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Challenges for Managers in outsourced environments

One of the greatest challenges facing a manager is how to effectively deal with the people in the workplace who are not doing what you want. It may be a quality issue, productivity issue, safety issue or even a social issue.  Remote management in outsourced environment poses more challenges than a typical workplace.

If you say or do nothing, you are passively approving that particular behavior. Because you have witnessed the event, you have to do something.

There are a number of options open to you as a manager. There are no easy ones. Let’s have a look at the options so that when you are faced with this situation you can choose your course of action. Each situation is totally different so there is no one option that fits all cases.

The first option is to discuss the situation with a person’s immediate supervisor. This means that you are not violating the chain of command and you are placing the responsibility with the supervisor concerned for them to deal with it. You don’t know if this is a repeated incident or if you happened to observe it for the very first time. The immediate supervisor will know the person very well and will also know whether or not this particular behavior has been an issue in the past.

The next option is to ask the person a question such as, “What are the consequences of your doing the job that particular way?” This is the opening of the dialogue between the individual and the manager. By doing this, the objective of the manager is to get the individual to focus on the outcome of their work. This opens up the opportunity for the manager to coach the individual to perform that task differently. The question must be asked, if you are the supervisor in this situation, how would you feel?

A similar approach is the one where the manager asks, “If you were to do this job again what would you do differently?” Again, it is the beginning of the dialogue about the process that the person was carrying out. As a supervisor, would you like your manager to take this approach when they see something which is wrong?

It is very important that the manager and the supervisors talk about these situations prior to it happening. After the event is too late. If I were a supervisor I would like my manager to point out situations where my team members are not performing so that I can deal with it in my way. In fact, I would insist on it because my manager would not know the person particularly well or the history of performance in detail.

Successful coaching people in the workplace depends on sound relationships. It is more likely that the supervisor will have a sound relationship with the person rather than the manager. However, this is not to say that the supervisor cannot ask the manager to contribute to the conversation. Small issues like this have a hugely negative effect on workers, supervisors and managers.

Attrition Problems ….How not to lose your best resources

Attrition is one word that every manager dislikes. The Expense of losing someone, recruitment all over again, training, knowledge transfer and all that is associated with replacing a good resource is a painful process. It impacts more than your bottom line, if you are in a large organization with outsourced component this can get more complex with lot of hidden costs associated with it.

Though a level of attrition is expected and is sometime encouraged to draw in fresh blood, it is imperative to keep your best resources at all costs and by all means.

It is easy to lose our best resources both knowingly and unknowingly, if only we know some of the tips and techniques and used it to our advantage we would be in much better shape. Here are some tricks.

1. Be dishonest.

Yes, #1 on the list is dishonesty. Integrity matters. Most good employees – and all great ones – have integrity. So, lying to them, to their coworkers, or to customers / suppliers is sure to turn them off. Over-billing a client, ripping off a supplier, bending the rules, cooking the books, and even just “little white lies” are all sure to catch the private ire of those employees who can best help you and your organization succeed. Don’t think they don’t notice; they DO.

2. Don’t say “Thank you.”

It’s a small thing, but it really does make a difference. Even small gestures of appreciation, complements on good work, acknowledging that someone stayed late / came in early / went the extra mile help keep talented people motivated and engaged. A small gift card, permission to leave early for the day or work from home the day before a holiday (if work is getting completed), a kind word, an email, all of these things cost very little but go a long way. I suggest making a point of doing them. People care if someone notices when they are doing a good job.

3. Forget the values that made your organization a success.

I’ve been part of organizations that truly lived their core values (and even years later can recite them by heart, because they were so prominent). We all knew what they were.We all agreed they were important, or at least accepted them as such. The leadership talked about them, and everything we did as a company HAD to align to them. When you build a team, you have to be very explicit about expectations and the team culture, and then review the key elements of that together from time to time.

