You can achieve even higher productivity with your employees if you know how to. Keep reading to learn the secrets that work to boost productivity among your employees.
Tip #1: Offer Expert Productivity Boosting Techniques
As a business owner or manager, you can offer your own productivity boosting techniques to your outsourcing contractors and in-house employees. Some of those productivity boosting techniques would include the following;
Encourage relaxation: You should be the one to encourage your employees to take breaks. In fact, you should create the breaks yourself by employing tactics such as coming up with weekly group activities and suggestions, organizing team lunches, and celebrating birthdays.
Set deadlines: Whether your freelancers are working on open-ended projects or long-term projects, you will motivate them to work more by creating targets and deadlines they should meet. You may also attach some form of incentive to meeting deadlines.
Tip #2: Give Room for Remote Work and Flexible Schedules
Remote working has become an increasingly in-thing in the business arena because of its high success rate. This is simply the use of outsourcing solution to get tasks done. According to a research, employees who work from remote locations stay longer hours on work and are more engaged.
Working remotely also applies to full-time employees, as long as they have the necessary tools and materials to accomplish the assigned tasks from their remote locations. Introducing such flexibility to work from their chosen location can help motivate them and boost productivity. However, you have to set guidelines and polices for such flexibilities to prevent laxity.
Tip #3: Use Work Teams
Also, working in teams can be a great way to boost productivity, since it gives room for different points of view. Also, workers tend to be more conscientious because they won’t want their team to perform less or poorly. Team work is also a great tool that helps prevent possible isolation that may create a feeling of being unimportant in some workers.
Tip #4: Appreciate Your Employees
Employees, whether outsourcing contractors or full time employees would be motivated and become more productive when you show appreciation to them. You should appreciate well-performing employees publicly in the course of meetings.
Some of the practical ways to get this done is to offer awards on the spot, and to profile well-performing workers and their achievements in company publications. This will not only motivate the appreciated employees to do more, but will also encourage others to perform optimally.
Tip #5: Introduce a Culture of Accountability
Consider giving employees ownership of their tasks and let them know there would be feedback. This will make them work in a more meticulous manner. You should also let them know where the company is headed and how their meaningful contribution will make it a reality.
Go ahead and implement these increased productivity tips.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
If your company or business is yet to adopt outsourcing, you should delay no further to avoid losing out more on the benefits that come with outsourcing. If you’re yet not familiar with those benefits, they include significant cost saving, access to large pool of talents, increased productivity, higher speed in completing tasks and more. Keep reading to learn about best tips for managing outsourced projects.
Tip #1: Adopt Virtual Meeting and Task Tracking
As you probably know, outsourcing service providers work remotely. In fact, the freelancer may even be working from another country, so you don’t get to see face to face most times — from the time of hiring to completion of project. And of course, you need to monitor outsourced project to be sure things are going as you planned.
This is why you need to adopt virtual meeting and task tracking systems or programs to help you manage outsourced projects more effectively. While you can exchange phone calls and emails with your outsourcing partner, you should consider speeding up and making the process easier and better by adopting virtual task tracking programs such as Flow, Producteev, HiTaask, or Asana.
Outsourcing companies also use such software programs to monitor and track work progress among team members. Subsequently, team members are able to instantly provide update on progress towards a project. Others are able to access such updates virtually and from anywhere. Ultimately, there will be greater efficiency and increased overall productivity.
Tip #2: Set Targets
Targets and deadlines are great techniques for promoting speed and increased productivity with outsourced tasks. From the onset of the outsourcing contract, you should consider setting targets that the outsourcing company should meet at each phase of the project (for projects that are in segments or phases).
For instance, in the case of social media marketing, you can specify the number of posts (videos, images or texts) that should be posted daily. Also, you can set a deadline for the completion of the entire project. Setting targets and deadlines help to get rid of possible laxity in an outsourcing relationship or even in a regular workplace.
