The best (and fastest) way to succeed with outsourcing is to get stuff off your plate and outsource the things you know how to do. That way, you know what to look for. You know what looks good and what looks terrible. If your OFS needs help, you know how to help them.
But what about a job that you don’t know how to do? Can your OFS do this for you, or should you hire another OFS?
It depends.
If:
– it’s a small task
– there’s training available for it (you can check VAsMadeEasy.com)
– it’s something your OFS has time to do, and they’ve shown interest.
It might be better to give this task to your OFS.
This is how I got my team to do things like social media, things I have no idea how to do. I check if there’s someone on my team who would be interested. If so, and they have some experience, I get training for them. I read through the training, so I know what to expect. My OFS goes through the training and implements what they learned.
I ask them to provide me with a summary of what they learned and what they will do. This way I have a pretty good idea if they understood the training and if what they’re about to do is right for my business.
There’s a learning curve but I prefer doing it this way because I’m giving this new task to someone I already know and trust. It’s easy for us to talk through the process. They’re learning how to do this task by doing it, and I’m learning based on the feedback they’re giving me.
This is why we created VAsMadeEasy.com; I wanted training that could be instantly handed off to an OFS and they could summarize it for me and start implementing. I didn’t want to have to sift out the pieces that were intended for the CEO (almost all trainings assume the business owner is the one taking the training).
This process doesn’t work for all tasks!
So what about something that you can’t have someone on your team do?
What about hiring someone technical?
How do I do this?
The first thing I do is research. I ask someone I know who understands that thing to point me in the right direction. If I can, I’ll ask two people. “Hey, I’m looking to get X done. What kinds of skills should I be looking for?”
Once I have enough information, I start looking for qualified people at Onlinejobs.ph.
It’s amazing what looking through profiles will tell you about the qualifications you need for your job.
Then I post a job with as good of a description as I can. I’ve even found it helpful to say in the job post “I don’t really know how to do this so I’m looking for you to direct this project for me.”
When choosing who to hire, if you don’t know how to tell how good someone is going to be, go with experience and pay.
– More experience is almost always going to yield a better result for you. Ask how much experience they have with X thing.
– More experience almost always means higher pay.
Last, ask them how they’ll solve your problem. Like, ask them for a plan.
If you don’t understand their plan, or don’t like it, it’s probably not a good fit.
John