Now you need to make them as productive as possible. Put these tips into action and you’ll have a high-performance team that creates cost savings.
There are many reasons why engineering or construction specialists may want to outsource work. As your business grows, you may find that the demands placed on it become too much for your onshore team to handle. Customer service may start to slip as you get buried under paperwork.
And that means performance may start to slip too.
An outsourced team can help you alleviate this burden. With that done, your onshore team can do what it does best in terms of providing services to your clients.
Beyond taking some of the load off your shoulders, your outsourced team also creates the opportunity for cost savings. Generally, you’ll spend less on outsourced employees than you would on onshore people. Plus having this team at your disposal allows you to run projects more efficiently.
These benefits all sound amazing… What’s the catch?
The problem is, you won’t experience these advantages if your outsourced team isn’t operating at maximum efficiency. As with your onshore team, productivity is always a key issue that you need to confront.
This means you need to put time and effort into making your outsourced team as productive as possible.
These are the tips that will help you do just that.
Tip #1 – Communicate Frequently With Team Leaders
We often speak about the importance of proper communication with your outsourced team. It’s essential if you want to maintain productivity. Your team needs to have a voice, and it needs to know that you’re actually listening.
The key here is frequency of communication characteristics-of-a-great-outsourcing-vendor
The occasional message to the team leaders isn’t going to cut it. You need to schedule regular conversations about the progress of your project and the state of your team. Use these meetings to confront problems that may be preventing them from operating effectively.
And make sure you follow up on the issues raised. Productivity will decline if your team sees that you’re not taking action on the feedback they provide.
Finally, aim to hold these meetings face-to-face wherever possible. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to travel to your outsourced team every time you meet. However, tools such as Skype, or even Facebook Messenger, allow you to hold video calls.
Use them to put faces to names and give your team the sense that you’re more than just words on a screen.
Tip #2 – Break Large Tasks Down into Simpler Tasks
What’s your first reaction when somebody presents you with a really large task? For a lot of people, it’s one of panic. Huge projects, especially with little context, can prove intimidating for your team. This can lead to a loss of focus that ultimately affects their productivity.
Your job is to make the projects you assign as understandable and digestible as possible.
The best way to do this is to break large tasks down into simpler tasks. For example, you may have a project that will take several months to complete. But within that project, there are many milestones the outsourced team must reach. These milestones act as the simpler tasks that make the project easier to understand.
Ideally, you’ll break down tasks to the point where the assignment can be completed in one or two days. This helps to keep your team focused, which means they’ll be more productive. Plus, you eliminate the possibility of overwhelming the team and affecting their performance.
Tip #3 – Use Tools to Track Work and Encourage Accountability
It’s crucial that you have project management software you can use to track tasks. Of course, there are obvious benefits in terms of keeping an eye on what your team is doing. However, the most important thing about such software is that it creates accountability. That’s how it improves productivity.
Use your software to set tasks and targets for your team. Encourage each member to update their schedule whenever they complete their tasks. And finally, follow up when a team member falls behind.
The use of management software shows your team that you’re keeping an eye on their progress. This serves as a motivator that leads to higher productivity. Furthermore, this accountability makes it more likely that each team member will take ownership of their work.
Tip #4 – Be Clear When Setting Targets
There’s greater potential for miscommunication when working with an outsourced team. You have the distance barrier to consider, for one thing. You can’t just walk over to a team member and have a quick chat about what they’re doing.
You also have to consider potential language barriers. While your team members likely speak English, it’s rarely their native language. This means that common idioms and other terms of phrase might escape them.
These communication barriers make it crucial that you’re completely clear when setting targets.
Good communication is the key here. When you create a target for a team member, have them repeat it back to you. After that, have them explain what the target is and how they’ll meet it. This gives you a chance to course-correct if they aren’t going in the right direction.
Spending time on creating this clarity early on means that you don’t lose time later. Ultimately, this makes the team more productive because they don’t have to stop constantly. They’ll know exactly what they need to do to get to the next step.
Tip #5 – Create an Incentive Scheme
Never make the mistake of thinking that monetary compensation is the only motivator for your team. Each member has their own needs and wants. Failure to provide for these could lead to the team becoming less productive.
Creating an incentive scheme is a great way to boost productivity. For example, let’s say that your team handles cold calling for new construction clients. You could create incentives around basic targets, such as number of calls made and number of prospects entered into your system.
If an employee surpasses these targets, they get an incentive. This could be anything from a monetary reward to extra time off.
There are two keys to a successful incentive scheme:
Set challenging, yet achievable, targets.
Find out what your people really want and use that to motivate them.
The second key brings us back to communication. Talk to your team and find out as much as you can about what drives them. Then you can use this information to create incentives that really boost productivity.