Tip #3: Encourage the Outsourcing Partner to Use Innovative Tools
Typical example is the use of to-do list apps to boost greater efficiency. The best part is that these apps and programs are usually inexpensive and would include Todoist, Task, and Pocket List. Using these and other programs, employees can prioritize tasks based on specified parameters such as deadlines or quotas. As a result, projects are completed early enough.
Finally, you should also employ motivational tactics such as commending quality and high performance at each phase, to manage outsourcing partnership and outsourced projects.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
Companies and businesses are getting busier. There’s work overload everywhere you turn to within a business outfit or company. In most cases, the current workforce is being overworked already, yet there are tasks unassigned. Unfortunately, the lingering severe economic crisis world wide does not encourage intensive hiring to avoid intensive cost burden. So, what’s the most affordable solution? Outsourcing is the way to go.
Hire More with Less
Yes, outsourcing is probably the most promising business solution for hiring more workforce at very affordable rate. There are tons of reasons outsourcing will always beat full-time hiring in terms of cost saving. First, you are not going to equip any office space for the in-coming workforce — so that money is re-invested into the business.
Also, outsourcing pays better than full-time hiring when you’re faced with excess work load; an additional reason is that you are not subjected to paying allowances to an outsourcing company as you would have done if you hire in-house and place the workers in your payroll. Best of all, if you choose to hire offshore outsourcing company, you will save even more because their fee will be far lower than hiring on-shore.
So, regardless of the nature or type of excess workload – marketing activities, accounting tasks, bookkeeping, social marketing, customer service…name them, you are better off finding the right outsourcing partner who will work from a different location using their own tools and resources.
Combine Outsourcing with Automation to Save More
To save even bigger on hiring workers, you should also include task automation in your business strategy. In essence, try to automate some tasks. Choose tasks that are compatible with automation and outsource the ones that are better handled by humans from start to finish.
Automation is simply the act of using technological tools to make tasks performance automatic. This helps reduce the number of people as well as hours needed to handle such tasks. Subsequently, with just clicks of button, one person may be able to handle the task that would have been originally done by up to five persons or more. Just like outsourcing, automation also helps a business or company to save big on workforce hiring.
Reap the Resulting Benefits
So, as you combine outsourcing with automation as best solution for excess workload at the workplace, the resulting benefits are enormous and would include the following;
Increased cost saving
Increased speed in starting and finishing a task
Increased efficiency as error is minimal, especially with automation
Substantial time is freed up for more pressing needs and task in an organization
Increased competitive advantage
Less fatigue at the workplace
…and more
Go ahead and implement this guideline on how to solve excess workload problem using outsourcing and automation.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
Outsourcing companies are springing forth rapidly because of the high demand for outsourcing. And, each company or outsourcing provider claims to be the best. However, it is not possible to determine whether or not the claims are true on the surface. You need some practical yardsticks to measure and determine which outsourcing company is right for you.
Tip 1: Match the Skill with the Requirements of your Project
Check the portfolio of the outsourcing company to see if the listed skills are suitable for the project you want to outsource. For instance, if you wish to outsource your bookkeeping and accounting tasks, does the outsourcing provider has the required accounting skills, including evidences (e.g. certifications and samples of previously executed accounting projects) that support the skills/experience?
Tip 2: Check if they Have the Tools Required for the Task
Except you are going to provide the tools and resources required for the project, you should check if the company has the required tools or resources. For instance, in the case of outsourcing call center, does the call center outsourcing company possess the required pieces of equipment s, software programs and trained customer service reps for the job?
While you can choose to supply the tools or resources needed for the task, you are better off with a company that is already equipped for the task you want to outsource. This will help you achieve increased cost savings since you’re not going to spend on equipment s. Top customer service outsourcing vendors in the Philippians are well-equipped to provide efficient customer service.
Tip 3: Check if the Price Quotation is within Your Budget for the Project
As you probably know, cost-saving is the main thrust of outsourcing. So, it’s not out of place to also include suitable budget as one of the yardsticks for determining whether or not an outsourcing company is the right one for you.
