Customize your Strategy for Effective Outsourcing

Friday, December 13, 2019


Every company possesses its own approach to outsource that differentiates the whole spectrum of the related solutions and services by its Partners taking over this task. Use these five tips to customize your strategy.

1. The released sources and the efficiency factor.

Whether the purpose is (a) trying to cut certain costs, (b) build a particular team or (c) free up resources for a specific initiative, the growing goals and the efficiency factor must not be broad but they need to be specified properly and proactively.

Certain outsourcing workloads in one area may release resources and energy to focus on another area. This brings up the challenging issue of how this available potential may help the  company better deliver value to customers. Whatever might be the goal, the question is where to it leads on where, when, why and how you choose to outsource and what transformations are required. 

2. Planning to transform processes in view of change.

Planning is required and follows the realization of the opportunity to change towards the right direction. Outsourcing will fundamentally change the makeup of a company. Begin preparing your staff, workflows and company structure to support and embrace the vision under the new reality. New outlining of processes involving the tasks that will remain in-house are mandatory since they determine how the in-house team’s workflow will change.

It’s essential to gain confidence and active initiatives from key members of your organization, from department heads up to board members. Before you present outsourcing as a strategy, ensure that you know the answers to hard questions that these decision-makers are bound to ask. Think through your answers to the following questions: Who will spearhead the strategy? How will this affect our current team? Where will we use the cost savings? How long will the process take from start to finish? 

3. Criteria to choose the right Partner.

The most appropriate partner which provides outsourcing services has to have willingness and capacity to integrate wholly into the company’s team. Such a partner will deeply engage in several one-on-one conversations and provide a detailed proposal. In addition, the partner will be open to any questions referring to visit its facility. Testimonials and asking for references is a feasible way to ponder a partner that fits your business philosophy at early stages of discussions.

Outsourced services are as good as the partner that provides them. 

4. The Company must define the critical success criteria & factors - NOT the Partner.

Great outsourcing partners commit to certain performance standards, but it’s up to the Company to define what those are. Decide which metrics and benchmarks matter. Depending on which service the outsourcing is to performed, so the respective key performance indicators (KPIs) will vary. Hence the nature of the services to be outsourced, they need to be measured against qualitative or standard quantitative metrics or even a combination out of them. Before any decision is taken, ask the provider to come up with its KPIs as well. It is crucial to come to an agreement about how often the partner will provide comprehensive update with results. Require and keep the Partner accountable each week, month or quarter, depending on the business operational and tactical needs. 

5. Ways to Consider and Monitor Risk.

Risk Management leads to proven methods: instead of outsourcing an entire department, it is good to start with a pilot project, which requires less upfront investment. This approach also lets you observe how effective the outsourcing partner is before committing completely. Great partners will be flexible with the terms and will want to prove their worth.

If the set goal is to evolve and expand, imagine how helpful it would be to function as lean as possible. By engaging with an outsourcing partner, there is the opportunity working with high-caliber professionals for reduced costs. Many companies find that the results are absolutely 100% worth it, irrespective of the fact that outsourcing is a crucial decision.