Do you find yourself starting the workday ready and motivated to attack the long to-do list you have in mind, only to find that at 5pm you’ve barely accomplished any of it? This can happen to even the most enthused employees, and is often because you are doing work that is outside of your job description. Whether it’s a task you’re capable of doing or a disaster you have no idea how to remedy, devoting hours or even days to these issues is time-consuming and stressful, slows your productivity, and consequentially decreases your profits.
If it is not your job to organize payroll, maintain your filing systems, or fix the closet door, the printer, or your computer, but it is urgent and necessary work that needs to get done, perhaps you should consider outsourcing instead. Although you relinquish some control, you can eliminate some of the pressure on yourself and your employees, and focus on what you do best.
Consider the following criteria when deciding whether to outsource:
- It would be faster, less expensive and be of a higher level of quality to have someone else do it than to do it in-house.
- The activity drains resources that could be better used elsewhere.
- The activity isn’t central to generating profits or competitive success.
- The job is a routine, tedious one that wastes valuable time and energy.
- The task is a need that’s only temporary, such as installing new lighting, or that recurs in cycles, such as payroll, and doesn’t require an employee to work 40 hours per week to complete it.
- The skill required is so specialized that it’s impractical to have a regular employee do it.
- The activity isn’t one that people enjoy doing and would therefore weaken employee morale.
Make sure to do research online and ask for recommendations in order to select a compatible company or worker that supports your values and does quality work. Devise a detailed contract that allows you to adjust the terms of the agreement to suit unforeseen changes. You have to establish the standards you expect. Out-sourcing will mean the loss of direct control and supervision, so communicating the standards of the performance you expect is a must. Schedule regular meetings with your outsourcing staff and utilize technology to stay informed and be aware of any problems that arise, and be open to change if the relationship is not mutually beneficial.
Outsourcing is a viable option for everything from payroll, accounting, marketing, manufacturing, delivery, customer service, employee training, property management and computer services. By outsourcing, you can be proactive, rather than reactive, and invest your resources into more profitable activities.
For more information about outsourcing your document management solution, click here.