Outsourcing helps businesses improve lower operational costs and save resources, streamline procedures, keep pace with changing technology, and attain a competitive edge. While business process outsourcing (BPO) was previously more about saving money, it is now a more structured approach that infuses key business activities with technology. It results in a more structured workflow, allowing organizations to precisely manage rule-based tasks, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. Here are some pointers which can help you succeed with outsourcing:
- Choose the Right Jobs to Outsource
Don’t just send out time-consuming jobs or those that you do not like doing. Also, do not send out jobs that are critical to your business and reputation – do the core activities yourself. For example, if your firm does website development, do not outsource website design service. Think of getting help for accounting, HR, or social media optimization. Jobs of repetitive nature such as data entry and document scanning, or those that require specialized knowledge such as IT expertise are also good for outsourcing.
- Hiring the Right Service Provider
Selecting the right service provider is one of the most critical aspects as it determines on time project delivery and the quality of work. You should consider the company’s experience in similar projects and their knowledge of your business. Before choosing your service provider, make sure what they can and cannot do for you.
- Define the Project Clearly
Define the scope of your project and convey your goals clearly to the service vendor. Accurate and complete information on the project is necessary for them to create realistic proposals and to fix the rate. Describe in detail how you need to get the work done and be clear and realistic about the project schedule. It would also be useful to ensure that you will get support services for the tasks that you are outsourcing.
- Centralized Communication
A centralized system for communication can improve efficiency in the process. Communication via email can make the system complex and make it difficult to determine what was said and what all concerns have been addressed. Moreover, you should keep the communication lines open. After assigning the task to the BPO Company, keep track of the process and deliverables, and communicate changes, if any, clearly.
- Perform Review and User Acceptance Testing
Set up review towards the end of the project and ensure that changes are made based on your revisions. When all the amendments have been made, perform user acceptance testing to ensure that the application or solution meets your requirements as specified in the agreement. Testing helps discover bugs related to usability of the program or application.