4. Don’t take time to listen (to their concerns).

Good people almost always actually want what is best for the organization. They may have differing opinions on what that is, but they can be passionate, even fiery about it.If you’re dismissive of their concerns, when raised, you’re headed down the road to losing top performing people. Even if you can’t change a policy or a decision, you may be able to adjust how it is implemented to optimize the situation based on the concerns that your talented people raise. Just what kind of weak, arrogant, incompetent, narcissistic leader doesn’t want to hear this, anyhow?

5. Ignore their personal and professional development.

Note that there are two dimensions to this – professional development (technical skills, industry knowledge, expertise, professional certifications, formal training, etc.) and personal development. I would include leadership skills, street-smarts, maturity, self-awareness, EQ, general health and well being all as part of this.Leaders only follow stronger leaders, so if you want to keep current or future leaders, be sure you are mentoring them. Let them learn from your own life experience; telling good stories from your experience can be a great way to do this. Help them become better professionals – and better people.

6. Don’t be selective who you hire in the first place.

We all know that hiring people who really fit and are highly talented is tough. We know that the repercussions of a bad hire are awful for everyone. Make sure people really will fit into your organization. I have found that the recruiting process is often commensurate with the organization and role. The better (and more prestigious) the entity and higher profile the role, the tougher the recruiting process often seems – and it should be. Talented people often don’t mind a tough (within reason) selection process because they are usually competitive people who thrive on challenge. Invest the time needed to really explore what makes a person tick before you hire them.

7. Micromanage.

Do I really need to go here? Yes, unfortunately. Though we all know better than this, don’t we? Sadly, I’ve seen way too much of it. It’s not just classical micromanagement either. I’ve seen truly exceptional people who excelled in their role end up with their jobs “dumbed-down” to cater to the lowest common denominator, and to the point they were no longer challenged or motivated. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before they were looking for an opportunity somewhere else.

8. Set the bar low.

Great people will get discouraged and either leave or adapt to mediocrity if that is what they perceive is deemed acceptable. I’ve seen mediocrity accepted, rewarded, applauded, and even promoted! The impact of this on team morale (and on the highest performing team members) was palpable. Set the bar high and then become a cheerleader – even if people don’t make it over the high bar, point out how high the bar was set and how high people did get, and celebrate the success they did have at the right level. They may just make it over that high bar the next time.

9. Be cold and uncaring (to them and to their coworkers).

People are human. Why do we seem to forget this so often? They have personal struggles, ambitions, families, crises, etc. One of my favorite bosses from the past was a gentleman, he knew most about me and my family. He didn’t go beyond appropriate boundaries, but I really knew he cared about me as an employee and as a person (note #5, above).He was personable and when I needed a friend, a true mentor, someone I could go to with a problem. I knew I could talk to him and he’d help me out however he could. He got a lot of loyalty from me in return. I should also point out that talented people watch how you treat other people, not just themselves, and they take note of it.

10. The “usual” things (under-pay them, intrude into their personal lives, harassment, etc.)

Yes, the “usual” things will usually get a good person out of your organization as fast as they can possibly find an opportunity elsewhere. Incredibly, I’ve seen organizations under-pay very good people. One executive even said to me, in private, “Well, just what are they going to do? Leave? They have no place to go. The (job) market is poor.” This was his way of rationalizing, those many years ago, reduced bonuses for a group of people who really had earned them – and who were contractually entitled.This was disappointing to say the least, and I lost a lot of sleep over it at the time, even though my own bonus was good that year. Plus, it wasn’t long before people actually did have someplace else to go, and go they did.

Bringing the best from your offshore teams

As a manager you know that to deliver great results consistently you need to get the best from those that you manage. So what steps can you take to bring out the best from your team? In a typical offshore arrangement this assumes more important given the challenges with distance, culture and other elements that differ from a traditional working arrangement.

You can mitigate this to a large extent and achieve predictable results. Here are some quick tips and techniques.

1.Set crystal clear objectives

The start point of getting the best from people that you manage is to make it clear to them what they are expected to deliver. Often managers become stuck in the long list of activities that are contained in a job description. While this provides some important content, make a point of spelling out the 5 key results that you expect individuals in the team you manage to deliver.

