I regularly encourage my OFS team to pitch their ideas to me.
Ideas on what else we can do to improve the business.
Ideas on what we can change in our existing processes.
A lot of times, I say no to these ideas. When I know they’re not going to work and it doesn’t feel right, I say no.
But sometimes, I say yes, and we implement them.
What kinds of things has this led to?
– A Facebook page with hundreds of thousands of followers
– Me doing a podcast (I never would have done it if they hadn’t bugged me to do it)
– This newsletter you’re reading
– Our YouTube channel. Yeah, their suggestion.
– Us manually verifying government ID’s of every Filipino who signs up.
– …
– …
So many good things have come at the suggestion of my OFS.
I know many of you are used to having an OFS who’s great at their job.
They show up every day.
They listen to your instructions with care.
They do their best work and rarely make mistakes.
But now you’re at a point where you want them to do more.
You want them to take on more responsibilities.
You want to pick their brain because you know they know enough about your business to have ideas on improving things.
But they seem to be reluctant, or shy, about talking to you about things. It’s like they’re just content to take instructions and nothing else.
Most of my OFS team started that way. I already had their trust, but what pushed them to be more involved in the business was when they started feeling more confident.
So, how do you turn a good OFS into a great one? A rockstar who’s just as excited and invested in your business as you are.
1. Gain their trust.
You trust your OFS with your business, but do they trust you?
Do they trust that you won’t fire them over the smallest mistake?
Do they trust you’ll give them opportunities to grow with the business?
Do you train them? Give them feedback.
Are you a mean boss?
If they don’t trust you and they don’t have the stability that they’re looking for, they’re not going to trust you with their ideas.
Their ideas are their investment in YOUR business.
They won’t invest if they’re worried they’ll be let go at a moment’s notice.
They won’t want to invest if they don’t feel any incentive to help your business grow.
2. Positive reinforcement
Don’t just give feedback when you notice something wrong. Let them know that you also see when they do something right.
I love it when my team sees something I miss or notices something new or different about our business.
I like it when they can push back, correct me, or point out when I miss something.
Like the one time my OFS pointed out that I should use the calendar view on Mailchimp to schedule my newsletters. I didn’t know about that before, but it made scheduling the newsletters much easier when she pointed it out.
A simple message or email telling them that they did a good job does so much to boost their confidence. When they know you can see that they’re doing a great job, they’ll believe they can do even better.
3. Start with small challenges.
Filipinos don’t do well when you give them a big responsibility or too many responsibilities all at once. They do best when you give them small challenges first and slowly build them.
This is why I tell you to start with one task when outsourcing to an OFS. One task that you can do and you can teach. Once they’re confident that they can do that task, you add another, and another, and so on.
When you give them training, it also gives them the confidence to seek out training independently. They’ll ask you for it or look for other resources if they want to try something new.
The more training they get and the more responsibilities they take on, the more confident they become.
It’s usually at this point when they’ll start pitching ideas to you about the things they’ve learned. They’ll want to try it out because they think it might be good for your business.
Encourage them to explain to you why it will be good for the business. Have them show you their plan and explain how they’ll execute it. Ask them what the expected outcomes would be. What’s the best and worst-case scenario?
If you don’t like their ideas, you can tell them ‘no,’ but also explain why you’re rejecting the idea.
Maybe it’s not the right time.
You don’t have the right resources.
It doesn’t align with your business goals right now.
Make it clear that you’re rejecting the idea and not them. Tell them that you’re open to more ideas and you’re excited that they’re doing this.
If you do like their idea, make them responsible for it. Put them in charge of the project. Make them accountable.
This is where you have the beginnings of an OFS with management potential.
But to get to this point, you have to find a good OFS first. I’ll show you how to find one at OneVAAway.com.
John