Successful IT Outsourcing

If you perform your IT tasks in-house, you must have developed a way to manage each individual project, timelines, debugging, and other routine tasks. Though the processes are more or less the same when outsourcing IT tasks, you need some additional qualities to become a successful remote manager. Let’s walk through a check list and see what you need to consider when managing employees remotely.

Firstly, it’s all about communication. That’s the main thing to take care of because you are usually used to the traditional style of communicating face-to-face with each employee. On the other hand, remote managers can use a variety of communication channels like phone, internet, fax, etc. But you still need to mention all this when making the deal. If you are managing low-level tasks, ask your employees to send you daily reports. If the job is a big project, then you can ask for weekly updates at least. You can, rather should, use instant messengers too occasionally; this is the best channel when you need to discuss something important where the employees may have questions popping up in their minds.

Secondly, keep yourself focused on the end goals and targets. When managing remote employees, it’s hard to see if they are doing their work or playing Solitaire. So you have got to see if you are achieving your targets and milestones on time. Detailed reporting and documentation is necessary for both sides; you need to give your employees a list of tasks they have to accomplish and the expected time frame. But don’t pressurize them to do more in less time. You have to remember that it’s easy for them to decrease quality without anyone raising eyebrows.

In addition, it’s essential that you give them proper feedback. It’s not necessary to always leave a positive one, unless you’ve got a perfect employee. But also don’t make it a heart-breaking one, as this can result in loss of interest and motivation. Tell each employee honestly where he went wrong and what he could have done to make it right. Whether you get daily reports or weekly, it’s essential that you leave a feedback every once in a while. Failure to do so may give the impression that you either don’t care about the work or are too busy to worry about its timely completion.

Many typical in-house work practices also apply to outsourced work, and periodic performance appraisals is definitely one of them. In fact, motivating your offshore workforce is more important than motivating your internal staff. Also ask them for feedback occasionally, to learn what you can do better and what they find annoying about you. Finally, if you can arrange face-to-face meetings every six months or a year, that would be great for creating more trust and understanding.

Follow these tips and you will see how effectively you can manage your remote employees, giving you a higher ROI as compared to in-house staff. And be sure to grab our FREE 6 day course on how to become a successful remote manager.