2.Help them solve their own problems

As a busy manager it is sometimes highly tempting to solve problems for people so that you get them away from your desk as quickly as possible. The trouble is that if you always do this, people will stop thinking for themselves and just come to you for the answers. Use questions to coach people to find their own solutions to problems and challenges.

3.Take the time to praise

Few people (if any) turn up for work with the intention of doing a bad job. Yet managers often forget this and fail to recognize the efforts and achievements of their people. Make a point of praising achievement and acknowledging efforts as it will motivate.

4.Delegate whenever you can

There are few managers who could be accused of over delegating. In fact it is generally the complete opposite. Delegating does not just provide benefits to you in terms of freeing up time but also provides scope for those that you manage to take on new challenges.

5.Treat people fairly

Treat people well and chances are that the majority will go to exceptional lengths to deliver for you. A good rule of thumb to check this out is to ask whether you are treating others the way you would like to be treated in the given situation.

Millennial women changing Outsourcing workspace

Women in Outsourcing industry constitute a big number. More than 85% of them are Millennials. (Millennials – loosely defined as those born between 1980 and 1995) Lets focus on India first which has been a remarkable success story.

According to official data, India’s IT and BPO services industry employs some three million workers. Today about a quarter or more of these are women, says India’s industry trade body Nasscom. That is up from a fifth of the workforce in 2007. A recent study, Diversity in Action by Nasscom and PricewaterhouseCoopers, suggests the number of women workers is steadily growing. That change represents a generational shift.

The IT industry has extremely high diversity in terms of gender, geography, language and socio-economic factors, that is because meritocracy reigns in the industry. It all boils down to talent. The competition for talent in the IT industry has smoothed out many of the inequalities, making it more diverse and inclusive than any other in India.

Foremost is the gender balance. Thanks to women-friendly policies, including escorts to the doorstep on nightshifts, generous maternity benefits and 24/7 childcare, the gender imbalance in the industry is slowly being evened out. More middle-class Indian parents, who wield enormous power over their children’s career choices, are becoming comfortable with their daughters working late and being away on business.

But diversity in the industry still has its challenges. While there are plenty of women entering the workforce, there is a pronounced lack of women in leadership or boardroom roles. She believes change is round the corner. There are a lot more women at the entry level in the industry. Secondly, many women are rising in functional roles today. In five or six years, more women will reach the top in business roles and in a few years, the IT industry will start looking like India’s banking industry which has seen domination of women leading banks by sari-clad women CEOs.

Indian companies have imported and formulated some of the best practices in HR. Their flat structures and informal work culture is quite a departure from the ambiance at India’s family-run or old- economy companies. But inclusivity in the full sense of word, encompassing generational diversity and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, is still not visible in workplaces.

Close to six percent of India’s population has some form of disability but fewer than three in 100 are employed by the organised sector. There is more acceptance of diversity in the workplace than even a decade ago and people have a more nuanced understanding of labels attached to sexual orientation. But diversity as a corporate agenda is largely focused on bringing women into the workplace.

However, one remarkable aspect of India’s young industry has gone largely unsung. India’s infamous caste and class systems have been upended by the IT industry. With the migration from small towns to larger cities, many Indians no longer feel categorized by the caste system or shackled to it in an industry where merit rules.

The industry is dominated by a young workforce – in many large companies workers are aged on average in the early thirties. “Talent issues have diminished all biases, equal opportunity is the reality

Globally Millennials think and work differently. To be competitive, now and particularly in the future, organizations will need to create a culture and work environment that attracts and retains a new generation of workers. This is especially true as organizations work to attract, retain and promote women, who should one day occupy a higher number of senior positions.

The millennial woman is more highly educated and more likely to be employed than previous generations, and she is more confident than generations of women before her. Fifty-one percent of millennial women – compared to 61% of millennial men – say they feel they will be able to rise to the top of their respective organizations. Our study found that the Gen Y woman considers opportunities for career progression to be the most attractive employer trait. She also has more global acumen and is more technologically savvy than previous generations. Finally, the Gen Y woman has a strong sense of egalitarianism and is likely to seek an employer with a strong record on equality and diversity.

