There are various roles that a business can outsource and offshore, it is important to understand your own business needs and requirements first so you can take advantage of what outsourcing could benefit a role.
Consider the following questions:
- How can the tasks of this position be completed remotely?
- Does the position require frequent communication with a variety of teams and colleagues?
- Can communication be done easily by email or phone?
- Would there be a large gap in performance just by having this position outsourced?
- Or would face-to-face contact improve results?
- Could something go wrong with a project if I outsource this role?
In short, tasks that take a lot of time but do not require a lot of high-level decision making are optimal options for offshoring. Projects that require hourly interaction between team members, or for which it is more difficult to develop firm parameters, are generally best left onshore — unless the particular expertise required resides elsewhere.
Especially for core functions in your business, moving towards offshore willy-nilly could allow a larger chance of miscommunication or misstep in a vital area of your business.
If done smartly, outsourcing positions could make a significant impact on your business and customers.
Frequently Outsourced Roles
As a business owner/manager, you need to determine which roles you can outsource. Here are some commonly outsourced roles:
- Accounting
- Marketing
- Administrative Tasks
- Customer Service
- IT Management
- Human Resources
Accounting
If you’re not an accounting expert, then it can take a lot of time and skills to learn all the processes and your business must meet—let alone the cost of hiring a dedicated accountant. However, a skilled one can often manage this area for multiple businesses at once which increases efficiency and saves you money.
Marketing
For creating brand awareness and generating leads for your business, working with a marketing team would grow your business in that aspect. They can focus on the design, content creation or social media posting so you can focus on the important functions of your business.
However, having an in-house marketing team may not be a viable option for smaller businesses. Hence why many businesses turn to outsourcing marketing firms who can help you come up with ideas and strategies fit for your business.
Administrative Tasks
Virtual assistants are becoming more and more common, especially for business owners who work out of a home office. VAs can handle everything from organizing digital files, completing reference checks, prepping letters and emails, and other routine tasks. Offshoring an administrative position makes sure that all administrative tasks that can often be neglected when a business grows will be done.
Customer Service
An offshore customer service team helps businesses through customer feedback, surveys, call recordings, chat logs and many more. For companies that deal with customers mainly online or over the phone, you can outsource your customer service strategy to an outside call center or chat service which enables you to make informed decisions about your businesses.
IT Management
IT outsourcing is a business strategy that has been around for years. If your business requires a highly skilled IT staff but can’t afford one or don’t have the expertise to deploy the latest technology, you can offshore to a managed service provider to handle any technical issues or initiatives you may have.
Human Resources
HR functions can be complex and time-consuming for tasks like payroll, recruiting, employee orientation programs among others.It’s not uncommon to see businesses outsourcing human resource needs to agencies or independent HR remote professionals.
