The idea of outsourcing is essentially a great one. Find someone else to do the heavy lifting for you – as long as you have the funds and the creativity, you are all set. You don’t have to know every step of the way that the product is going to take – that is the best part – your worry is trying to keep all the outsources on board and focused on their part of the product. Also, outsourcing allows you to save up, as opposed to having all those highly educated and experienced people working for you directly.
The challenge is the communication
Your outsourcers might be on the other side of the globe, but you still need to keep in touch and follow each step of the process. Luckily, in today’s world it’s pretty much a given that you can do all these things easily – the instant communication and video calls have been a mainstay of outsourcing for a while now. Still, this does not mean you do not have to make sure people understood you properly. You could be using some awesome engineers from the other side of the globe, but you have to make sure that language is not a barrier. Make sure you communicate all your worries and ideas and double check whether the other side has understood everything. Better safe than sorry, when it comes to long-distance communication.
Have the right people near you
Just because you are developing a product or a service at the far end of the globe, it does not mean you do not need to know a thing about it. It is probably the best for you to have somebody at your side who can answer all your technical questions, while still providing guidance to your outsourcers. Having an expert at your behest also means that you can control and understand the process of work that they are doing while retaining the control of costs. By having someone by your side explaining the process, you will also be clearer in your instructions, which is another added bonus for the people on the other side of the line.
Logistics is tough
Organizing everything for a place far, far away might seem like an impossible task, but you mustn’t give up. The important thing is to be aware that your product will not be perfect, at least not in its first few iterations. However, keeping the features that work and getting rid of those that do not is a natural process that should not discourage you. Think about how you can make it easier on yourself and don’t be afraid of asking for help from professionals at agencies like CartonCloud. Whatever you use to help you, alleviates the burden you have in organizing your endeavor and helps with keeping everyone on board. The functionality of your product or service which is being developed needs time and patience, alongside a steady hand.
Have more than one outsourcing party
Regardless of their quality and track record, you should never put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to outsourced projects. At any point, anything could go wrong. People can get hurt or decide to change professions or find a better place to work – but you cannot wait for it to play out. You do not want to find yourself in a situation where you would be starting from scratch because the key members of your only outsourcing team have decided to change companies or professions. This is why you should always work with more parties from the get-go. Each can have some connection to another, depending on the project, or they can even work on the same project at the same time, however, they can fill in for each other, which is the most important part of the idea. Play it safe and both your clients and your contractors will be grateful.
Keep it agile
Now, if you are in the software business, you are probably aware of the term Agile and what it has done for the business. Much like Scrum, the two practices have gained traction in other areas of business and not just in their initial software development. Don’t let anyone say you should not use these practices when dealing with your outsourcers – the idea of constant iterations and making sure your products works from the start while constantly adding new features can be easily adapted to the outsourcing process. Having timeframes for certain parts of work, cutting it up into smaller, more doable chunks, these are all the postulates of agile practices. However, make sure that your partners are aware of the practices and have had some training, or at least are interesting in learning alongside you, otherwise it might become a matter of poor communication very soon.