Why is this significant? Millennial women will comprise about 25% of the global workforce by 2020. In an era of talent scarcity, attracting and retaining skilled millennial women will be crucial. Organizations will have to adapt in significant ways, including how they manage, coach and provide feedback to these employees.

Many large corporations and employers have slowly begun to retool and transform their talent management processes. They are using important findings to design a system for coaching staff – particularly millennials – that would be more impactful and would have greater personal resonance with this new generation.

An important component of our revamped approach is frequent. Despite their digital aptitude, 96% of millennials prefer to talk face-to-face about career plans and progress, just as 95% of non-millennials do.

In addition to addressing millennial preferences regarding frequent, face-to-face feedback, more frequent conversations foster more effective mentor and sponsor relationships. There is a dire need to create an environment where informal discussion about career development and progression are systemic and will go a long way towards correcting that imbalance for aspiring women. Reorienting organizational processes to reflect the need for and acceptability of these conversations is an important step in changing mindsets that can be particularly destructive to a woman’s career development.

Many organizations have not caught on to the importance of taking an interest in their millennial employees. Less than 2% of millennials identify a colleague, employer or supervisor as the person encouraging them to pursue their professional aspirations, according to a study conducted this year by Bentley University’s Center for Women & Business. The study concludes that many organizations are missing an important opportunity to retain millennial employees by failing to take a personal interest in their career ambitions. One success story cited in the study was a millennial woman who loved her summer job because her employer made an effort to communicate the value and impact of her work. Each week, she was sent to other departments to see how the organization as a whole was using her work. As a result, she felt valued and motivated – and she developed a much deeper understanding of the entire organization in the process, a benefit to her and the employer.

Attracting and retaining millennial women is a business necessity for my organization and so many others. Building a culture where conversations about career development and flexibility are both frequent and constructive is an important, tangible step towards helping women reach their full potential in the workplace.

Recruiting leaders for outsourced engagements

You will always at some point find that you will likely have to replace some people on your team and recruit new leaders. As you rebuild your team, what traits and qualities will you look for? What indicators might help you identify higher-potential staff and likely “A” players?

Here is a good listing of traits and characteristics you should look for in a global world which ever culture you think fit. As leaders to lead teams globally you need to have these to succeed.

THE ESSENTIAL TRAITS

There are six key leadership traits including: curiosity, courage, perseverance, integrity, confidence, and empathy. Some of these traits may be innate―while some are born with a particular trait―while other traits were developed over time, forged in the crucibles of critical moments and relationships.

1. Curiosity

Curiosity is both the most surprising and most frequently mentioned trait. The desire to understand and learn new things helps leaders to build the diverse experiences that later gives them the foundation to be an accomplished leader. Yet, the importance of curiosity as a critical employee or manager is rarely studied in the management literature, curiosity is one of the most important qualities top recruiters look for in recruiting talent. Whether innate or cultivated, curiosity is vital to motivating leaders to pursue experiences and learn lessons that build deeper insights and understanding in an ever-changing knowledge economy.

2. Courage

Courage is the willingness to face uncertainty and perhaps danger. There are always critical moments in which leaders are called upon to be courageous and willingly move into unfamiliar ground in order to go forward. Often, courage is manifested in the willingness to take on new challenges that stretch the individual well beyond what he or she already knows how to do. Courage helps the leaders to master new skills and experiences critical to their advancement and their personal credibility.

3. Perseverance

Perseverance (the willingness to work through challenges without giving up) is another trait vital to individual success in both professional and personal contexts. Often, perseverance provides the drive to master a difficult subject or situation. Among our respondents, this willingness to persevere was sometimes learned in childhood. Others work at cultivating this trait, training with determination to excel in an area where they are not naturally gifted, such as a musical instrument or a sport, to achieve a high level of proficiency. Perseverance enables leaders to undertake challenging and difficult assignments and advance in their chosen professions.

4. Integrity

The trait of “ethically saying what you mean; and doing what you say” is highly desirable . Being able to marry the right intentions with right actions provides a foundation for trust within and across an organization. Getting things done with integrity also makes it easier for others to work for and with you.

