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Outsorcery: How to Create Phenomenal Outsourcing Relationships

Published in the Society of Technical Communicators (STC) Conference Proceedings

By Anne H. Bennet

This paper presents strategies for technical communication managers who may be disenchanted with past outsourcing experiences or uncertain about how to make outsourcing relationships work. Research shows that if expectations are not set up front with the service provider or if the manager’s in-house team feels threatened, the relationship is likely to fail. In this paper, I focus on reasons for outsourcing, which technical communication tasks to outsource, what to consider when choosing a service provider, and ways to prepare for and support an outsourcing relationship so that it results in a phenomenal—rather than a nightmarish—experience.

Introduction

According to a 2002 Gartner Inc. survey, most high-level executives consider tracking and retaining customers, concentrating on core competencies, and focusing on business strategies their top priorities. Outsourcing ranked near the bottom of the list. The logical question, then, is why are so many companies making the decision to outsource some aspect of their business? According to Ed Parry, news editor for SearchCIO.com, the answer is quite simple: Outsourcing drives these top priorities. It is the “great enabler.” When the right service provider is chosen and the relationship is cultivated constructively, outsourcing can have a profound and positive impact on a company’s ability to achieve its highest level goals.

While much of the outsourcing literature today focuses on the outsourcing of IT or HR tasks, this paper discusses strategies for outsourcing information design-related tasks such as technical writing, business writing, editing, course development, desktop publishing, etc. It is aimed at technical communication managers who may be disenchanted with past outsourcing experiences and need strategies for making outsourcing relationships work in their own organizations.

Why outsource?

Making the decision to outsource is a complex process that involves carefully weighing many factors. This section discusses three compelling reasons why a company may choose to give work to an outside service provider: meet an immediate need, gain expertise needed in the long term, or expand the company’s business focus.

Meet an immediate need

Many outsourcing opportunities arise because a company has an immediate and short-term need for outside assistance. This situation could evolve from any of the following circumstances:

• Your in-house staff is busy working on other projects, and the rush period doesn’t warrant the cost and time involved in hiring a full-time person.
• No one in house has the expertise required to perform the tasks.

For example, you manage a team of writers who need to create user documentation for three new products so you can get them to market quickly. To ensure that your users—and your corporate reputation—won’t suffer by providing hastily written documents that confuse rather than inform, a good tactic is to outsource the work.

Gain expertise needed in the long term

• Your in-house team has the opportunity to work side-by-side with a skilled supplier so you can build the expertise in house over time.
• It is not a part of the business strategy to build this expertise in house, yet you want to give your clients the benefit of the outsider’s expertise and best practices.
• You want to enable your workers to focus on their core competencies.
• You don’t have the technology in place to complete projects, and it does not make strategic sense to invest the money and time to stay up-to-date on the latest technology or train in-house team members to use it.

Let’s say your in-house engineers are developing software. With intense deadlines and complex specifications to meet, they don’t have the time to create usable, effective documents. Moreover, they may not have the necessary skills even if they did have the time. In other words, if you wouldn’t hire a writer to develop your software, why would you ask an engineer to write your documents?

A more effective strategy is to hire a service provider that can work with your engineers each time they develop a new product. This provider can offer the following benefits:

• Provide an objective point of view that employees heavily involved in developing do not possess
• Ensure that complex, technical information is communicated effectively so that users can turn the information into knowledge that can be applied on the job

Another effective use of an outside provider may be to consider a one-time outsourcing experience that helps your company succeed in the long term. For example, suppose your salespeople have to respond to requests for proposals or develop unsolicited proposals and letters to win business. Yet, writing isn’t their core competency. You might decide to hire an outsider to create proposal or letter boilerplate so your salespeople have well-written, strategic text in place that frees them up to solicit and capture more business.

Expand your company’s business focus

Finally, outsourcing may make sense if your company is rethinking its business strategy in response to client or market demands. Here are some reasons why a service provider may be a smart decision:

• Your company is adopting a totally new area of operations.
• Your company is placing the emphasis on a different aspect of its current operations.
• You don’t want to lose your former core competency because it is still useful.

Imagine that you are a manager in a marketing firm that has always delivered hardcopy materials for clients. Now, those clients are asking for online documents. It may be more effective and efficient to build an alliance with a service provider that has the experience, skills, and technology in place to design, develop, and deliver online materials than perform the work in house.

What should you outsource?

While the list of tasks that could be outsourced is virtually endless, here are some typical tasks that technical communication managers might outsource:

• Business Writing
• Course Design and Development
• Desktop Publishing
• Editing and Proofreading
• Graphic Design
• Instructional Design
• Strategic Planning
• Technical Writing
• Testing and Evaluation
• Training and Facilitation
• User Interface Design
• Web Design and Development

Honing in on the most appropriate candidate tasks to outsource—whether for a particular project or a long-term need—can feel a lot like trying to hit a moving target. This is where your own assessment of your team’s capabilities, experiences, workloads, and challenges—as well as their individual input—can provide valuable insight. Once you’ve identified the need to leverage outside help, consider performing an internal needs assessment and talking to your team. This information gathering step might put you in a better position to make a smart, strategic decision about what to outsource.

What should you consider when choosing a provider?

Although there is no denying that cost matters when choosing a service provider, you can still have an unsuccessful relationship regardless of how much—or how little—you pay up front. Research (and personal experience) shows that companies that outsource risk getting stuck in what Jones and Kliman call “value-shrinking” loops. When this happens, both the customer and the provider wallow in negative perceptions and behaviors, find it difficult to share information, waste time on unnecessary activities, and fail to share mutual responsibility for failures. These value-shrinking relationships are costly for both sides.

