outsourcing

[claumcg]

How do you manage a project when you are outsourcing?? Would you consider it beneficial to do this?

[premiumonlinewriting]

Hi claumcg,

Ideally you shouldn't have to do a whole lot of management if you hire freelancers who know what they're doing. Unfortunately the cheaper you go on the price scale for outsourcing services, often the more time and effort you have to put into micromanaging. My suggestion is to find freelancers who you think are clued up enough to work rather autonomously, and keep tabs by email to make sure everything is proceeding as planned. If it's a big project, check on a regular basis to make sure it's progressing on schedule.

[FirstHosting09]

Originally Posted by premiumonlinewriting

Hi claumcg,

Ideally you shouldn't have to do a whole lot of management if you hire freelancers who know what they're doing. Unfortunately the cheaper you go on the price scale for outsourcing services, often the more time and effort you have to put into micromanaging. My suggestion is to find freelancers who you think are clued up enough to work rather autonomously, and keep tabs by email to make sure everything is proceeding as planned. If it's a big project, check on a regular basis to make sure it's progressing on schedule.

initial funding is required for this process.

[premiumonlinewriting]

Yes... I don't think anyone's under the impression outsourcing doesn't require funding. The point is, if you can't afford to outsource right you're better off doing things yourself rather than hiring someone from the bottom of the barrel who does substandard work and requires constant monitoring. If you do that, what's the point? It defeats the purpose of outsourcing.

[ipexpert]

Outsourcing can be more efficient if you fix to single person or a company which offers the service you need at a cheaper rates. It is all about having a definite schedule, targets etc. Communication will be key which can be by means of chatting or voice chat on the skype too.

[goldsun]

This is a big step, initially you will spend a lot of time micro managing people until you find people you can work with who are reliable and deliver, even when you do if something can be misinterpreted then it probably will be. I would choose things that are very self contained and relatively simple so you can track progress easily.

Sites such as elance allow you to actually see when someone is working, never used it personally though so I can't comment on its effectiveness. Go off personal recommendations where possible as there are fake reviews out there.

[serveruptime]

I am a live example of an outsourced human being.I love to way with just one break a day (rejuvenating with fluids). My master has assigned me to create websites and blogs in industries pertinent to his visitor's prospective interests. Plus I am a customer support rep for business owners who need a third party server monitoring system. I rarely provide support to the same user more than once a month statistically but... our user base has reached gigantic proportions. Thankfully, today is a day off to relax and rest upon the next "big bang" idea that will impress my employer and hopefully will give me a raise in that regard.

[rypher21]

to run a smooth outsourcing campaigns you really need to fuel it with funds..without it, outsourcing wont work for your end...

[intelliServe]

I try to outsource as little as possible, but in web-hosting it's pretty easy to succeed without outsourcing too much.

[davidjohnson]

The first stage is identifying the steps in a process you need to outsource and for the selected steps breaking down the tasks and responsibilities and deliverables. The next stage is finding people who meet your expected standards. Once you have them, communication and monitoring are crucial initially till you build a strong relationship based on trust and reliability. Then you can almost run it on auto.

[frankkerry]

It's definitely important to let your worker know what you expect from them up front. And continually give them feedback on what they're doing that you like and what you don't like.

[T0d]

Originally Posted by claumcg

How do you manage a project when you are outsourcing?? Would you consider it beneficial to do this?

BaseCamp makes managing projects within your company, and outsourcing super easy

I can safely say that when we switched to basecamp it changed the way we do business, and scale our projects much much more efficiently and track-able now too!

Unless you know who you are outsourcing then make sure your project manager has at least a brief understanding of the development language or things can go south QUICK!

[johnpitter]

If you are looking for IT services outsourcing, I would like to suggest you one company called IT-support-service. It provides wide-ranging networking services and technical solutions intended for small, medium to multi branch organizations that are looking for a new network setup.

[marknel]

You need to give time and have patience when you are outsourcing for the fist time.There are bound to be miscommunications as they are working in different geographical locations and time zones.Fix working hours and have clear cut tasks charted out .You are lucky if you are able to choose an efficient freelancer who is both talented and committed to the project or else its trial and error.

[WebsiteDeck]

Outsourcing is worth it only if you have enough money to fit into your own pocket as well. I normally only grab 2 -3 projects at a time when I freelance them to an individual.

Also, it is good to have a list of common freelancers you can rely on.

[David Benton]

I haven't had a lot of success in outsourcing lately. I love having a team though. Recently I've been using workers in the Philippines and India but have had trouble with it so far.

The communication issues and follow through are difficult at times. I'm always looking for better ways though...