5. Confidence

Confidence is another trait that is highly valued. Confidence does not have to be innate; a calm and self-assured style can be cultivated through practice. Confidence that’s grounded in prior experience and confidence in engaging the unknown are particularly valuable. Leaders expressing confidence can assuage anxieties and make it easier for staff to follow direction.

6. Empathy

Empathy—the ability to understand and consider another’s point of view—is also highly valuable for leaders. Empathy can be valuable in testing your point of view against those of others and in avoiding blind spots in decision-making. Furthermore, it can help executives be more effective communicators to, and influencers of, their key stakeholders by driving understanding and helping to find points of convergence that meet each other’s needs.

Other attributes of high-potential talent

Many of the above traits align with other findings on the qualities of high-potential talent. Recently, for example, in “21st century talent spotting: Why potential now trumps brains, experience and competencies” (Harvard Business Review June 2014), Claudio Fernandez-Araoz notes five indicators of high potential:

The right kind of motivation—a commitment to fiercely pursue unselfish goals (additive to the trait of integrity above)
Curiosity—a penchant for seeking out new experiences and an openness to learning and change (same as our prior study)
Insight—ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests new possibilities
Engagement—a knack for persuasively using emotion, logic, and communication (similar to empathy for communications)
Determination—a wherewithal to pursue difficult goals and overcome challenges (similar to perseverance)

Traditionally, the most used gauges of the above traits are analysis of personal and work histories, reference checks, and interviews. But one other method—observation of the trait—can also be feasibly employed in the recruiting process. For example, an executive walks potential recruits through a manufacturing plant in order to discover what the candidate observes about the plant and what questions they ask about the operations.

Recruiting and onboarding of new talent to your team is likely to create significant demands on your time, and success is not always guaranteed. Beyond gauging proficiency in their functional specialization, recruiting to the above traits may help to improve the odds and return on recruiting—helping to identify high-potential, future leaders who are adaptive to changing organizational contexts and needs.

Trust & Relationship in outsourcing

Trust is a core ingredient to build successful relationships. Both personal and professional ones. It is a major leadership characteristic. However, you can´t take it for granted. You need to work hard to earn trust and to keep it. In an outsourced environ, it is even more important to trust each other side and work towards the common goals. Given the distances, relationships in a typical outsourced arrangement, cultural differences etc. it is imperative to keep trust in each other and enhance the relationship further. Most often promises are made and not kept or not taken seriously. Given the multiple levels at which works gets done in outsourced engagement, building trust from the top to the bottom most levels would be extremely rewarding.

Isaac Watts once said that “Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.“ If you´re not seen as a trustworthy person you can´t neither form engaged relationships nor high performing teams. And without them you can´t become a successful leader and manager. If you were not careful, you can lose trust within days or even hours.

In today´s article I´d like to share with you my thoughts and what I consider being the most important principles to build, regain, and sustain trust:

Walk Your Talk. Mean what you say and keep your word. Deliver your committed tasks and duties on time and in full. Be consistent and reliable. Arrive promptly to meetings. If you might risk missing an agreed timeline, proactively communicate and explain it, apologize and come forward with a new proposal. Try not missing it a second time to protect your reputation. Lead by example and permanently demonstrate that you deliver on your promises and that others can count on you.

Communicate Frequently And Openly. Direct, quick, accurate, and honest communication builds trust. Share regularly with others. This underlines that you have no hidden agenda. Address possible trust issues within a team in an open and prompt manner. In this context also crucial to develop and possess good active listening skills.

Tell The Truth And Take A Stand. Be honest and don´t lie. This is not as easy as it might sound. Of course, we wouldn´t admit it, would we? Anyway, it´s key not leaving out relevant facts, figures, and opinions when discussing and arguing. Even, and especially, when it´s awkward and painful. People will appreciate it. Also be willing to say no. You can´t be everything to everyone. Taking a stand based on sound arguments – well and politely articulated – will earn you respect and trust.