So, when you post your project for outsourcing companies to bid, request for price quotations along with the bid. Subsequently, you can compare bids to see the company that has the closest price quotation to your set budget. Alternatively, you can set your own budget and let the potential contractors bid according to your own budget.
As long as your budget is realistic, you should consider the outsourcing service provider with the price quotation that comes closer to your budget. Make sure you do not settle for too less and don’t go for high quotation. A budget that will favor both parties would be a great one.
Finally, in determining whether or not an outsourcing company is the right one for you, check if it can meet your stipulated deadline for completion and delivery.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
While outsourcing is highly desirable and worth integrating into your business strategy, don’t always be in a hurry to outsource. You need to sit back and plan how to aid efficiency and top quality in an outsourcing relationship. Don’t assume that the outsourcing partner will fix it all; you have a role to play too in ensuring the end result is what you expected.
Here are some practical steps to adopt in order to aid efficiency while working with an outsourcing vendor;
Step 1: Be Clear about Your Needs
Before even stepping out to hire an outsourcing provider, you should first be clear about your needs. Identify the specific tasks you want to outsource, which would in turn help you find the most suitable freelancers for the task. This first step is key to successful outsourcing.
Step 2: Hire Carefully
This is also another essential step towards aiding efficient outsourcing. Whether you are hiring an individual or an outsourcing company, you need to employ due diligence. Don’t take their words for it, dig deeper to find out if they possess the skill they are claiming to have.
Ask for Tons of samples of previous tasks done, look out for signs of experience in handling the task in question, and also ask for references. Leave no stone unturned in ensuring you hire the right outsourcing provider. When it comes to contracting the right person (s) for the task, it is important to pay more attention to skills, talent and experience in performing the tasks in question. Someone who is well trained, adequately skilled and well experienced in the task will prioritize efficiency and high quality.
Step 3: Be Flexible
Don’t be too rigid with your job requirements; that doesn’t mean you should lower your gourd in terms of standard. But, give room for the outsourcing provider to get the job done according to your expectations. So, in terms of flexibility, you should be practical with the duration allotted for the completion of the outsourced task (for timeline-bound projects) for instance. Also, in other aspects where it is necessary, try and be as flexible as possible.
Step 4: Provide Needful and Helpful Resources
You will also promote efficiency and high quality in an outsourcing relationship by offering helpful and needful resources. This will help the outsourcing company or vendor complete the task faster and more efficiently.
Step 5: Consider a Proper Contractual Relationship
Indeed, you can be sure of great outcome when you adopt these efficiency-oriented outsourcing tips.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
According to a caption in a Los Angeles Times publication, “The Philippines has become the call-center capital of the world.”Currently, in the Philippines, call center job has become the number one choice for a lot of young people. Over a million Filipinos found a job at call centers and are earning their living there. Thanks to outsourcing that made this possible. Most of the call center outsourcing companies in the Philippines are serving American companies mostly.
So, What Makes the Filipino Workforce Thick for Outsourced Tasks?
It is simply the combination of specialized skills and cheaper labor. The Philippine workforce has become quite invaluable in helping grow tons of United States companies who engage their services to handle customer complaints, format documents, code data, generate sales leads, read legal briefs, and medical scans.
In essence, Filipinos are not just experts in a call center (handling customer’s complaints), they are also very good at carrying out the following business tasks;
Documents formatting
Sales lead generation – internet marketing as a whole
Data coding
Reading medical scans
Reading legal briefs
Article marketing
…and more
Coming back to call center, the topic of the day as it relates to the Filipinos; there’s a case of a young woman named Maya. As at the time she lost her dad she was barely 20. With four younger ones and an uneducated mom who is a farmer, the responsibility of catering for her family rests on her.
