The other day I answered a question about working with outsource partners. The guy who asked the question complained that he had been trying to find reliable outsourcing partners but the level of responsiveness he got was ways below his expectations. He was asking what the reasonable level of responsiveness is. Here is what I answered him:
When working with outside contractors, it is always vital that you give them a deadline, which is at least a week ahead of your own deadline. So, you will have one week to react. However, don't tell your outsourcing partners about that. In most cases outsourcing partners work on many projects at the same time and it is a bit of a challenge for them to allocate the right amount of time for each project. That is why outsourcing partners generally pay more atttention to projects, which have a fixed end date, or which are urgent.
You should always tell your expectations before you start the project. Always ask your potential outsourcing partners if they are able to take new clients and if they have the time to devote to you.
If they can take new clients and they have the time to devote to your project, your next question is about the turnaround time on the project. They will tell you when you can expect them to start and finish the project.
However, if you want to be sure that you both speak the same language, ask again. For instance, you can say: "If we start the project on Monday, it'll be done by XYZ date. Am I right?" If they say yes, this means that you have achieved their commitment to finish the project by a particular date.
After that I usually give as a first project a non-time sensitive one. This way I am testing the waters and get the feeling what it is like to work with them.
One of the other questions that I would give you to ask them is, "How do you like to communicate with your clients? Is it via telephone or is it via email? If it is via email, what is the best one to reach you at? Is it via instant messaging? If so, do you use MSN, Yahoo, Skype? What instant messaging do you use and what is your ID name and what hours do you generally work?"
The best time for communication is important to know because different people work at different times. Some people work mainly at night because then they work best. Other people work during normal work hours.
You really have to gauge that in that sense as well because if you have an important or crucial question for them and they generally work from 10 pm to 4 am and you try to get them through regular business hours and you do not know why you cannot reach them.
Another trick I use when working with outsourcing partners is to eliminate all the quesswork for them. I don't know if many other people do it but I really like it and it works for me because it makes our cooperation more effective.
For instance, when I have outsourced the creation of a website, I browse a lot and find many sites I like. Then I show them to the webmaster, so that he can use them as reference while creating my site.
So I will find, say, five to ten different websites and I will say, "Okay, this is what I like about this site. I like the colors in this one. I like the font that they have used here. I like how they boxed this in," and I will find all kinds of different examples.
As you guess, the process of picking sites takes a lot of time. However, in fact it does save a lot of time and effort because when your outsourcing partner has clear guidelines, less communication is necessary and their task is easier. As a result, this is a very effective approach and that's why I use it with my outsourcing partners.
Like I said, number one is managing expectations upfront and getting the commitment of the outsource partner himself or herself to tell you their timeline and to share with you what you can expect and it comes from them. The other thing is to find out the best way to communicate with them and the best time to reach them.
To repeat once again, it is vital that your first project with your outsourcing partner is not an urgent one. The first project is to taste the waters and you should be prepared that not everything might go as planned. You should also expect that the first project might be the last - i.e. if you don't feel your cooperation is great, there is no need to rush to a second project.
Sometimes it is one of those trial and error situations where you go through a bunch of them until you find somebody that you enjoy working with and produces great work. Once you find that relationship, you want to hang on to it with everything you have got.
When working with outside contractors, it is always vital that you give them a deadline, which is at least a week ahead of your own deadline. So, you will have one week to react. However, don't tell your outsourcing partners about that. In most cases outsourcing partners work on many projects at the same time and it is a bit of a challenge for them to allocate the right amount of time for each project. That is why outsourcing partners generally pay more atttention to projects, which have a fixed end date, or which are urgent.
You should always tell your expectations before you start the project. Always ask your potential outsourcing partners if they are able to take new clients and if they have the time to devote to you.
If they can take new clients and they have the time to devote to your project, your next question is about the turnaround time on the project. They will tell you when you can expect them to start and finish the project.
However, if you want to be sure that you both speak the same language, ask again. For instance, you can say: "If we start the project on Monday, it'll be done by XYZ date. Am I right?" If they say yes, this means that you have achieved their commitment to finish the project by a particular date.
After that I usually give as a first project a non-time sensitive one. This way I am testing the waters and get the feeling what it is like to work with them.
One of the other questions that I would give you to ask them is, "How do you like to communicate with your clients? Is it via telephone or is it via email? If it is via email, what is the best one to reach you at? Is it via instant messaging? If so, do you use MSN, Yahoo, Skype? What instant messaging do you use and what is your ID name and what hours do you generally work?"
The best time for communication is important to know because different people work at different times. Some people work mainly at night because then they work best. Other people work during normal work hours.
You really have to gauge that in that sense as well because if you have an important or crucial question for them and they generally work from 10 pm to 4 am and you try to get them through regular business hours and you do not know why you cannot reach them.
Another trick I use when working with outsourcing partners is to eliminate all the quesswork for them. I don't know if many other people do it but I really like it and it works for me because it makes our cooperation more effective.
For instance, when I have outsourced the creation of a website, I browse a lot and find many sites I like. Then I show them to the webmaster, so that he can use them as reference while creating my site.
So I will find, say, five to ten different websites and I will say, "Okay, this is what I like about this site. I like the colors in this one. I like the font that they have used here. I like how they boxed this in," and I will find all kinds of different examples.
As you guess, the process of picking sites takes a lot of time. However, in fact it does save a lot of time and effort because when your outsourcing partner has clear guidelines, less communication is necessary and their task is easier. As a result, this is a very effective approach and that's why I use it with my outsourcing partners.
Like I said, number one is managing expectations upfront and getting the commitment of the outsource partner himself or herself to tell you their timeline and to share with you what you can expect and it comes from them. The other thing is to find out the best way to communicate with them and the best time to reach them.
To repeat once again, it is vital that your first project with your outsourcing partner is not an urgent one. The first project is to taste the waters and you should be prepared that not everything might go as planned. You should also expect that the first project might be the last - i.e. if you don't feel your cooperation is great, there is no need to rush to a second project.
Sometimes it is one of those trial and error situations where you go through a bunch of them until you find somebody that you enjoy working with and produces great work. Once you find that relationship, you want to hang on to it with everything you have got.
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