Outsourcing can be a means to reduce costs, improve service and gain a new perspective on best business practice. Outsourcing business functions and operations really is a cost effective way to bring fresh new ideas to problems and to compliment a company’s existing commercial know-how. It frees up valuable time and resources. Along the way, companies are able to reduce their fixed and variable costs while improving their bottom line. The best companies endorse a practice of working alongside their outsourcing partner to amalgamate each party’s best attributes. Outsourcing firms are then able to concentrate on bringing value, improving service and offering a counterbalance to ideas and approaches. Given the benefits of outsourcing, how can companies improve and build upon their long-term relationship?

Identify core competencies of the outsourcing firm Companies that decide to use an outsourcing firm must make sure to transfer ownership and responsibilities of the business function they choose to outsource. If the company chooses to use a marketing outsourcing firm, then it must be determined which functions the marketing firm will be responsible for. Will it be lead generation, sales, growing market share or something else? Identifying the core competencies of the outsourcing firm is the first step.

Don’t duplicate efforts and time The second important step is to ensure that the company never duplicates work. This involves the complete transfer of ownership of a given function. Again, outsourcing saves companies a tremendous amount of time and resources. This is only possible if the company ensures there is no duplicated work. Otherwise the savings will never be realized.

Measure results and build on progress Essential to improving the long-term relationship with the outsourcing firm is ensuring that both parties are made fully aware of how progress, or the lack thereof, will be measured. A good rule of thumb is to schedule performance appraisals and review periods where both parties can assess the results of given approaches and action plans.

Getting the most out of an outsourcing firm involves ensuring both parties are aware of their respective roles and responsibilities. Complimenting each party’s core competencies will further improve the long-term relationship. Finally, measuring results and building on progress allows both to have clearly defined goals.

Image: bradleyparbs

Image: kozumel

Your memory is one of the greatest tools you could possibly have. Indeed, what could be more important than processing and retaining the huge amount of information that you receive every day of your life? It’s good to know then that you can improve your memory, and by doing so you can make those minutes count. If a book, article or report really matters, then being able to hold onto that information is vital. If you can’t remember it, then you wasted your time absorbing it the first time. Here are 20 tricks to help you improve your memory. Continue reading ‘20 Indispensable Tricks to Improve Your Memory’ »

Freelance workers are available in many businesses and industries around the world – and modern business owners should understand the benefits of using remote freelancers, rather than standard company employees. Domestic manufacturing, software and telecommunications companies have outsourced freelance workers for decades. Now the power of modern technology is increasing the demand for freelance workers in the place of traditional employees. Here are some of the key benefits that are making that happen.

1. Freelance Workers Have Knowledge

Freelancers perform independent research and gather knowledge to provide a better service, before completing complex assignments. Whereas full time employees work in a corporate monoculture, freelancers bring new ideas and approaches to the enterprise. Furthermore this knowledge base comes with no need for additional costs.

2. Freelancers Work More Cheaply

The freelancer makes personal investments in education and training, so there is no need to pay for expensive tutorials or industry certifications. Additionally, companies can save money by not paying company insurance, taxes, paid time off or salary increases to freelance workers.

3. Freelancers Work Remotely

Freelancers can work remotely for one or for many companies. Many freelancers use the power of modern technology using digital video or telecommunications software to communicate and deliver completed company projects. Unlike traditional office employees, freelancers do not have to commute to perform necessary work or research. All of this lowers overheads, smooths communication and cuts down on in-office time wasting.

4. Freelance Management Groups

Multiple projects may be overwhelming for a traditional employee. However, instead of this, knowledgeable freelancers can be grouped together to perform small portions of the project. This focused approach guarantees total commitment and decreases the chances of errors due to the smaller workload. A company can hire multiple freelancers to complete a series of complex projects, where it would be impossible to hire multiple in-house staff members to work on the same task.

Image: Niklas Bildhauer

iTimeSheet is a simple-to-use productivity tool that provides an active business person with the tools to manage their tasks and responsibilities effectively, efficiently and economically.

iTimeSheet allows you to mark down in one place all the myriad tasks you have to accomplish that day. Perhaps, for example, today you have a business meeting, a conference call and a report to write and submit. Thanks to iTimeSheet’s intelligent interface, noting this all in one organized, immediately accessible (and above all portable) point of reference takes all of about 3 minutes. Navigate through your work life in individual days or plan out whole weeks and months at a time.

After a task, day or job is completed, iTimeSheet gives you a built-in timer for providing a clear and automatic accounting of how much time you spent on each activity, on each job comprised of multiple activities, and even on each individual client for whom you provide multiple services.

Create instant activity reports, for example noting that perhaps you only wrote the report assigned to you but have yet to submit it. Looking ahead, you can schedule in that submission now so that you get it done, and don’t forget it in the shuffle. On the other hand, suppose you completed the task and it’s time to bill the client. In that case, you can export your activity report into an Excel file to email to the client along with your itemized invoice, also automatically produced by the iTimeSheet software. With that same export function you can now input this data into the iTimeSheet analytics module for detailed study.

This means iTimeSheet becomes progressively more useful and more valuable to you the more that you use it, as it helps you to streamline you work life and become more effective and efficient in all that you do.

Image: JF Grang

Many working professionals are intimately familiar with the mechanics of Parkinson’s Law. This law states that work will expand to fill the amount of time available for completion. In the most basic sense, if you have 2 hours to complete a 30 minute task, the average professional will end up taking the entire 2 hours.

There are certain business strategies and techniques that actually use the Parkinson principle to profit and prosper. In fact, giving tight deadlines actually allows many tasks to be handled more effectively. One common strategy involves making a list of the tasks that need to be completed during the workday. These tasks are analyzed to determine the average amount of time that each typically requires for completion. Once time estimates have been established, divide the amount of time required for the completion of each individual task in half. While this may push employees towards a “race against the clock” type reaction, it also focuses them on the essentials of each item. It is important to remind employees to continue striving to produce high quality work and to avoid non-productive or problematic shortcuts.

Parkinson’s Law can also be used to get more done by identifying time fillers that tie up employees during the workday. These time fillers are typically tasks that could be completed in 5 to 10 minutes, but in reality end up requiring 30 minutes or more to get done. An example of a common time filler is checking personal or company email. Perhaps this task would normally require about 5 minutes to complete if it were to be done quickly, efficiently, and without distraction. However, this 5 minute task can expand to fill a huge amount of time if the person is not focused. Identifying time sinks like these, and then eliminating or capping them, can offer a significant boost in productivity. For example, if you know you should be able to complete an email check in 5 minutes, only allow that amount of time for the task.

By using techniques like these you can ensure that you and your employees remain focused on your fundamental goals and reach the highest level of efficiency.

Image: zoutedrop