Have you ever thought about outsourcing your programming, web design, graphic art work or even your call centre services?
Well you are not alone.
New websites like oDesk, Elance, VWorker and many more, have made it simple to outsource non core business functions to professional service providers who will bid to provide your services competitively.
I have personally been using oDesk for the past three years and I regularly use their service providers to build websites, provide programming services, create video content and help with other tasks like search engine optimization. I have also engaged the service of one provider to promote and help to sell domain names in international markets.
Their processes are simple and free to begin.
Step 1: Signup for a free account
Step 2: Define and post a job
Step 3: Review and interview service providers
Step 4: Hire the service provider and give them your project overview
Step 5: Review the work provided and work on revisions if needed
Step 6: Complete the job, pay the provider and leave some feedback
Although these processes are relatively simple, it is important to write an accurate job description and be very specific about the work you want done.
You can expect that you will have some additional costs placed on top of the original bid or you may even upset the service provider if you don’t write a detailed job description and provide accurate information.
You have to remember that the service providers are there to make a living just like you and if you don’t provide accurate information, they deserve to be paid for the additional work that will be required to help you complete your job.
The good thing is that most people that work through these kinds of websites are there to work honestly with you for the successful completion of the job they have taken on and the more reputable websites like oDesk do have processes in place to help you avoid scammers.
oDesk in particular gives you continuous screen capture views of the work being provided, so you can monitor and review the work being done by your service provider prior to accepting their work and paying for the job.
At the end of their billing period you have several days to dispute the quality or quantity of the work provided and oDesk will work with you to overcome disputes if you ever find that a service provider hasn’t given you what was rightfully expected.
Some things you should know about before you begin outsourcing
- Understand your workers needs
You are often going to be working with people in foreign countries and at times you may need to be patient and understanding of fact that their work ethics may be different than yours. They have local traditions, religious beliefs and observe holidays that you may never have heard of and if you want them to do your work, you will have to accept that. - Plan your work in advance
Your workers will often be working in time zones that are different than yours and you will find yourself waiting for someone on the other side of the world to get out of bed and begin your work you thought they had already done, if you don’t communicate well with them and plan the workflow of your project. I usually put together my work schedule for them today and expect that it will be completed by the next day. I also arrange for a daily online meeting with my workers using Skype or Yahoo Messenger, so I can keep on top of progress and issue more work. - If you need something done fast, be clear about it during your interview process
A lot of the people you will be working with will be looking for work to fill their schedule and that means that the work you give them may not get done today unless you specifically tell them you need it urgently and not to take on the job unless they can do the work now. - Choose your method for accepting the job appropriately
If you are having something like a logo designed, you will have an option to advertise a job for a fixed price or for an hourly rate. Although it might seem cheaper to only pay for a couple of hours of time at a cheap rate, it might actually cost you less if you ask for fixed price bids, which might also include a set number of revisions and the design of your new business cards and letterheads. - Make sure you are available to communicate
If you want to make sure your project is not delayed through lack of communication be prepared to provide your workers with your contact information and check it periodically. Upon beginning a new project I always make sure my workers have my e-mail address, Skype & Yahoo Messenger contact details.
There is so much more that I could tell you about how useful outsourcing services like oDesk are, however I think the best way to find out is to put your foot in the water with a small project and a small budget to begin with and see for yourself how it is done.
Don’t be scared to try, as most service providers have 24 / 7 live support people who are happy to help you get the best out of their service all the way.
PS: If you would like to outsource your work, but don’t want to deal with the outsourced workers directly, follow this link to find out about using our outsourcing project management service. We can arrange and monitor all of your outsourced workers for a relatively low hourly rate.
Happy Outsourcing
Regards
Gordon Russell
Programmers.com.au
