How US Companies Can Keep Their Outsource Partners Accountable

In recent years, outsourcing has been gaining enormous popularity. For many growing businesses today, especially those based in the United States, outsourcing is slowly becoming an essential part of their operations.

Companies often choose to outsource parts of their operations, including accounting, customer service, marketing, and information technology. One of the most significant benefits of outsourcing is that it reduces your costs. 

The reason for reduced costs is that when you hire an outsourced team, you do not have to invest time and money in training and setup. Most outsourced teams consist of skilled professionals who already have all the tools they need to do the work you need them to do right from the start.

But how can you know that the outsource team will deliver the work on time and up to your standards? It can be challenging to trust someone that is not a direct employee of your company. Although many outsource teams will be honest in their work, it is still recommended that you monitor what they do.

Let's explore some of the ways you can easily monitor the work your outsource team does.

Set the Expectations for Your Outsourced Team

Even before your outsourced team starts working for you, you should set the expectations for what you are looking to achieve with them. The more they understand your project, the better they will be at doing it. You need to be clear through the entire project from start to finish. 

You can start by drafting up the specific goals you are looking for them to achieve. It will be easier and more efficient for both parties if you have more achievable goals instead of just having one general overarching goal. You can also set up specific KPIs (key performance indicators) which you would track on the regular basis to make sure the operations are running smoothly. If you’re outsourcing your customer support team these KPIs should include the average wait time, the time it takes to resolve an issue for the customer, etc. 

‍

Be Involved With the Work They Do

After you have set achievable goals for your outsourced team and they have started working on your project, make sure you remain involved in the work they do, especially in the beginning. Being involved means occasionally checking in with them and what they do, as well as helping them out if they run into some challenges. 

While you should always keep your check-in with your outsourced team and help them out, doing it since the beginning will likely push them to familiarize themselves with your work more promptly. Being involved with your outsourced team allows you to monitor their performance.

The best way to monitor their performance both in the beginning and in later stages is to use a remote computer monitoring software like Insightful. With a remote computer monitoring software at your disposal, you can easily track your outsourced team and whether or not they are actually doing the work you are paying for. Remote computer monitoring software helps you track their work like they are sitting next to you. This ensures that they are accountable, which builds a stronger bond between you.

Check the Quality of Their Work

You should not be afraid to spot check the quality of your outsourced team's work. The best three options for checking the quality of their work:

• Conduct random quality assurance surveys with your customers
• Shadow the outsourced team while they work
• Ask your employees for feedback

The success of surveying your customers about the quality of the work your outsourced team has provided largely depends on if you want your customers to know whether or not you are using outsourced labor. 

On the other hand, shadowing your outsourced employees requires time and possibly syncing with their timezone, because it is common for US companies to hire outsourced teams from abroad.

If your outsourced team is handling some of your internal operations such as your accounting or IT, you should survey your in-house staff to learn about their experience with the outsourced labor. 

Your staff will be best to tell you whether the outsourced teams are good at their job, if they fit in with the team, and whether their services contribute.

Final Thoughts

Outsourcing can be a significant cost-saver for many US businesses. And more often than not, the experience with outsourced teams is positive. However, since outsourced employees represent your company externally, you need to keep a close eye on what they do.  

For a positive experience with an outsourced team, you need to set proper expectations from the start, you also need to be involved with the work they do, and you need to check the quality of their work regularly. Doing these three things with the help of an employee tracking system will maximize your chances of having a successful relationship with your outsourced team.

‍