Luckily, Maya got a job in one of the call centers in the Philippines, and as a result, is able to help her family. Out of her savings, she was able to get a college degree in the arts. But, it became difficult for her to break off from her call center job. Though the job was draining as he handles up to 120 calls daily from infuriated American customers, the pay makes it worthwhile. She will often do the graveyard shift and spend longer hours at work. However, Maya earns nearly $800 every month – an amount that even some highly rated professionals in the Philippines can’t earn yet, let alone a graduate of arts.
The Call Center Outsourcing Industry in the Philippines is a Big Boom!
Yes, the outsourcing industry and particularly call center, has grown so fast in the Philippines that India has become no match. As a result, the Philippine is now popularly referred to as the world’s call center capital.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs to build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
There is no established rule when it comes to what is best while using outsourcing solution. It all depends on what you want to achieve per time with outsourcing, as well as the nature of the project you wish to outsource. But, generally, some of the best outsourcing practices include the following;
Sitting back to analyze if you need to outsource, what to outsource, and whether it is better to outsource a particular task or leave it in-house.
Considering offshore outsourcing more, especially if your ultimate goal is to cut back cost significantly.
Giving out a small part of a project just to test a prospect and see what to expect eventually.
Entering into a proper contractual relationship with an outsourcing partner. This way, you can lay claims to damages and facilitate repair/repayment where necessary.
Ensuring you do not settle the less in all.
Q: How do I find a reliable offshore outsourcing partner?
To make your search more specific, you should include the location and the outsourcing service you’re seeking in your search. For instance, you can search for offshore call center services, or Philippines call center outsourcing service. You can also go through an agency to hire an offshore partner for your outsourcing needs.
Q: When is outsourcing ripe?
It depends on the uniqueness of your business needs. Some can decide to adopt outsourcing from the inception of their business. Others may delay using outsourcing till when they are ready to do so. For instance, a small business owner may delay outsourcing if he’s able to manage the tasks without losing focus of the core interests of the business.
But, if repetitive tasks are starting to eat deep into the time that should be devoted in building the brand and staying relevant, it’s a pointer that outsourcing is ripe. So, the uniqueness of each business and core goals would largely determine when outsourcing is ripe.
Q: Are there tasks that shouldn’t be outsourced?
Well, virtually every task can be outsourced. But, the business owner or a company can use their discretion to decide if they prefer to keep back some tasks rather than outsource them.
This is particularly true about sensitive tasks that are better monitored closely. So, the decision to outsource some tasks and perform some in-house is completely left for the business owner or a company and its management.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
Who can really argue the results and significant benefits that come from meaningful outsourcing? Indeed, outsourcing is ruling the business world, because it has proven to be a super efficient and effective tool for running a business successfully – in terms of cost saving, access to large pool of talent, and competitive advantage. However, you must locate the ideal outsourcing company or partner to reap these benefits.
So, How Do you Locate the Ideal Outsourcing Partner?
The key is to set the qualifications and pace for the outsource company. The idea behind it all is to end up with an outsourcing provider that can deliver the exact quality and result you’re looking for. This would in return enhance your business. Also, it will help eliminate limitations on your company’s productivity.
You should consider the following as the components of the requirements you will set for a potential outsourcing partner;
Possession of Skills/Talent Required for the Task: You definitely wouldn’t want to end up with a content creator when what you’re looking for is a web developer, would you? So, in setting the qualifications for the outsourcing partner, you should clearly list the exact skills you’re looking for. This will help cut down on the number of outsourcing providers that would bid for the project, and make the hiring task easier for you.
Ability to Meet Deadline: You wouldn’t want any form of delay regarding the outsourced task. Therefore, you should also set clear expectations in terms of the time frame of the outsourced task. If you need to tie any condition to ensure timely delivery, don’t hesitate to do so. For instance, you could spell out up to 20 percent deduction from the agreed fee if the task is not completed and delivered as at when due. This will help facilitate timely completion and delivery of the outsourced task.
