Resourcing

Can A Globally Dispersed Team Truly Helps A Business To Succeed?

Written by Louise MillerMay 31, 2022

To succeed in today’s global economy, companies are increasingly relying on a globally dispersed labor force. They build teams that are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to take advantage of the most promising markets. It comes with international diversity benefits, bringing together the employees from different cultures with varying work experience and points of view about organizational and strategic challenges. All of these helps companies or organizations thrive and compete in today’s business environment.

Offshore Outsourcing has been gaining popularity over the years as businesses are looking for effective ways to cut down costs while utilizing a highly skilled and experienced workforce without paying exorbitant fees. But, the up-front cost savings must be looked beyond when you consider offshore outsourcing. So, in order to assess the actual cost, you will need to spend to implement offshore outsourcing and ensure a high return of investment, you must delve into several complex issues.

How Can A Globally Dispersed Team Help Businesses?

Having a global team model can help boost your business by allowing you to connect with like-minded individuals and professionals globally. Most businesses – especially SMEs or start-ups, struggle to find the right people to hire. Having a global team allows you to connect with people all around the world. Moreover, having a globally dispersed team will not only take away your frustrations regarding sourcing top talents but will also boost your business or organization’s competitiveness.

How Should You Manage A Globally Dispersed Team To Achieve Work Efficiency And Business Success?

No matter how the team is organized, handling a globally dispersed team comes with many challenges, even how experienced you are at managing people. If you really want to achieve work efficiency and quality, the result will also depend on how you handle your people, such as making sure they are treated fairly and how you will drive them to your business objectives and stay on track.

Here are some important tips that you may want to know about:

Select the right team members. When looking for people to work in a globally dispersed team, look for individuals with the necessary qualities, such as:

  • The team members must be self-motivated.
  • The team members have good communication skills.
  • They must be results-driven.
  • They must be honest and open.

Clearly elaborate the team’s purpose. When a team is globally dispersed, it’s important that members unite around a common goal, which drives them to work efficiently with quality results.

Establish strong team dynamics. Whether you’re creating a new team or integrating existing ones, having a good understanding of team dynamics is important. With a remote workforce, you don’t have the advantage to see their body language and spot trouble within team members. It’s the same for managing the morale of individuals. So, how can you tell that your team members are not happy if you can’t see them? You can watch closely for some warning signs like reduced output, reluctance to participate in team meetings, and shortage of fresh ideas.

Promote team bonding. Most people at work enjoy occasional meals and drinks with their co-workers. However, when teams are globally dispersed, this can be impossible. As an employer or manager, you should be creative and find ways to achieve team bonding. You can initiate building a virtual team room, setting up an intranet team page, etc., where all team members can have the chance to talk, interact, and get together. This way, you are not only making your ties get stronger by having a good working environment, but you are also driving them to be motivated, which they can be more eager to work efficiently and deliver successful results.

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Outsourcing

Building An Extended Team Offshore

Written by Louise MillerMay 31, 2022

It’s no secret that being able to find the right people is one of the critical elements that will help a startup succeed. Also, finding and hiring the right resources can be a challenging task, especially when it comes to limitations in a local talent pool.

Of course, you can always find offshore workers and outsource the work completely. But, when you already have some technical expertise in-house, but you need to augment it with more experienced individuals, then an extended team model is a way to go.

What Is Extended Team Model?

An Extended Team Model brings together remote workers and on-staff members to collaborate and accomplish tasks with a high-quality output. In fact, most tasks were typically handled by in-house team members in the past. Today, businesses are increasingly focused on implementing the extended team model.

If you opt for an extended team, you are getting workers with a high level of expertise who are able to work seamlessly within your budget. There are so many experienced and skilled workers who are eager to work for international companies or businesses, so they are much motivated and determined to provide high-quality services.

Offshore Outsourcing is more like a business strategy involving finding and hiring offshore workers to work for the business or organization. When a business or an organization does not have the required expertise to handle a project or does not want to invest a large sum of money in it, using an outsourced solution is a cost-effective option.

How To Build An Extended Team Offshore?

As mentioned earlier, building an offshore team is beneficial to any business, either in successful businesses or startups. The advantages of having an extended offshore team are numerous. One of them is that it enables the team to work under an optimized environment, which means they can develop faster. Another benefit of having an extended offshore team is that it cuts costs by not spending on additional facilities and utilities since these are all set on the offshore partner. Additionally, having an extended offshore team allows the business or organization to continuously improve its technical expertise and knowledge preservation, which is typically acquired during the lifecycle of the project or work process.

Furthermore, working with an extended offshore staff allows access to the latest technology and skilled professionals from different parts of the world, who are more motivated and dedicated to delivering the best service possible according to your business’s mission and goals.

If you’re thinking of extending your workforce offshore, here are a few tips for you:

1.    Perform a Pre-screening For A Better Service Provider

This step is crucial when hiring a better company or service provider. This process involves gathering important information about the service provider, such as asking for a CV, which you can use for screening. Upon gathering the information, then you can decide which or who to hire to work for your business. Doing this step effectively can also help the business save money and time.

2.    Explore Potential Business Models

It is wise to consider the different factors involved in hiring an offshore staff or building an entire offshore team. Since many service providers in the offshore industry charge a reasonable price, it is important to consider the cost-effectiveness of their services. The most important step in building an extended offshore team is to find one who is ready to provide the best possible service that’s within your budget. You can ask for multiple quotes and ask for hidden costs. You can also consider different billing models such as monthly, bi-monthly, and hourly. India and the Philippines are some of the best countries to source your extended offshore workers. You can find the best possible workforce at a low cost compared to other countries.

3.    Start With Smaller Engagement

When you’re starting with an extended offshore team, it’s a good idea to begin the project or work with a small engagement with the offshore team. The main purpose of this is to familiarize them with your business or organization and other team members. Much better to use a common language to make your communication more simple. This will help your offshore team understand what’s going on and what do you expect from them. Also, this will help you to get a better understanding of the capabilities of the team members, the quality of the work they deliver, their work ethics, and so on.

4.    Assess Results

After the initial engagement, it’s time to decide on the right setup to seamlessly make your offshore team work. This step should be taken seriously as it can lead to wasted time and resources. Building a wrong set of an extended offshore team can also cause issues with training and recruitment. When you assess results, make sure to consider based on your business requirements, the team’s work experience, attitude, and many more factors involved.

5.    Use A Proper Software Tool

After building an extended offshore team, it’s important to start thinking about how to manage and control your projects and the work involved. You can easily get this done by having a project management tool that will allow you to monitor and share your ideas. The right solution will allow you to organize and track all of your projects, and it will also allow you to schedule tasks and communicate with team members.

Conclusion – Start Building Your Extended Team Offshore

When building an extended offshore team, make sure to follow the following tips mentioned above. Doing so can help you build a successful team and avoid having many challenges in the future. If you want to create a great working environment, make sure that you allow your team to be autonomous and contribute to the business’ decisions. Doing so can help improve the quality of work and operations. So, find the right partner and start hiring your offshore team at any time. Inquire at Disruptive Advantage (DA) Resourcing and work with a skilled and professional offshore team globally!

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Resourcing

How To Have A Productive Workforce Working From Home?

Written by Louise MillerJanuary 29, 2019

Remote workforces or employees working from home are common as the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to take place even after the coronavirus is contained. However, in work from home setup, employees and employers require lots of communication and trust. It is imperative to have a healthy remote work environment to achieve and maintain the increase in productivity, which is crucial in every business.

How you manage a remote workforce is very important to your business’s long-term growth. Doing a poor job can lead to low morale and productivity, which can affect the company’s profitability. Once a remote workforce is successful, it comes with loyalty among the team members, boosting engagement.

Tips To Effectively Manage Remote Workforce To Increase Productivity

Remote work can be challenging for companies as they have to manage employees scattered across different locations. But, with a concrete plan and consistent communication, businesses with remote workforces can overcome these challenges, leading to a more productive outcome.

There are no one-size-fits-all guidelines when it comes to managing remote workers. However, there are some key considerations that businesses should consider.

Treat Workers As They Are

Good managers can determine the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of the individuals working for them. Then, they use this information to develop and motivate their employees. This style of management must be the same as how they work remotely. For instance, you have ten employees, so you should understand ten different sets of individuals. You need to ensure that they are engaged in order to achieve the performance you vision for.

Consistent and Extensive Communication

The importance of good communication is even more significant when employees are working remotely. Everyone should know what the expectations are for their work. If employees have any concerns or questions, the manager should encourage them to reach out to them through various means, such as video conferences or telephone calls. Also, aside from regular meetings, it is important to regularly communicate to discuss concerns and goals with their managers, even through one-on-one chat or conference calls.

Trust The Workers Working Remotely

You would not be able to monitor their work remotely, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t meeting or accomplishing the task or work they were assigned to do. So, trust is crucial in a work-from-home setup. Letting employees know that you trust them makes them more focused on their job as they do not feel the pressure. They have peace of mind while accomplishing their task, and that can lead to fruitful results, increasing productivity.

Advantages Of A Remote Workforce

Here are a few advantages of having remote workers:

It reduces operational costs. For small businesses, adopting a remote work environment can help cut costs by allowing them to focus on the core business. According to a survey, most employers believe that having a physical office is a big expense, unlike letting their employees work remotely at the comfort of their homes.

It decreases turnover. For sure, everyone will agree that it can be costly to replace employees who have left the business. It can be costly to hire another employee, and there are adverse effects when it comes to productivity. In fact, remote work can boost job satisfaction, which leads to employees staying with the business longer.

Increase in productivity. When employees work in the comfort of their homes, it can increase productivity. Why? Because most workers can accomplish tasks much easier and more comfortably at home, where they do not require to spend hours commuting to work, reducing stress.

Wider Hiring Options. When it comes to hiring, having a limited pool of candidates can be a big challenge to employers. But, by adopting remote work, employers can easily gather a wider pool of candidates, having many options, regardless of location, hours of operation, removing limitations.

How Will You Measure The Productivity Of Employees Working From Home?

Aside from making sure that you maintain productivity while implementing the work-from-home setup, here are some bonus tips that will help you determine the productivity of employees working remotely:

Defining key performance indicators

Different jobs have different productivity metrics. If your team has multiple remote workers, it can be hard to measure productivity. In this case, you will have to define key performance indicators for each role to help your employees understand what they should focus on and what you expect from them.

Estimating time of completion

By estimating the period it takes to complete each task, you can set a baseline for productivity. When an employee takes longer to complete a task, you can check to see if you estimate completion time wrong or they are just slow. Then, use this learning to estimate completion time for the proceeding tasks. Using estimates also helps you measure the productivity of different employees. If four out five of them finish on time, it can be a sign that the fifth one is not working well as it should be.

Create regulations for measuring remote worker productivity

Productivity is a measure that shows how much output per unit of time. Creating a productivity policy is the first step in measuring output. Also, it can help you put in place the tools and processes that will help you achieve your goals. This policy will help employees know how to measure their work. It will also build trust in them and help them prioritize their work.

Use reliable workforce management software for work tracking

Use workforce management software that works seamlessly across all team members. Consider using a variety of project tracking systems for different tasks, depending on the nature of the business. Disruptive Advantage offers Microsoft solutions for forecasting, scheduling, and monitoring workers – especially on work-from-home setups.

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Resourcing

Cut Down Costs By Offshore Staffing

Written by Louise MillerJanuary 29, 2019

The effects of Covid-19 have affected businesses around the globe. Many of them are experiencing significant overheads and lower revenues. As a result, the pandemic has shown employers or business owners that the office spaces they are leasing in or maintaining are not critical as they thought as their employees work from home.

In short, putting offshore staff to work can help you cut costs, boost revenues, and rebuild your business.

Hiring offshore workers enables businesses to have a broader range of talent pool, regardless of location, as long as the team members, managers, and employers can communicate well in their language. Offshore staffing can provide the talent or skills your business needs at a reduced cost.

How Does Offshore Staffing Reduce Costs?

Due to the cost-effectiveness of offshoring, it has become a widely used technique in today’s digital world. Any work process that can be handled from outside the organization can be outsourced. This procedure, also known as offshore outsourcing, is usually carried out at a low cost. In fact, in offshore outsourcing, there are three broad categories:

  • Software Outsourcing, which deals with software services development
  • Technology and Infrastructure Outsourcing, which deals with networking and technology services
  • Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which deals with the front office and back office outsourcing

This can be utilized for various tasks such as customer care support, payroll, etc. Businesses can also hire offshore staff to do content writing, transcription, data entry services, and many more. India and the Philippines are the leading countries for providing offshore outsourcing services. Offshore workers offer various types of solutions to their clients. Aside from India and the Philippines, other countries such as China, Russia, and Egypt are also known to offer offshore outsourcing services.

Benefits Of Offshore Staffing

Due to its numerous advantages, offshore staffing has become a widely used technique by diverse businesses globally. Here are a few benefits of offshore outsourcing:

Cost-efficiency. It allows one to get the work done in a much more efficient manner at a very low cost. The wage patterns of the companies in developed countries are different from those of developing nations. The type of work that can be commonly done in the West for a high price can be obtained at a cheaper rate in developing countries like the Philippines and India, with a difference of up to 60%.

Saves On Investment. When a business hires offshore staff, the partner carrying out the work typically makes necessary infrastructure changes in line with the requirements of the project. So, the business would not need to spend extra on developing infrastructure.

Round The Clock Work. It has a great time-zone benefit. For instance, if an American company sends work to an Indian company, the time difference between the time zone of the American and the time zone of the Indian company is 12 hours. Work can be assigned and done round the clock. The work can be done at the time that the offshore worker wakes up. So, it allows one to rest and enjoy the work, which is good for reducing stress, resulting in productivity.

High-level Effectiveness. This benefit is achieved by hiring people with the necessary expertise to complete the work. Doing so increases the standard of the work and enables organizations or businesses to accomplish the tasks more effectively.

Cut Costs On Recruitment And Training. When a specific type of work is outsourced to offshore workers, the business or organization does not need to hire skilled individuals for it. So, there’s no need to arrange training programs as the work will be handled by offshore workers who are experts or already familiar with the field. As a result, you can expect more efficient and quality work while cutting costs.

Top Talent. We can’t deny the fact that in some developed countries, there is a shortage of specific skilled workers; either there are not enough workers for a particular skill set, or there are available workers but at a very high cost. Therefore, offshore staffing from developing countries allows access to a vast number of skilled workers who are efficient and fluent and English at a very low labor cost.

Outsource Work With Right Partner

When you want to cut down costs, selecting the right service provider is very important. The service provider should be loyal to you and should be able to meet all of your business or organization’s security policies. Also, it should ensure that there will be no data leaks. In this case, you may consider Disruptive Advantage (DA) Resourcing to get skilled workers at very reasonable rates but ensures 100% work efficiency and quality.

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Outsourcing

5 Important Factors To Consider Before Deciding On Outsourcing

Written by Louise MillerOctober 3, 2017

Either small or large organizations resort to outsourcing their business processes or functions. They outsource most of the business functions or some processes to focus more on the core business aspects.

In fact, one effective way to maintain profitability is through outsourcing. This strategy allows you to streamline costs, improve productivity, and reduce risk factors while implementing flexibility to your business development model. And that’s the reason why global outsourcing has continued over the years.

However, the benefits of outsourcing are not automatic as many would have imagined. A successful outsourcing engagement can be achieved depending on many factors, such as the right service provider. Before adopting an outsourcing model, factors that affect the success of an outsourcing project can also be considered.

What Are The Things You Should Take Into Account?

Before jumping into outsourcing, it is crucial to consider the following factors:

1.    Reputation Of Business

Due to the scrutiny that businesses face, it is vital that they regularly maintain the highest possible standards. Doing so can help preserve their reputation and avoid making the biggest mistake they ever make. It’s also crucial that external processes are regularly maintained to ensure that they meet the highest possible standards. Not taking the necessary process to ensure that your reputation is protected before the outsourcing model begins can be the biggest mistake you make.

For instance, if a call center is outsourced, but the customer service is not as good as it should be, it can easily lead to a backlash from consumers. But, when it is outsourced efficiently, customers rarely notice that they are not speaking to an in-house representative, which is a good sign. And this applied to all external processes. Outsourcing may have lower operating costs, but once the service level drops, the cost of rebuilding your business reputation is much higher than your initial savings.

2. Collaboration and Communication

Unfortunately, outsourcing can also present unique challenges to any organization. For instance, some of the issues that arise when dealing with outsourced support may be caused by the time difference between different time zones. Also, if you are using a provider with different work culture, communication barriers may arise. Regardless of the reasons why you choose to outsource, the communication barriers that may arise are usually due to the differences in culture, language, and time, especially if you decide to outsource in an off-shore location.

So, when you consider outsourcing, important components should be in place to ensure smooth communication and collaboration. Flexibility is an important factor along with reliable communication avenues, which everyone in the organization can reach and communicate with one another easily, either via e-mail, phone, online groups, video conference, and so on.

3. Cost-Efficiency

Most of the time, an increase in profit margins is achieved by taking advantage of the efficiencies of outsourced processes. However, this approach can be very costly if the wrong processes are used. Outsourcing certain tasks, such as payroll management, can help companies lower their costs and increase efficiency.

But, always remember that the business’ core activities must take place in-house as the required knowledge level will be found win-house and should remain at the center of the business. For example, if Google decides to work with a third party for its search algorithm development, it would be risking losing its competitive advantage. This aspect is true for all kinds of businesses, regardless of size and nature.

4. Innovation

Many businesses aspire to transform their offerings and become more innovative, but these goals can be hindered by their internal constraints. Considering outsourcing innovative software development processes can help organizations overcome these constraints. Doing so can allow them to step away from their traditional approaches and develop something new.

When done right, identifying a new market and developing an innovative product or service can be lucrative. Doing so will allow a company to quickly become the industry leader. But, if a business doesn’t do this correctly, it will be left behind in the competition, and that’s how crucial innovation is.

So, the right outsourcing partner can help a company achieve its goals, but it should also be able to adapt to the changes brought about by the business.

5. Pricing Value

Implementing an outsourcing model can lower a business’s operating cost, especially labor. For example, the average rate of an entry-level worker in the India is around $1.50 to $2.20 per hour. 

Assume that labor is kept at 15% of revenues, then the hourly cost of services would be around $10 to $15 per hour. If you try to lower the rate per hour, that result in a raise in labor percentage may be up to 21% of revenues. In order to remain profitable, the outsourcing provider has to make some changes in its operations. So, be reasonable when it comes to negotiating the pricing. Doing so can help avoid getting bogged down in trying to get the lowest possible price.

Bottom Line

These are just a few considerations that every business should take into account when you’re considering outsourcing business functions. Also, these factors will play an important role in helping you decide which outsourcing provider you should rely on in achieving your business goals while maintaining and improving profitability and productivity, which is crucial in any business.

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Outsourcing

What Costs Can You Save Moving To Offshore Outsourcing?

Written by Louise MillerJune 11, 2015

Businesses adopt lean mindsets to lower their operational costs while increasing their expertise. Using an outsourcing model, they can hire the exact individuals they need for a specific role or goal. It allows them to fill positions that they would not be able to find in their in-house workforce. It will also enable businesses to hire people with the skills they need without spending a large sum of money on hiring a full-time professional employee.

If You Want To Cut Down Costs, Then Offshore Outsourcing Can Be The Best Option

One main reason to opt for a remote employee is to cut costs. In fact, offshore outsourcing is way cheaper than hiring an in-house employee. The money you saved from moving offshore outsourcing can be put towards expanding your business in other parts.

We all know that there is a rise in freelance workers globally, who are eager and dedicated to delivering high-quality services at a meager cost compared to comparably-professional full-time workers. By outsourcing some of your business processes, you can now have more room to hire full-time employees in-house to work for the core functions of your business, which you can’t outsource. This way, you can definitely cut down costs, yet you utilize a skilled and experienced workforce, which is an essential factor in achieving business success!

So, if you opt for offshore outsourcing, you can:

Hire experts. You’ll find freelancers or service providers that specialize in what you need to do, so you can pay more attention to growing your business or organization instead of wasting time with mundane tasks.

Get more outside perspectives or ideas on your business. One important benefit of offshore outsourcing is that it gives you more chances to get vital information and data required to run a successful business or organization. Let someone else run the numbers for you. They can then compare the data to see where you need to improve and how to go about it. Additionally, you can get an insightful analysis of how your business is performing, which is a great learning opportunity.

Avoid stress and burnout. Saving money by running your business alone or with a limited workforce is not the best thing to do! It can lead to longer work hours, increasing the risk of stress and burnout. Working too much can quickly lose passion in you. So, it’s a brilliant idea to outsource some work, which will help you reduce stress and burnout while maintaining your business operations.

Overall, in offshore outsourcing, having the chance to work with experts can give you a high probability of keeping your passion for your business. When you hire an offshore staff member, you can cut back on costs, allows focus on core business functions, and you can still use your workweek more effectively.

What Are The Best Roles To Outsource Offshore?

There are several roles that a business can outsource offshore, so it is crucial to understand your business needs and requirements before you consider what outsourced role could be beneficial for you.

Tasks that require much time but do not need high-level decision-making are typically the best option for offshoring. And projects or tasks that require frequent interaction between team members are typically best left onshore. If done properly, an outsourced role can make a huge impact on your business. So, frequently outsourced roles include:

If your business incorporates the roles mentioned above, then it’s time to consider offshore outsourcing. Of course, every business would want to cut down costs, and that’s what offshore outsourcing can do for you as long as you have the right team members.

Advantages Of Moving To Offshore Outsourcing

Depending on your business situation, it always makes sense to outsource offshore. The expense of hiring a full-time or part-time employee can also add up. It will take some time to find and hire the right candidate, and it comes with a lot of overheads.

Offshore Outsourcing is ideal for start-ups and SMEs that don’t have the capacity to hire much staff. It is also flexible, allowing businesses to increase or decrease their capacity at short notice.

Moreover, your business can also benefit from economies of scale. For instance, as for SMEs or start-ups, they can only afford junior team members. But, once they implement offshore outsourcing, they can get outsourced service provided by an experienced and skilled service provider at the same cost or even lower.

More importantly, your business can explore new areas or grow into new markets through outsourcing. You can test the process by outsourcing some service offshore, and then if it succeeds, you can adapt the function onshore.

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