To foster a positive relationship that adds value, here are some critical questions for technical communication managers to consider when choosing a service provider:

• Does the provider offer a flexible approach to working with my team to accomplish our goal(s)?
• Can the provider quickly adapt to our proven processes or standards?
• Does the provider have the experience and proven capabilities to work within my industry and with my customer base?
• Does the provider have experienced and tested team members on staff with a wide variety of skills and expertise (i.e., not just one lone writer) so we can meet not just current but future outsourcing needs?
• Does the provider have established procedures in place that would make picking up where they left off in the future faster, better, and cheaper (e.g., project histories, postmortem reports, etc.)?
• Have I reviewed the provider’s marketing materials, team résumés, and document samples to get a better sense of the quality of their work?
• Have I checked the provider’s references to see what other clients are saying about them?

Making a wise outsourcing choice takes time. As you conduct your research and consider your alternatives, pay attention to the providers’ communication skills and attitude, as well as their willingness and responsiveness toward answering your questions. These early interactions are important clues about how the relationship with that provider may work down the road.

How should you prepare for and support an outsourcing relationship?

Once the decision to outsource has been made, the hard work isn’t over. Luckily, there are many strategies you can follow to create a phenomenal relationship from start to project finish:

Establish a contract

The contract or service level agreement is a critical element to establishing the substantive aspects of the arrangement. Be sure your contract clearly states the project scope and allows for changing business conditions.

Be up front with your provider about any anticipated challenges

Like any good relationship, outsourcing depends on honesty and candor from both sides. As the manager, let your provider know about your anticipated project-related challenges. Share your concerns early and ask your provider what they think can be done to manage or mitigate risks. An excellent provider will be open to this kind of problem solving.

Reassure your in-house team of their importance to the project’s success

In some situations, internal team members may feel threatened or simply confused by the decision to bring in an outside service provider. To start the relationship on the right note, hold a meeting with your team to let them know why a certain supplier was chosen and what trade-offs were made. Explain the anticipated benefits of the outsourcing relationship to your employees and provide them the reassurance that they will remain key team members whose contributions are valuable to the success of the project—and then back-up your words with a clear plan of action.

Conduct an up-front meeting with key stakeholders

While you’ll need to carefully consider who the project stakeholders may be, it’s important to get those who have a stake in the success of the project information early. Our research shows that project costs can increase by as much as 40% if the appropriate decision makers are not involved up front. Hold a meeting with your service provider and all stakeholders, including representatives from upper management if that kind of top-level support lends credibility to the project or makes sense given your corporate culture. The primary goals of your meeting should be to share the project vision, discuss the project scope, provide an opportunity for face-to-face interaction, break the ice, and build the relationship.

Ask for a project plan

Most providers should offer a project plan as a routine practice. If you don’t get one, ask for it. Be sure the document lists milestones, team responsibilities, and the dates of your team’s review(s) of each deliverable. Also, keep in mind that you have the right to understand the rationale behind the proposed time needed for your service provider to complete tasks. If a timeframe doesn’t make sense to you, talk to your provider about their reasoning or ask to see their productivity guidelines.

Build a communication plan

To cultivate an efficient and effective relationship, both sides need to be very clear about who must communicate with whom, what needs to be communicated, and how often. While the costs associated with poor communication are difficult to quantify, we know intuitively that it takes time and effort to repair the damage done when team members are either mis- or uninformed.

Review status reports

If your provider doesn’t deliver status reports as a standard procedure, ask for them. A weekly status report keeps you informed of progress, special needs, and goals for the following week. Be sure to give your provider feedback on the status reports, if you see any red flags. Don’t wait until the end of the project to let your provider know your true feelings.

Create sign-off sheets for each project phase

Sign-off sheets give you an opportunity to pause and make sure that the objectives for a given project phase were met to your satisfaction before moving forward. This simple step can help prevent not only project cost overruns, but also the frustration and schedule lags that often occur when work has to be redone. While the specific content of the sign-off sheets will vary from project-to-project, they should clearly describe the work accomplished, highlight any known issues and an agreed-to contingency plan for resolving them, and include a space for your approval or your approval with any noted exceptions.

Take advantage of other capabilities your provider can offer

If you did your homework, you might find that the provider you’ve chosen brings additional capabilities or skills to the table that may be needed for other in-house projects. When the time is right, take advantage of the up-front work you’ve done getting to know each other so you can save time and money getting your other projects off the ground.

Trust their judgment

Now that you’ve set up the building blocks of a successful relationship and are working to foster a constructive relationship, try not to second-guess everything your provider does. Relax. Trust them.

Conclusion

The potential benefits of outsourcing are so compelling that most companies today are choosing to give some aspect of their business to an outside provider. However, as eager and optimistic as both sides may be at the onset, these relationships may fail if you do not choose a service provider with the necessary skills or processes, set expectations up front with key stakeholders, or take strategic steps throughout the duration of the project to ensure effective communication and trust. Before you solidify the deal with your next service provider, consider the strategies presented here to prepare for and support a phenomenal outsourcing relationship that supports your organization’s highest level goals.

References

1. The Outsourcing Management Zone, www.theoutsourcerzone.com, 2003
2. Jones, Wendall and Kliman, Stuart. “Managing Outsourcing Relationships for Value Creation,” Michael F. Corbett & Associates, Ltd., 2003
3. Parry, Ed., “Outsourcing is about more than cost savings,” July 2, 2003, SearchCIO.com
4. Weakland, Tom. “Global IT Outsourcing Study,” November 2002.