Tip #6 – Emphasise The “Why”
Large-scale tasks, particularly those related to administration, can become demoralising over time. If people feel like they’re doing the same thing every day and can’t see the outcome, they may become less productive.
That’s why it’s crucial that your outsourced team understands the “why” behind the tasks you assign.
Don’t just send tasks with no context. Explain the reasons behind your need to get those tasks completed. Those reasons will depend on the task. Some tasks will focus on helping you provide better service to your clients. Others may allow you to make business operations more efficient.
The important thing is that your outsourced team knows why they’re doing what they’re doing. This creates a sense of purpose, which leads to greater productivity. And that’s the case even when the outcomes aren’t immediately apparent.
Tip #7 – Create a Good Work Environment
There’s always a delicate balance to strike when creating a workplace environment. On one hand, you don’t want it to be sterile and dull. That won’t motivate anybody to become more productive.
But on the other hand, you don’t want to create an environment that offers a lot of distractions. You need your people to stay focused on the tasks you assign to them.
The elements you add to the office can make a big difference. For example, using natural lighting over fluorescent bulbs creates a more pleasant atmosphere. You might also think about adding other natural touches, such as plants, to the office.
These small touches make the physical environment more appealing to your people. As a result, they see the office as a place they can enjoy working in.
However, the office space isn’t the only thing you have to consider.
It’s also crucial that every member of the team works towards the same goals. Office politics, micromanaging bosses, and abrasive team members all affect productivity.
Make sure your team reflects the atmosphere you want to create in the workplace. A good outsourcing partner will help you find people who fit the bill. They’ll also steer you away from those who may contribute to a toxic workplace environment.
Enhancing Productivity
If you implement the techniques in this article, you’ll create a happier and more productive workplace. Creating accountability and a positive work environment are both important. So too is taking the time to learn about your team and what you can do to motivate them as individuals.
And of course, clarity and focus help when assigning tasks. But before doing any of this, you need to build an outsourced team that’s capable of delivering what you need.
If you are considering outsourcing and find talent like Sharlene, start your outsourcing journey today with this e-book.
Discover how Cybalink Solutions can help you achieve up to a 70% overhead reduction through our Philippine outsourcing solutions. Let's explore how to optimize your operations, lower costs, and increase margins.
Outsourcing a construction or engineering project can help you save time and resources.
Of course, that’s assuming you manage the project well… There are a lot of challenges involved in managing any sort of construction or engineering project.
You need to keep dozens of people focused on the task at hand. Every person needs to have a specific job and schedule. And of course, you need to oversee the whole thing to make sure it all goes as planned.
These challenges have the potential to magnify when you’re working with an outsourced team. Now, you have a group of people who aren’t in the office with you. That means you have even more barriers to overcome to make the project work.
And that’s before you even consider the regulatory considerations of such projects. Without effective management, all the benefits of working with an outsourced team can slip away. The time and monetary savings disappear due to delays and poor scheduling.
You need to know what to do to make your outsourced project a success. And with these tips, you’ll stand a much better chance of achieving what you set out to do.
Tip #1 – Make Project Goals Clear From the Start
This is important for any project. However, it’s essential when working with an outsourced team. That’s because there are often language barriers to overcome, in addition to the geographic distance between yourself and the team.
The key here is that you don’t simply assign tasks without any context. Hold an initial briefing with the team leaders so you can talk to them in detail about the project. Outline the overall goal before digging into the specific tasks you need them to accomplish.
You can also use this time to create a schedule for follow-up meetings. After all, you need to keep track of the project’s progress.
This briefing also gives the team the chance to raise any concerns or issues they may have before getting underway.
You’ll get the project started on the right foot and minimise the risk of early errors that could lead to major problems later on.
Tip #2 – Provide Key Documentation From the Beginning
Where the briefing tackles what the team needs to do, your documentation shows them how. Obviously, your key documentation involves anything related to the project that the team needs to complete their work. It also includes internal documents that you use in the running of your business. Remember that your outsourced team is a part of your company. You need them to represent you in the same way as your onshore team.
Creating a playbook is one of the best ways to do this. Use this book to detail your company’s overall mission and aims. You can also include step-by-step instructions for the key processes that you need your outsourced team to handle.
Doing this creates consistency in how your outsourced team works on certain tasks. You’re not leaving it up to them to figure out, which means there’s less chance of errors in the project. Revisit this documentation regularly and discuss it with your outsourced team. The key here is to keep tweaking what you have until it’s as clear as possible.
