Problems of Outsourcing and How to Deal with Them
You should already know that outsourcing has numerous advantages, from improving your team’s productivity to helping your business grow. However, one has to remember that there is another side of the coin, namely outsourcing issues that might happen at the moments one doesn’t see them coming. Qubit Labs understands that, as they say, forewarned is forearmed.
So, when opting for IT outsourcing, you also need to know how to do it the right way to avoid common mishaps. Read on to understand the main problems of outsourcing and how you can prevent them from happening.
Why does outsourcing fail?
The global market size of outsourced services is estimated to be around $92,5 billion, but it’s believed that less than 50% of outsourcing projects meet the expected goals. Nevertheless, it’s anticipated that the market value will reach $486,16 billion by 2024.
However, if the future of the outsourcing market is that bright, why do failures happen? Let’s find out the top reasons explaining the challenges of outsourcing.
#1: It’s hard to find the right team
The team is the core of the project, so the inability to find it will definitely result in the problem with outsourcing. You should prioritize quality over quantity. It’s better to pay more money to a couple of experienced developers and be confident about their performance than pay less but receive the unsuitable product, which will need debugging.
Avoid the monetary standpoint and think about what you want to see on the finish line, check how you can hire developers. Aim for making a profit in the long run, but don’t be afraid to invest in professionals today. Several outsourcing issues can be prevented by a simple overview of future employees’ portfolios and testing their skills in practice.
If you spend some time assessing the candidates’ references and assigning some test tasks, you will avoid dealing with unprofessionalism later. Also, make sure to screen the prospective employees’ goals and values to see whether they comply with your company’s ones.
Solution: aim for long-term goals and emphasize quality over quantity
#2: The expectations aren’t clear enough
If you don’t know what you need, then who does? It is crucial to have a plan beforehand, clarify your business needs, define the key roles and objectives, and set the budget. The plan has to be clear, and you need to communicate it to the employees in the right way because otherwise, you won’t avoid problems with outsourcing.
Make sure everyone has the same idea of your business needs, and each team member knows his/her expectations. Answer all the questions regarding the project, explain what the final project has to look like, tell about the features you would like to incorporate, and, most importantly, set clear deadlines.
Look at the project from the employees’ point of view and try to identify the possible misunderstandings. Once you have a clear idea, you can be confident there will be low risks of any issues with outsourcing.
Solution: define your business needs and accurately articulate the expectations
#3: Lack of expertise in working with the outsourcing vendors
If the vendor is right, you won’t be questioning how to deal with these or those technical tasks you’ve never faced. The selected company will handle all the complications itself, and you have to clearly define the reasons for outsourcing the project and establish the criteria of crucial importance.
It’s all about comparison, so when deciding on the vendor, make sure to check several companies engaged in the industry. Then, identify their primary services, see the reviews of other customers, and look at the critical information, like hourly wage and location. In this way, you’ll understand what kind of expertise your project requires and prevent a handful of outsourcing failures.
Engage regular status updates to see whether you are on the same page with the vendor. A reliable partner will walk you through each stage of the development process and implement the best practices to remove any bottlenecks.
Solution: compare the companies and check the reviews
#4: Poorly defined roles
Your designer is engaged in troubleshooting, and a middle developer controls all the processes? It means outsourcing gone wrong here, and it has to be fixed. Ask yourself whether everyone is aware of their individual roles and shared goals. Specify the roles clearly because otherwise, it might happen that two employees are doing the same task while other key activities are set aside.
One of the most common problems with outsourcing is that the team isn’t in the shared physical space. This makes it complicated to manage all the processes correctly and introduce prompt adjustments. So, don’t forget to give brief overviews of the weekly objectives and set up kick-off meetings.
Communication is vital in this case, so when everyone knows what person is responsible for which task, it will eliminate numerous problems of outsourcing right off the bat.
Solution: define the roles and assign the tasks beforehand
#5:Complicated regulations and legal issues
There is an abundance of aspects that affect the appearance of the current challenges in outsourcing. You have to keep in mind all the terms, from liability to intellectual property rights. Besides, since outsourcing implies working with international companies, it’s necessary to comply with other country’s regulations.
However, this problem of outsourcing can be easily fixed. Some outsourcing vendors offer to handle all the legal mess by creating a certain legal environment. They make sure the company follows all the legal aspects and fosters the advantages of IT outsourcing. Hence, you won’t have to deal with numerous regulations, norms, and regulations and transfer the responsibility to the vendor.
Solution: learn about cooperation models and transfer the responsibility
#6: Ineffective communication within the team
Cultural, geographical, and time differences matter greatly, but when there is an understanding between the teammates, these aspects don’t matter that much. If you aren’t ready to face the problems of outsourcing at the outset, introduce all the stakeholders, both internal and outsourced, to each other.
The employees have to feel comfortable around each other because they will work side by side for a certain amount of time. Each team member has to understand what to expect from his/her colleague and rely on him in case the deadlines are too tight.
Aim for an interactive and inspiring space where your international team can feel as if they were under one roof.
Solution: enable informal communication, give updates, and stay in touch with the team
#7: The absence of feedback from the stakeholders
Great ideas appear in the process, and if there is no feedback, the chances of creating a groundbreaking product are rather low, right? Ask the questions and draw conclusions from the answers. You’ll see how certain factors affect the overall performance, what challenges the employees face, whether they think the issues with outsourcing might occur, and whether the project inspires them.
There is no “I” in the “team,” so all the stakeholders can add value to the project; you just have to listen to what they say. Besides, an international talent pool will give you ideas from different perspectives, positively influencing the project’s outcomes.
Solution: ask for the feedback and value the contribution of each employee
#8: Lack of control and attention to the outsourced team
Once you outsource the project, you transfer a great chunk of the responsibility for software development to the remote team. However, if you don’t give them enough credit, they won’t have the desire to continue working on the product.
One of the typical outsourcing failures examples is the inability to treat both internal and remote teams equally and managing the conflicts without bias. If you show loyalty to the outsourced employees, they’ll put their best foot forward and help your ideas turn into reality.
Solution: avoid bias and treat the outsourced team as part of your core team
Conclusion
The problems of outsourcing significantly rely on the business owners’ abilities to handle their responsibilities and manage employees correctly. If you want your final product to become a breakout on the market and be delivered by creative, reliable, and experienced professionals, make sure to choose the best vendor. Qubit Labs shares the mentioned qualities and will gladly handle any challenges to make sure your project is successful.
Related Articles:
The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Software Development Company
Dedicated Team or Outsourcing a Project: Which is Better for Startup?
Where is Better to Outsource: India or Ukraine?
Ukraine IT Outsourcing Market General Overview
