Frances Quinn
One of the fastest and most successful opportunities you have to level up the productivity of your consulting firm is with outsourcing.
Outsourcing is taking a task, outcome or project, and hiring someone outside your business to complete it. Simply put, when you delegate, you assign the completion of a thing to someone in your direct team. When you outsource, you assign the completion of that thing to someone outside of your team (just like when your clients hire you!).
Outsourcing can be volume-driven, where you hire lower cost resources to complete high-volume, low-value tasks, or skill-driven, where you hire specialists who bring capabilities you don't have personally or within your existing team.
Outsourcing is a big decision; especially if any part of the task you are outsourcing impacts your clients. It must be done right from the get-go to make the process both worthwhile and cost-effective, and to ensure you have enough trust in the outcome to be able to let go!
Getting outsourcing right doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are five things to consider when you're ready to start outsourcing:
1. Hire to your weaknesses
Take some time to stop and acknowledge your weaknesses. Outsourcing can help you leverage the expertise of others, and free you up to focus on your strengths.
For every task that you aren't good at and don't like doing, there is someone out there who gets out of bed every day to do just that. While you may have had to wear every hat when you started your business, you don't have to (and shouldn't) continue doing everything forever.
Outsourcing comes in many forms. You can hire a virtual assistant, or a specialist role with local or international resources. You can even outsource a specific function to a skilled service provider, like an accounting firm or marketing agency.
Start by outsourcing low value, high repetition tasks. As your team of skilled support staff grows, keep searching for more and more opportunities to free yourself up through outsourcing.
For every task that you aren't good at and don't like doing, there is someone out there who gets out of bed every day to do just that. While you may have had to wear every hat when you started your business, you don't have to (and shouldn't) continue doing everything forever.
Outsourcing comes in many forms. You can hire a virtual assistant, or a specialist role with local or international resources. You can even outsource a specific function to a skilled service provider, like an accounting firm or marketing agency.
Start by outsourcing low value, high repetition tasks. As your team of skilled support staff grows, keep searching for more and more opportunities to free yourself up through outsourcing.
2. Be specific about what you do (and don't) want to be done
Anytime you outsource a task, you need to be clear, specific and detailed about what you want done, by when, and what it should look like when it's finished. You should provide clear boundaries for what is and isn't included in the task and what you expect as an end result in order to get the best results.
As a consultant, you know well enough that the only way you can be successful for your clients is if you have a detailed and thorough understanding of your their needs. The same is true for outsourcing.
I find it useful to provide:
As a consultant, you know well enough that the only way you can be successful for your clients is if you have a detailed and thorough understanding of your their needs. The same is true for outsourcing.
I find it useful to provide:
- The context behind the request - why is the task being done.
- A description of the work required.
- A checklist of exact items or deliverables that should be provided once the task is complete.
- A list of any related items that are out of scope and should not be included.
- An overview of the impact of the work being done - what is the impact of a successful outcome, and what is the impact if the outcome is not successful.
- Any decision making boundaries or escalation guidelines.
The level of detail you need to provide will vary according to who you are outsourcing to. The more senior or experienced the resource is, the less detailed you will need to be.
3. Communicate clearly and often
Communication is key to outsourcing successfully, especially since in most cases your outsourced staff will work remotely. Without clear communication, you lose both alignment and understanding which are key to success in any outsourcing relationship.
You spend every day immersed in your business. If you're anything like me, you probably spend most of your waking hours (and some of your sleeping ones) think about your business and your clients businesses, dreaming about what you want to create in the future, and solving the day to day problems that arise on the road to get there.
Even if you're outsourcing to someone who is working exclusively with your business day in day out, they are not in your head 24/7, dreaming the dreams and solving the problems that you obsess over.
The only way to ensure you maintain the 'same page' alignment necessary for a successful partnership is to intentionally communicate everything you need your outsourced team to understand,
Pro Tip: never expect that because you have communicated, you have been understood. Especially when working with remote teams, take time to check for understanding and ensure that the message has been received as intended.
You spend every day immersed in your business. If you're anything like me, you probably spend most of your waking hours (and some of your sleeping ones) think about your business and your clients businesses, dreaming about what you want to create in the future, and solving the day to day problems that arise on the road to get there.
Even if you're outsourcing to someone who is working exclusively with your business day in day out, they are not in your head 24/7, dreaming the dreams and solving the problems that you obsess over.
The only way to ensure you maintain the 'same page' alignment necessary for a successful partnership is to intentionally communicate everything you need your outsourced team to understand,
Pro Tip: never expect that because you have communicated, you have been understood. Especially when working with remote teams, take time to check for understanding and ensure that the message has been received as intended.
4. Maintain visibility, oversight & accountability
One of the hardest parts of effective outsourcing, especially for those recovering perfectionists out there (guilty!!), is letting go. Even if we aren't great at something, we still care a lot about making sure it gets done right. It's one of the things that makes you so successful, and it's hard to relinquish control of those outcomes to someone else.
The secret to letting go is to maintain line of sight. It's a lot easier to slowly step away if you can clearly see that the train is not racing off the tracks. Setup reports, shared task lists, notifications, and approval processes to ensure that you remain across what's being done both from a productivity and a quality standpoint.
One mistake that's often made with outsourcing - especially to a specialist service provider - is that we relinquish accountability instead of assigning responsibility. We hire great, experienced people for their knowledge and expertise (just like your clients hire you). But the success of our business is still our accountability - that is something you can never completely let go of.
You don't have to become the expert in everything, but it is important to learn enough about each area to ask great questions and spot when something is heading off track.
The secret to letting go is to maintain line of sight. It's a lot easier to slowly step away if you can clearly see that the train is not racing off the tracks. Setup reports, shared task lists, notifications, and approval processes to ensure that you remain across what's being done both from a productivity and a quality standpoint.
One mistake that's often made with outsourcing - especially to a specialist service provider - is that we relinquish accountability instead of assigning responsibility. We hire great, experienced people for their knowledge and expertise (just like your clients hire you). But the success of our business is still our accountability - that is something you can never completely let go of.
You don't have to become the expert in everything, but it is important to learn enough about each area to ask great questions and spot when something is heading off track.
5. Review outcomes and adapt as your business grows
No outsourcing relationship is going to be perfect from day one. Just as you do with your clients, you will need to review, adjust and adapt until you find the rhythm that delivers optimal success. Provide feedback, measure results, build in structure or create more freedom as needed to find the optimal balance.
The support you need will change as your business evolves. There may come a time when your current outsourcing support no longer serves where your business is at. Maybe you need to bring certain functions in-house, or you need to expand the scope of your outsourced support.
Consider your supplier and outsourced team relationships each time you review your strategy & plan for the future to ensure you have the right people on your team to achieve your business goals.
The support you need will change as your business evolves. There may come a time when your current outsourcing support no longer serves where your business is at. Maybe you need to bring certain functions in-house, or you need to expand the scope of your outsourced support.
Consider your supplier and outsourced team relationships each time you review your strategy & plan for the future to ensure you have the right people on your team to achieve your business goals.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing is a hugely valuable option for growing your consulting business. Used correctly, you can free up your time to focus on serving your clients while enhancing the capacity of your business.