Tip #3 – Create a Communication Protocol
We touched on this in Tip #1 when we spoke about scheduling follow-up meetings with your team. The simple fact is that you can’t just give instructions to your outsourced team and then leave them to it. Much like with an onshore project, there’s a possibility that unforeseen issues will arise. When this happens, your team needs to be able to get in touch with you to handle these issues. Your communication protocol details how they’ll do that. Use it to outline the methods of communication that you’ll use. Furthermore, it’s important to build accountability into the protocol. For example, you may have a protocol of responding within 24 hours to any issues that the outsourced team raises.
Of course, the team has the same responsibility for any issues that you raise. Beyond that, it’s crucial that you set up scheduled meetings with the team leaders. Ideally, you’ll speak to them at least once per week about the progress of the project. Aim to have this meeting at the same time and day each week to build consistency into the project.
Tip #4 – Create a Support Network for the Outsourced Team
In an article published in Forbes, BodeTree founder Chris Myers points to the importance of creating a support network. He says: “We’ve found the most successful partnerships develop when you can offer a support network the outsourced team can rely on for the long-term.”
In this scenario, support comes from how you educate and train your outsourced team. The playbook you created is only one part of this process. You’ll need to follow up on and reinforce your messages to ensure the team stays on track.
In an ideal world, you’d be able to offer face-to-face training to your team when needed. However, that isn’t always feasible with an outsourced project. Still, you should be able to answer questions and point team members in the direction of useful resources.
It may also be worth creating a specific training program for your outsourced team. This will help them get to grips with what you need. Plus, it provides them with a pool of resources that will help reinforce what they learned.
Tip #5 – Use Reliable Tools
The success of your outsourced project relies on quality tools and software. In many cases, you’re working with teams that are halfway across the globe from you. This already creates the potential for delays due to the time zone differences. You don’t want poor tools to make those issues more severe than they need to be.
Ideally, any tools you use will make creating and sharing project documents as simple as possible. You may opt for an enterprise solution here – there are many on the market. However, if budget is a concern, there are several cost-effective platforms that can prove useful. For example, Google Docs offers several tools for document creation. It also makes the sharing and editing of this documentation simple, as well as offering you control over access.
Slack is a great tool for communication and document sharing. It also allows you to create specific project groups, which is great for organising projects. The key to this tip is choosing the tools and software you need before starting work. And again, it’s important that you explain the purpose of these tools to your team. Provide training on how to use them effectively and your project will run smoothly.
Tip #6 – Get to Know Your Team
Your outsourced team isn’t a collection of faceless people who work on your behalf. They’re essentially employees of your company, and you need to treat them as such. When you don’t, you create the possibility for resentment to form. Outsourced teams face many of the same motivation and productivity-related issues as onshore teams. Simply put, the team needs to feel like it belongs and has a purpose within your organisation.
That’s why it’s so important that you get to know your team. Spend time talking to the key team leaders and find out what makes them tick. Learn what motivates them and ask them to provide information about the other team members as well.
You can use this information to create incentive programs, especially for larger projects. Beyond that, simply having a relationship with the team helps them feel connected to your company.
Tip #7 – Outsource to the Right Partner
Unfortunately, many of these tips will prove of little use if you’re not working with the right partners to begin with. This is especially true in the construction and engineering sectors. Often, you’ll find that potential outsourcing partners act as jacks of all trades. They claim that they can provide teams for any industry or niche. However, you soon find that they can’t complete specific tasks related to your industry.
It’s best to work with a partner that specialises in what your company does. This makes it more likely that the team will have the required capabilities for your project. And it may relieve some of the training burden, as they already have an understanding of your industry.
It’s Time to Find Your Partner
With these tips, you’ll be able to manage your outsourced project more effectively. Again, the key here is to treat your team as though they are part of your business. But before you can do that, you need to find a partner that can provide a suitable team for the project. This is where Cybalink Solutions comes in.
We specialise in creating outsourced solutions for engineering and construction companies. With our help, you’ll create a team that’s capable of handling your projects. Plus, we can help you manage your team to create more effective outcomes.
If you want to know how much you would save from outsourcing with Cybalink Solutions, use our engineering and construction offshore savings calculator FOR FREE.
Discover how Cybalink Solutions can help you achieve up to a 70% overhead reduction through our Philippine outsourcing solutions. Let's explore how to optimize your operations, lower costs, and increase margins.
00davidhttps://cybalink.donedigital.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cybalink-solutions-logo-web.pngdavid2020-02-03 01:23:152024-12-31 11:26:31Managing an Outsourced Project – Seven Tips That Lead to Success
![Cybalink Solutions E-Book Link](https://cybalinksolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Cyba-Offshoring-Guide.jpg")
![Cybalink Solutions Calculator](https://cybalinksolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Calculator-2-e1638941215868.png")
