In the beginning, be prepared to keep in constant contact with those you’re outsourcing to, recommends Georgia Beattie, chief executive of Beattie Wines.
The wine packaging business has expanded overseas and outsources various roles, including contract packaging, manufacturing management, accounting and inventory control.
“It’s important to create check points and control gates before the job moves into the next phase.
“Checking in on Skype is much more economical than having a physical meeting, and then realising that 10 hours of work is wrong.”
Text or emails isn’t enough when outsourcing. You need to speak with team leaders on the phone or Skype every day, according to the managing director of Australian offshoring specialist firm ShareSource, Brendon Boyce.
“A good example of where businesses communicate is around the water cooler, and when you’re managing remotely, you of course still do have that. We recommend a formal structure, daily for a few minutes at a set time if possible,” Boyce says.
This strategy worked well recently, with two staff having a disagreement via email were able to resolve their differences in a one minute Skype call, he says.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, recommends avid outsourcer, Melbourne’s Jules Blundell, founder of video production firm, VideoBuzz.
Blundell always engages two freelancers to work on the same job to mitigate risk.
She recently assigned a Canadian and a Philippine freelancer to create a two minute animated video, and discovered the quality was miles apart.
“The sophistication of the illustrations and the understanding of my expectations meant that the Canadian freelancer met the brief perfectly and produced a video that I loved. Whilst I ended up spending $1500 with the Canadian freelancer in the end, I didn’t mind because I quickly gauged that he had my best interests at heart and wanted to produce a superior product.”
Even though price is perceived as being cheaper, you can spend more time managing and guiding the freelancer to meet the brief, which can cost you a lot more in time and resources in the long run, she says.
