Offshore outsourcing business has been substantially growing over recent years. Offshore companies successfully built their competitive offshore teams, effectively delivered output, increased clients, and saved over 30% on their overall business expenses.
Yet, for every successful company, others fail because they don’t understand the fundamentals of offshoring. Below are several steps to remember before trying offshore services.
Develop a Clear Goal and Vision
Your offshore outsourcing business needs to develop clear offshoring goals and visions. Create a solid plan. Document all details — what business unit you will offshore, potential savings, investment, offshore location, roles, and the hiring process.
If your goal is to save at least 30% of your total business operations, include the specific steps to achieve it, and indicate the accountable personnel and possible timeline. Create a recovery plan in case the main options don’t work.
You should also look at the bigger picture of your offshoring goals, such as expanding your market, team, and business.
Design Governance Structure
Governance structure refers to the processes and systems to ensure alignment among both parties. It focuses on how your team will operate internally.
An excellent governance structure is a primary factor in leading successful offshore outsourcing. Thus, a good offshoring partner knows how to set the required parameters to launch efficiency-driven offshoring. This includes your organizational structures, communication channels, and monitoring framework.
Both parties should also establish a problem-solving mechanism in case of possible failure. Cite possible scenarios and solutions (corrective or preventive action).
Develop a Well-Planned Transition and Evaluate the Performance Early On
Knowledge transfer is one of the most challenging phases in the offshoring process. It requires proper alignment of each team member to understand the ins and outs of the business. Thus, investing in the transition stage is a must.
This involves detailing the process workflows, documenting the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and training the team. Since training is a critical step, make sure that your in-house team understands their role in the transition.
Then, once you start testing the waters, evaluate their performance after a month or two. Check which area they excel in and where they require additional attention.
Establish Lines of Communication
Communication plans and collaboration are critical factors to success. To determine the best platform or tool that matches your offshore services needs, you can consider asking the following questions:
- Which tool will be commonly used — email, social media, chat, voice calls, project management software?
- Do these tools suffice the need for offshoring?
- Are both parties comfortable using these channels?
- What can your secondary channels be if the above options won’t be available? How would this work?
Identifying the primary and secondary communication channels will ensure continuous business operation.
Ready to Choose Your Right Offshoring Partner?
Your offshoring journey may entail risk, but proper planning minimizes it and boost your chance of success.
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