Five Things to Note When Outsourcing for the First Time

1. Job Description

    When you post a job description, you need to be very clear of what you want your service provider to give you. Outline your tasks very clearly. Although you may not want to reveal everything about your project, it is wise to give a general understanding of the tasks involved, so that your potential service provider can gauge their own abilities. You need to ensure that your service provider allows for revision to his work and also transfer the rights of the final piece of work to you, in case of articles, books, etc. These things need to be clearly communicated in the very beginning, to avoid any disputes in later stages.

2. Be Professional

   Once you have chosen a service provider, be professional in your dealings with them. Communicate in a formal manner at all times, through proper channels of communication, so that your service providers understand your high standards of conduct. They will behave in a similar manner to you. I always ensure that my messages are free of spelling and grammatical mistakes. This will hint to them that you are meticulos and do not accept sloppy work from them. Afterall, you are paying for the service.

3. Give Clear Instructions

    Since all forms of communication is mostly restricted to Private Message Boards or e-mails, that is written communications, you must ensure that all forms of communication is concise and clear. Make sure you number the things you want them to perform. You may want to include some reference material for them if you want your articles to contain certain relevant information. Give them websites to refer to whenever necessary. Ensure that your service provider understands what is supposed to be done by asking him to reiterate your message, before they even start on the tasks.

4. Business Terms and Conditions

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   If the website which you obtain your service provider provides a platform for communication and recording of business terms and conditions, use it. Some websites require you to communicate via their Private Message Board which is archived for future reference, in case of disputes between you and the service provider. There will be some ocassions whereby you need to negotiate the business terms and conditions again. For instance, you may want to ask them to add 2 more tasks to the job description. Your service provider may want to negotiate for a new payment amount. These new terms need to be very clearly understood and communicated openly, to avoid any misunderstandings later.

5. Set up Milestones

   If your project is a big one and takes a long time to complete, it is best to set up milestones between you and the service provider. After the completion of each milestone, it is appropriate for you to pay your service provider a percentage of the payment amount. If your job is 20% completed at the end of the first milestone, pay your service provider 20% of the total amount. In this way, your service provider will continue to be motivated to complete the entire job satisfactorily. Although the setting up milestones is not necessary for small jobs, it is still a good way to look at delegation of tasks to third party providers.

These are just some of the things you need to take note of when outsourcing your tasks to service providers. Hope it helps you get started on the right foot, especially if this is your first time outsourcing. If you have signed up for reliable service provider websites, you need not worry that your service provider will run away with your money. The system will guard you against such incidents. So, concentrate on the delegation of the tasks rather than the security of the system. All the best!

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