Be Transparent And Unite. Share your objectives, strategy, agenda, and values. People want to know what you think and believe and to understand how they might fit into the picture. This gives them security and confidence in you and your intentions. Create a common identity and establish a sense of companionship.

Show People That You Care About Them. Be out for others and not primarily for yourself. Appreciate all people you´re dealing with. Show sensitivity to their interests, wishes, and needs. Value them and thank them. Express sincere gratitude rather two times too often than missing it just once. Do it from the heart.

Empower Others. Show people that you trust them. Grant flexibility, stimulate initiative- taking, and ask for regular feedback. Have faith in others skills and capabilities. Be willing to let go and to share power. “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them” (E. Hemingway).

Focus On The Positives. Don´t punish mistakes. As they can happen think and speak about them in a results-oriented and forward-looking way. Jointly look with others for solutions and implement actions to avoid that they´ll happen again.

Coach And Train Others. Guide people around you and assist them in finding their way and the right solutions for themselves. Don´t tell them what to do. Instead ask them for their opinions. Support them in becoming great and outstanding.

Follow High Ethical Standards. Do the right things. Even, and especially, when it might be hard. People will like, respect, and trust your integrity.

Admit Mistakes And Weaknesses. Fortunately, you´re only human. So, when you don’t do the right thing, admit it. Be transparent, authentic and willing to talk about your mistakes and faults in a constructive manner. When you are vulnerable and have nothing to hide you radiate trust. That´s what people love.

Establish Long Term Relationships. Trust is usually not the result of short term actions and profits. It´s stemming from deeper values, ethics, and fundamental principles. Take your time and don´t rush. Be willing to let trust evolve and flourish. The best trust fertilizer is to “give without any strings attached.“ Don´t expect always something in return.

the cloud is here to stay

The next wave of outsourcing could be on this emerging push. There are lot of factors driving major companies pushing into cloud primary driver being cost reduction. But this comes with multiple challenges – new technology, lots of custom work with cutting edge software and the need for 24/7 support that will be a boon for outsourcing firms that can shift there and emerge as niche players.

Over the last few years, we’ve watched the cloud evolve from an imaginative idea, to a unknown reality, to an ongoing presence in everyday IT management and business solutions. The cloud has grown up right before our eyes.

But the growth isn’t stopping here. The cloud experts over at Forrester decided to take a closer look at the cloud’s projected growth over the next few years, and their vision is really quite remarkable. It’s also a vision that MSPs like yourself should keep in mind as you grow your business and offerings, so let’s take a look at a few predictions in particular:

SaaS becomes de facto for buying new applications. SaaS has overtaken on-premise in categories such as HCM, CRM, and collaboration. Solutions once available in multiple deployment modes are now SaaS only (i.e., Oracle RightNow and SAP Ariba seldom offer on-premise any longer). The hold-outs: large enterprise suites are still not available in a true SaaS mode but are increasingly shifting to at least an ASP model.

Public Cloud will be the default backbone for IoT- Whether consumer-led with FitBit, Nike FuelBand and Samsung Gear, or enterprise-led with sensors, medical devices and transportation, the Internet of Things (IoT) will generate billions of data points in 2014 and aggregating this data and acting on its findings will best be achieved by capturing, analyzing and responding from the cloud. If you want to analyze billions of inputs in real- or near real-time, you won’t want to drag the data all the way back to your data center. A longstanding mantra in BI has been that it’s easier to move the compute to the data, than the data to the compute. With cloud-based Hadoop and SaaS-based BI solutions proliferating, it’s becoming hard to justify bringing this data down to analyze it.

Cloud-to-cloud continuity will get serious with SaaS. Disaster recovery (DR) is a leading driver for public cloud use, but mostly by enterprises looking to improve the resiliency of mid- to low-end apps and for smaller companies putting their entire recovery strategy in the cloud. But in 2014, cloud-based DR will go cloud-to-cloud. The first phase will unfurl in the next year with cloud-to-cloud backups for mainstream SaaS offerings. In the SaaS market, enterprises struggle to restore data with steep recovery fees (or in some cases, total lack of service) by their SaaS vendors. A new market of backup solutions is rising to meet this need with early solutions from Backupify and Spanning. These offerings automate the protection of critical data that is stored with SaaS providers so organizations can recover this data if it is accidentally, or maliciously, deleted.