Ability to Deliver the Required Quality
Also, in setting the pace and qualifications of who gets the project you wish to outsource, you should spell out the exact quality outcome you are expecting from the completed task.
Finally, you should also consider spelling out confidentiality as part of the requirements for a business task you want to outsource. This is especially necessary for business tasks that involve sensitive information and components. You wouldn’t want your competitors to lay hold of your formulas or tactics for instance.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
Most family businesses die soon after the founder dies because there was no succession plan in place. Rather than leaving it till later, you should start planning for family business succession now. Among other issues, not having a succession plan in place can result in substantial tax implications for family members, even your employees and managers are at risk.
Start by Identifying Your Goals
Make sure all stakeholders are part of the business succession planning; these include your family, partners, employees and managers. You should consult each part as you plan succession. You should adopt the following tips;
Schedule lots of group meetings targeted at your succession plan. You should also fix meetings to speak with key players in your company.
Come up with a formal agenda that would govern the meetings, to help each person stay on track.
Don’t stray from the focus of the meeting, which is the intended succession plan.
You should prioritize managers and family members in the succession plan, bearing in mind they are the ones to carry on the family business actively. Also, transition will be smooth and your plan well accepted when you involve these key persons in your succession plan.
Spell Out Your Own Goals
Also, your own goals in respect to what you desire for the business should be clear. You should clearly and articulately define your legacy and values. For instance, you should spell out when you want to retire and how the business should carry on when you do. In this case, adopt the following tips;
Analyze your desired income when you step down and other possible sources of income, to help you determine the amount that will accrue to you as retirement income from the business.
After determining and summarizing your key goals, print it out and hand to the stakeholders – family and managers.
Explore Available Options
The main thing is to determine your ideal, then go ahead and assess variety of methods that can help you get very close to the plan. In this case, you should adopt the following tips;
Your unified set of goals should highly consider the expectations and hopes of other key players – this is actually the best case scenario.
Your family dynamic should also be a priority – factoring in family stake holders that don’t easily get along.
Seek the opinion and input of others – family members, partners, managers, and professional advisers before concluding on a particular plan.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.
You’ve heard that outsourcing is a cheap way of getting a job done. But, you did not find out how this works and the best way to approach it. So, you rush off to hire cheap labor and the end result did not match your expectation. Now, before you repeat the same mistake, you should learn how to negotiate an outsourcing fee rightly.
Yes, it is not a hidden fact that outsourcing is a tool that provides cost-effectiveness to a business. The cost-effectiveness largely comes from hiring workers who work from their own space and destination instead of the ones who sit back in the office day in and day out.
You’ve heard that what you pay for is what you get. This largely applies to outsourcing. In essence, what you pay to an outsourcing provider will largely determine what you will eventually get as the final outcome. You may say; if this is the case, then outsourcing is not cheap after all. Well, you got it all wrong.
You should know that there are many independent contractors claiming to be experts when they are not. And of course, the real experts are out there, but you need to adopt due diligence in finding and hiring them; this includes what you offer them as service fee or what they are willing to accept as service fee.
Paying reasonable fee to ensure the desired quality for an outsourced task does not mean you are forfeiting the main essence of outsourcing solution (cost cutting). No matter how you look at it, you are still better off with outsourcing than full-time staffing in terms of cost difference.
All I’m saying is that you should keep an eye on quality when negotiating outsourcing fee. You should offer a fee that would promote quality outcome. Even if the contractor is an expert in the task you wish to outsource, they can decide to lower their standard to suit what you are willing to pay as a service fee.
If it sounds too good to be True, then Beware
In essence, the offer sounds so juicy and you feel you are about to hit a jackpot. You should beware and be sure you will not end up with a peanut result. No true expert will settle for a peanut to offer their expertise. So, when you are being offered what seems like a peanut price in comparison with the requirement of the task, you should think twice.
You should be diligent to ensure undeniable proof of expertise when hiring an outsourcing company or provider. Offer or accept reasonable pricing that will work well for both parties.
Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams
