With global markets rapidly expanding, many Employers are contemplating hiring international firms or Freelancers from other countries to complete their projects. Nevertheless, fear of the unknown often overshadows the potential benefits, such as lower cost and higher value, that may be realized by successful outsourcing ventures.
Points to Consider First
Is outsourcing right for you and your business goals? Think of your business as a whole, as well as the specific project at hand, and weigh the benefits and risks.
- Your business strategy: To maintain full control over your company's essence, you may prefer to manage "core drivers" in-house, while outsourcing less central or one-time projects.
- Expenses: Determine how much outsourcing can save you. Can the work be done in-house? Or, if this is a long-term project, would it make sense to hire a permanent staff member?
- Risks: There is a potential for communication barriers (due to time zone or language differences) and the possibility of quality deterioration, given your inability to supervise the Freelancer directly. If you don't already know and trust the Freelancer, you may prefer to refrain from outsourcing proprietary work or releasing sensitive information.
- Management: Someone on your staff must be in charge of coordinating and communicating effectively with Freelancers.
- Location: Do you prefer to work with someone in the same city, state, province or country?
Remember to periodically re-evaluate the extent and nature of your outsourcing, to maximize your efficiency. |
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Benefits of Outsourcing
Access a greater pool of talented Freelancers, across a variety of skill categories, for temporary or permanent hire.
Improve your efficiency by focusing your own time on your company's mission-critical "core drivers," while sending non-core aspects of your business to Freelancers.
Easily expand and contract your work force, depending on the projects at hand.
Leverage the time difference, if outsourcing overseas or across time zones: Send work to someone at the end of your day, and have it completed when you come back in the morning.
Potentially save costs by selecting among many different Freelancers' competitive bids. |
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Research Beyond Skills and Experience
If you are considering outsourcing your project, you will need to do some research. In addition to assessing Freelancers' competency, pricing, and availability, it is important to evaluate their language skills and business processes. Once you understand the similarities and differences, you can make an informed decision about the benefits and drawbacks of international outsourcing and determine if it is the right fit for your needs.
Language and Culture
While most Employers realize that an international Freelancer may not share their same culture or language, they fail to take into account how this will affect their relationship, communications, response time, work quality, and expectations. Once you find a Freelancer with the skills, price, and turnaround time you like, you will need to investigate how well he or she communicates. Ensuring understanding and avoiding confusion due to cultural differences and language barriers are critical factors in any successful international relationship.
- Speak with the Freelancer several times before making your decision.
- If you are working with a company or firm, ask to speak with all of the contacts for your project.
- Gauge how well the Freelancer understands you, and how well you understand him or her.
- Think about the importance of precise language in the scope of the work, and use your pre-project communication with a Freelancer to determine if the project deliverables are clear.
Although communication challenges may play a prominent role in offshore consulting, misunderstandings can occur in all working relationships, because people communicate in a variety of ways. If you encounter problems due to a language barrier, document all requests and changes and review them with the Freelancer to ensure he or she understands what you need.
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Communicating with International Freelancers
Choose tools that keep a record of communications, as these give Freelancers a chance to review and refer back to what was discussed (e.g.,Project Messages and Project Agreements).
Assign a point person for communications if several people are involved in your project.
Avoid methods that require quick understanding or leave no record of communications (e.g., instant messages and quick phone calls).
Explain your requirements in clear, simple language.
Repeat your requests and/or explain them in various ways.
Ask the Freelancer to reiterate his or her understanding of your expectations and requirements.
Avoid colloquialisms such as slang, jargon, and idioms.
Do not shout. Making words louder does not render them more understandable. |
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Time Zone
Know the time zone where the Freelancer lives. Although many international firms expand their hours to accommodate outsourcing, do not expect the Freelancer to be available at all hours of the day.
Before you proceed with your project, learn what the time difference is, and ask yourself if working with someone in this time zone will be doable for you. Because of time differences, your project communications may occur first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening.
Business Process
In addition to language and time differences, the international Freelancer probably conducts business differently. Ask the following when you interview the Freelancer:
- How will the Freelancer approach and complete your project?
- Who will work on your project? People in the West often expect to deal with one person during the project, but your Freelancer may use several points of contact from his or her firm.
- How will project communications, updates, questions, and deliveries be handled?
- Are the Freelancer's expectations of project milestones, deadlines, deliverables, and payouts the same as yours?
Employers who fail to investigate the contracting firm's business process often make assumptions about how the project and related communications will be handled. In most cases, these Employers become disappointed and angry when their assumptions are wrong.
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Keys to Success
The keys to successful international outsourcing are research and preparation. Understand your project, understand the Freelancer, and have a plan in place to work successfully.
Ask the Right Questions Going In
Determine if outsourcing presents cost saving opportunities and if those savings will allow you to hire more qualified candidates. Then decide if you have the flexibility to adjust your communication style, business process and scheduling to accommodate different cultures and time zones.
Protect Yourself
Unfortunately, since data protection and intellectual property laws vary across national lines, your legal protection when outsourcing overseas is severely limited. Therefore, for any outsourced project, you should review the Freelancer's feedback and ratings to gauge credibility, and use several tips and tools provided on Guru.com to keep things on track.
Document your conversations. Choose communication methods, such as the Project Messages, that allow for detailed documentation to ensure that both parties understand the terms and scope of the project. Place project requests, updates, and comments in writing to give the international Freelancer time to comprehend the material, and to give you a written record of what you requested.
Draft a comprehensive Project Agreement (including any non-disclosure clauses) so that the Freelancer is aware of what is and is not acceptable use of your work. Too many relationships fail because the contract was inadequate or non-existent. A written contract is useful in all project relationships because it allows both parties to be aware of and agree to the terms. Guru.com allows Employers and Freelancers to upload and agree to contracts via the Project Agreement tool. If changes are made or new pieces are added to the project, Change Orders will allow you to document and agree to these items.
Monitor project progress against performance metrics and deliverables defined in your Project Agreement. Project milestones can be tied directly to payment.
Protect your investment by using SafePay as your payment method, and only hire a freelancer who is willing to accept payment after the work is complete.
Considering outsourcing for your project is similar to choosing between a domestic vacation or traveling abroad. Both offer advantages. Regardless of which you pick, you need to weigh the variables: cost, time variances, communication challenges, and cultural differences. Outsourcing, like traveling abroad, simply involves a little more research and planning. |
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SafePay
Guaranteed Payment Protection with SafePay.
Our SafePay service allows you to transact with Freelancers risk-free. If you are working with a new Freelancer, use SafePay.
Learn how SafePay works. |
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