Cloud security will be much more centralized and automated. If you’re resisting the cloud because of security concerns, you’re running out of excuses. The leading public cloud providers have made strong gains in security and compliance, and there are few workloads completely off-limits for public cloud anymore. At the same time, securing private clouds has become safer, more reliable and easier to control through advanced management tools like HyTrust. We’ll see cloud security vendors like CloudPassage, JumpCloud and Illumio – letting you articulate cloud security requirements in executable automation of business policies. Enterprises will achieve better security this way than on their own.

Those individuals and companies with existing concerns about cloud based computing will soon find that their questions have been answered. The Cloud continues to provide solutions and not only effective, but ultimately essential business practices. Right now it may be the early adopters taking a risk on cloud-based computing, but very quickly that will shift, and those that haven’t made the change will find themselves lagging behind. The Cloud is here to stay. Hopefully, you are as well.

Website Development: Outsourced or Outhoused? « Workbox Blog

Nice article – courtesy Workbox…check this out

 

Website Development: Outsourced or Outhoused?

You’re a brilliant marketing consultant and web designer!

The site you designed for your client launched on-time and on-budget. The outsourced development shop did a great job at a great price. Your client loves you.

The trouble started a month later.

Maybe this is what you experienced:

  • The client wants some new features and the developer isn’t responding.
  • You need to update WordPress, but don’t have a staging site on which to debug.
  • The platform or design isn’t scalable for new features or content sections.
  • You and your client don’t have permission to access the web server.
  • You don’t own the Google Analytics account.
  • Who has the domain registrar login?
  • And your client doesn’t want excuses.
  • And your profit margin is shrinking.

Yeah, you went cheap, and now that $500, $2,000 or even $5,000 isn’t looking like such a bargain after all!

You “outhoused” your website development.

Don’t get me wrong – a lot of marketing and design consultants have great success with inexpensive website development outsourcing. They’re successful because they did their homework and clearly defined the project, not just for the developer, but for their client as well.

There are some big issues that inexperienced consultants have with outsourced developers.

> The developer isn’t going to warn you about or protect you against things that will cause problems later on, and may actually have an incentive to NOT warn you (issues around hosting, content management systems, analytics systems, domain registration).

> The developer isn’t going to tell you things you don’t want to hear or say “no” to any request.

> The developer will not “fill in the blanks” if instructions aren’t accurate or clear.

This isn’t necessarily the developer’s fault. They make money by quickly and efficiently building websites – and assume you know what you want. When they get a request that doesn’t fit into their basic model, they get confused and unresponsive, and don’t know how to pull clarification out of you. Also, they may use a simple, inflexible solution to solve a problem you don’t understand or want to deal with so they can keep the project on-time and on-budget. Sure, some are flaky jerks, but most are really trying to do a good job.

Here’s the deal: you’re not getting a true partner with many inexpensive outsourced development teams. You’re getting worker bees. Clearly and accurately define the task and everything works great. Deviate and get stung.

Here are some tips so you can avoid “outhousing” your web development project:

  • Discuss hosting and be sure you are permitted to have access to the live website code.
  • Understand your client’s long-term plans (1-2 years is enough) for the website and be sure to account for them in the design and technology platform.
  • Confirm that your client has the logins for everything! Hosting, domain registrar, analytics accounts, third-party service providers.
  • Define a website software update process. WordPress and other software needs to be updated regularly for security purposes.
  • Require a development or staging site to test software updates and technical enhancements.

The good news is that if you do your homework, clearly and accurately describe your project and requirements, and manage your development team correctly, you can build a great relationship with an outsourced developer. Then you get a reliable partner – and you and your projects won’t fall into the outhouse!

 

Developing Talents at Rank and File levels in Outsourced Engagements

In any outsourcing engagement, developing talent is directly related to improving maturity, gaining efficiencies and increase productivity on teams.

