10 do's and 5 dont's for successful outsourcing

I wrote a post earlier this week about our success in building an outsourcing partnership with our team in Russia. We’ve built a strong partnership with our team, and I mentioned some of our success factors: trust, respect, and team. Today, I want to share a list of more actionable dos and dont’s for building a successful outsourcing partnership.

When you start outsourcing, DO:

1. Write great specs - Have the discipline to clearly define what you want from your outsource partners. Great specs will help you clearly define what you want, and once you have them, communicating what you want it easy.
2. Evaluate references - Check their prior work, talk to their previous clients. Nothing is a better indicator of future success than past performance.
3. Assign a project manager on both ends - Designate one person on each team responsible for all communication between each side. Without clearly defined project managers communication will break down.
4. Make deadlines matter - Let your outsourcing partner give you their estimation of when the project will be completed. Then make this deadline matter by applying financial bonuses for early completion and penalties for late.
5. Agree on communication methods ahead of time - If you will need to talk to them on the phone, make sure everyone agrees to this ahead of time. A mix of email, instant messenger, and a project management tool like Basecamp with occasional Skype calls will probably work out great.
6. Get to know each other personally - Send pictures to each other, hook up a webcam to Skype for videoconferencing. Go see them if you can. Building personal relationships will help you get through the stresses that come with outsourcing.
7. Be a good client - Respect the constraints of your relationship. You probably aren’t their only client. Their time is valuable too. Have the discipline to know what you want, write it down in a clear way, and stick to your own deadlines.
8. Keep the ball in their court - Never let a feedback request or question from them linger in your email inbox. If there is an open issue on your end, it means something is not getting done on their end. Work to keep the ball in their court at all times.
9. Pay on time - Nothing will cause a partnership to go downhill faster than not paying the bills.
10. Remember what you’re in it for - Hopefully you are getting great work at a great price. Outsourcing can be stressful at times, but remember why you are doing it. Outsourcing works.

When you start outsourcing, DON’T:

1. Just go for the cheapest provider - Too many people think outsourcing is just about saving money. Go for the mix of high quality product at a cost that works for you.
2. Be lazy - This goes along with being a good client. If you don’t work hard on your end, they won’t either. The old saying about computers applies: “garbage in, garbage out.”
3. Let the project hit the death spiral - If things seem off course from your end they probably are. You need to take back control of the project. Most often this is caused by a communication breakdown.
4. Rush them - You should have established a project deadline based on their estimate. This is the most realistic delivery date you have. Rushing them will lead to quality problems.
5. Pull the plug - Successful outsourcing is a lot of work. And you’ll learn and grow the more you do it. Don’t pull the plug on the project at the first road bump. Work through it, you’ll be glad you did.

These tips were culled from our experience in working with our team at Flatsourcing. We’d love to hear any of your thoughts and ideas. If I’ve missed something let me know. Good luck and happy outsourcing!