steps for good outsourcing

 

Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another, but not always.Outsourcing is also used to describe the practice of handing over control of public services to for-profit corporations.

Two organizations may enter into a contractual agreement involving an exchange of services and payments. Outsourcing is said to help firms to perform well in their core competencies and mitigate shortage of skill or expertise in the areas where they want to outsource

Outsourcing can offer greater budget flexibility and control. Outsourcing lets organizations pay for only the services they need, when they need them. It also reduces the need to hire and train specialized staff, brings in fresh engineering expertise, and reduces capital and operating expenses

• Planning initiatives

Greaver recommends beginning by establishing cross-functional teams "to assess the risks and resources." This team sets objectives, deliverables, and timetables and is responsible for achieving critical management "buy-in."

• Training for out sourcing 

The outsourcing staff needs to know how the product works, both from the internals and from the perspective of knowing the problems the customer wants to solve, how they have to fulfill the needs about the customers needs and wants . 

How many times per year does each contender speak in public?
How many times have they spoken to audiences in your particular field?
Do they have a portfolio with video samples of their work?
Have they published articles or books on the topic?
Are they members of professional training and/or industry organizations?
What do previous clients say about them?
Has the speaker been asked to return?
Did the speaker provide a pre-session survey?
What information is in their proposal? Read promotional materials thoroughly since speakers often offer their best tips in their portfolios. If you’ve heard it all before, they may not be the most up-to-date speakers you can find.

• Management processes

Greater physical distance between higher management and the production-floor employees often requires a change in management methodologies, as inspection and feedback may not be as direct and frequent as in internal processes. This often requires the assimilation of new communication methods such as Voice over ip, Instant messaging, and Issue Tracking Systems, new Time management methods such as Time Tracking Software, and new cost- and schedule-assessment tools such as Cost Estimation Software.

  

 

• Communications and customer service

In the area of call centers end-user-experience is deemed to be of lower quality when a service is outsourced. This is exacerbated when outsourcing is combined with off shoring to regions where the first language and culture are different.

Foreign call center agents may speak with different linguistic features such as accents, word use and phraseology, which may impede comprehension. The visual cues that are missing in a telephone call may lead to misunderstandings and difficulties.

• Negotiating terms

The association needs to carefully map out with the provider not only the services to be provided and pricing including how changes in scope or volume will be handled), but also performance standards, management issues, and transition and termination provisions.

• Security

Before outsourcing, an organization is responsible for the actions of their entire staff, sometimes a substantial liability. When these same people are transferred to an outsourcer, they may not even change desks. But their legal status changes. They are no longer directly employed by (and responsible to) the organization. This creates legal, security and compliance issues that are often addressed through the contract between the client and the suppliers. This is one of the most complex areas of outsourcing and sometimes involves a specialist third-party adviser.

• Managing the relationship

outsourcing "is a new type of management that requires new skills." In addition to the scheduled meetings and reports, unforeseen things arise. Thus, while monitoring performance and evaluating results is important, a relationship of trust that enables problem solving is critical.