Managers who invest time and effectively develop talent have

• 25% better performers
• 29% more committed
• 40% more likely to stay than their peers

For exactly the above reasons, Building Talent” is one of the important dimensions in any outsourcing engagement. Building Talent over a period of time helps develop maturity on the teams and pays immensely to retrain other resources as new recruits join. If you understand the pyramidal structure in any relationship, the longer the resources stay and move to the top of the pyramid, they help guide others at the next levels helping with maturity.

Here are three ways you increase your own effectiveness in developing the talent on your teams.

1. Make work meaningful – Many associates know what they should be doing, but they may not understand how what they do makes a difference to the business. Your job is to connect the dots. People who understand how their work fits into the bigger picture are more engaged, higher performers, and more likely to stay with the account. Take every opportunity to help your teams understand the impact of their work on your outcomes and how what they are doing is helping them develop professionally. Don’t assume it’s obvious!

2. Check-in regularly and deliver feedback in real-time – Performance feedback, whether positive or constructive, shouldn’t be limited to formal mechanisms, via their Managers or during mid-year or end-of-year discussions. Checking in with your direct reports on a regular basis and delivering real-time feedback creates transparency and encourages two-way discussions. And when you check in, don’t just talk about performance. Take time to ask questions about your associates’ overall experience as well—you’ll likely learn something new and insightful, and they will feel heard!

3. Assign a variety of projects to build capabilities – know the 70-20-10 rule? 70% of our development comes from our day-to-day work, 20% comes from mentoring and coaching, and 10% comes from formal training. Day-to-day work activities are the best opportunities to help associates strengthen and develop new capabilities. Assign a diverse set of projects that will challenge your associates to continue adding to their personal portfolio of skills and knowledge.

Don’t forget to use collaboration tools if you cannot get face time, if you do get an opportunity to meet use that to your fullest advantage.

Outsourcing Social Media – Current landscape

Managing corporate social media could be the next new addition to outsourcing bucket. This has been slowly gaining ground thanks to the red hot social media boom in Silicon Valley and the wave of adoption worldwide. But this doesn’t come with its usual questions and concerns on risks vis-à-vis benefits in outsourcing or keeping it inhouse.

Very few companies have ventured so far in outsourcing this function sometimes in bits and pieces, while others are slowly looking at the timing while others seem to be tinkering at the edges. In a recently poll, Enterprises identified social media among the top five CRM delivery operations that they would consider outsourcing in the coming 12 months.

Offshoring social customer service needs some hand holding whether you are having your own team members offshore or outsourcing it to your vendor. Managing your social media channels, like Twitter and Facebook poses some level of challenge given that it is an integral part of every business today both big and small as this revolves around their communication strategy as part of their consumer reach out. Many companies are investing in hiring its own resources or third party specialists to help them gain some footing and not be left behind in the race.

Many of pure play firms and outsourced vendors are investing in upgrading themselves with knowledge to service their clients. As the traditional outsourcing channels are seeing some level of saturation, the slow rise of this medium is attracting the attention of traditional BPO players that are looking at this opportunity. Where there are already established relationships, outsourced vendors are able to show their expertise to garner some traction and also revenue from this new stream.

There are very few niche specialists or solution providers that have some level of expertise to manage social media channels. The providers themselves are trying to keep up with the rapid pace of change in the medium itself but still offer expertise given their sole focus and with their limited success are able to help integration of customer services to make this a holistic experience for companies vying to make a mark in the social media space. This is now morphing slowly from being just a marketing tool that it started as.

There is some level of comfort in managing the traditional communications channels in an outsourced mode be it voice, video or email however social media poses its own challenges due to geographical, cultural, adoption and knowledge reasons. Many firms are still keeping a firm grip on owning this themselves with limited outsourcing planned fearing inept handling or inadequate loyalty in dealing with the customers by an outsourced vendors. This will change as vendors mature enough and present themselves with alternatives and examples of their expertise for clients to slowly allow them into this space. Right now the market needs to mature and both sides need to invest in the solutions and not to forget the training aspect as they learn more about exploiting this media to its fullest extent in their endeavor to gain customers loyalty and business.