Enterprises have been leveraging outsourcing for a long time. As it enables businesses to scale and expand their work within a limited budget, finding the right outsourcing partner is a crucial task.
You are looking for a team you can hand over your entire project to, hence it is important that you find a fitting partner for your project. In this article, we have listed a few steps you must take before hiring an outsourcing consulting partner.
- Define your goals clearly
Before you start looking for potential outsourcing partners, it is important that you jot down all your requirements and goals. Having a clear scope of work documentation will help you to narrow down your research for the right outsourcing partner.
Make sure you cover aspects like your budget, your business goals, your project’s requirements, your expected outcomes, and your non-negotiables clearly so that there is no room for confusion or discrepancies in the later stages.
Writing this document can be a tricky and highly technical task, which is why it is important to get it right. Nobody knows your business better than you, and by being super specific about your requirements you can increase the probability of receiving a solution that entirely matches your expectations. Ask yourself questions like:
- What is it that I exactly need?
- What kind of outcome am I expecting from this project?
- What kind of qualities do I want in my outsourcing partner’s team?
Answering simple questions like these will help you to write this documentation precisely and speed up your search for a fitting outsourcing partner.
- Evaluate technical expertise
It is very important to evaluate the technological expertise of the outsourcing partner you are reaching out to. Evaluate your shortlisted partners on the following factors:
- Skillsets
- Technical expertise
- Project management and quality control
- Experience with your preferred technological stack
- Knowledge of and experience with emerging technologies
You should not consider it obvious that the outsourcing partner you’ve shortlisted will have a team with exceptional technical expertise. Always evaluate it against your requirements so that you don’t get any surprises after the project starts. Also, make sure that the partner you hire is flexible with all technologies and not rigid about going only one way. Flexibility ensures that the ultimate outcome will be impeccable.
Hiring a partner with significant technological expertise will directly impact your project’s quality. The more experienced people you have working on your project, the better your solution will turn out to be.
- Look through reviews
Looking through company reviews and asking for first-hand experiences from the people in your network is a very smart move to gain real and true knowledge about a company. When you shortlist companies, it is important that you go through the company’s reviews from their past customers.
When it comes to online portfolios and websites, every company puts their best work and practices to attract more clientele. However, talking to people who have worked with the company before will help you to gain real, truthful, and reliable reviews about how the company actually works and how much expertise they really have.
You can start by going to online portals to read reviews from actual clients. There are several online communities that rate a company based on their clients’ reviews. You can also talk to people in your professional and personal networks to see who has worked with your shortlisted companies before. Gaining first-hand reviews and feedbacks can help you to eliminate substandard companies from your list.
- Ensure clear and efficient communication
It is essential to ensure that your outsourcing partner is a good communicator. When you reach out to a potential partner, always make sure to ask about their communication strategies and how they plan to keep you in the loop during the whole process. Clear and regular communication is important to avoid any loopholes and misunderstandings that may affect the quality of your project.
Make sure that you clearly communicate your budgets and requirements before beginning the project. The scope of work documentation will help you to explain your requirements clearly. However, it is important to discuss your budget and possible extensions to the budget as well, so that later on your project doesn’t suffer.
Clear and efficient communication with your outsourcing partner can be ensured through their as well as your communication strategy’s quality. Stay in constant touch with them. In case of different time zones, set up appropriate channels and schedule regular meetings in advance to keep track of the project. Hiring an outsourcing partner with immaculate communication strategies can really help to you ensure that your project is being worked on excellently.
Whenever an organization decides to hire an outsourcing partner for their new project, they always have the choice of picking up a partner randomly or having a thorough screening process to find the right pick. It is crucial that companies perform detailed research before hiring an outsourcing partner so that they find the best match for their project and don’t end up dealing with losses.
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