work or faster completion times. But if the cost of outsourcing exceeds the benefit, then there is no point in doing so.
8. Not having a clear strategy in place
One of the most important things you need to do before outsourcing is to develop a clear action plan. Outsourcing without a plan is like going out into the world without any direction or purpose — and this can lead to some costly mistakes. You’ll also find that getting people on board with your ideas is difficult if they’re not sure what their role is or what success looks like for them.
Conclusion:
Outsourcing work to the right people is a great way to save time and money, but it can also cause issues if it’s not done correctly. As such, it’s important for both parties to define the goals and expectations before any work begins clearly. Any loose ends should be tied up before any actual work takes place, and all tasks should be completed as soon as possible.
So what are you waiting for?
It’s time to elevate outsourcing.
Scaling your business with our experts who can take care of all the things that are keeping you from doing what you love—running your company!