Outsourcing Project Management

Let’s admit, project management can be adventurous, but tough! Even when you have known your stakeholders for a long, it can get confusing and tedious.

Come on! We understand.

We know you have got the right skills, knowledge, and idea. But, what about the right human resource? You will definitely require an individual or a team that can help you get your work done. That is why it is important to understand outsourcing project management. In this article, you’ll learn about the definition of project management. You will get an idea of agile methodologies and outsourcing.

Apart from this, you’ll get to read about the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing project management.

Before we get started, let’s get to the basics.

What is Outsourcing project management?

Okay, so now you have an idea and the right deal of business in your hands to start with. The real problem here is to plan the execution and process of development. With this, we come to the basic idea of what project management is.

Outsourcing Project Management is the plan setup of methods, knowledge, skills, and resources to achieve specific objectives. This is basically done to reach the successful project completion criteria.

What are the approaches to better project management?

If you have been into managing projects or just been a part of it, you might be aware of certain methodologies. Yes, correct! We are talking about Agile management methodology.

Although, we’re sure you know the concept, let’s just brush up our knowledge.

So what do we infer from the above definitions?

Agile project management methodology is a disciplined practice. It promotes regular inspection of the process and encourages teamwork. This is adapted to deliver quality value to the customers within the number of resources and time.

What is Scrum & why is it important?

We have already discussed how Agile is an iterative approach. It is now clear that it allows a team to divide a project in small chunks for better implementation & execution.

Agile management consists of various tools that aim to better quality.

One of the most commonly used and the best ones out there is Scrum.

Let’s understand with an example.

Candice is a project management professional. She meets with one of her clients to discuss her company’s needs. Candice analyses the requirements. She marks the tasks according to the priority. She plans for her team to meet in a daily scrum to work on a task for the next 2-3 weeks.

The team works on assigned tasks on a daily basis and delivers the work at the end of the sprint. Candice reviews the work and sets the goal for the next sprint. The process repeats until the complete software is handed over.

This is a basic idea of how Scrum works.

What do you understand by Outsourcing Project Management? Why is it important?

If you want the results you wished for while planning, you surely need project outsourcing!

Let’s not talk about the corporate sector. Ever led a group in school? Or ever been a part of school and college fest? Imagine what could have happened if your teachers did not plan out the whole thing!

Considering that you are in the age where you can analyze things in a better way, you can very well think about how it would have been a mess.

Planning is important. Project management is important. Period!

Importance of outsourcing projects

Everyone needs to understand that project management is a life skill in itself. You will come across as many projects and scenarios in life to test your managing skills.

But, here we are not exactly talking about managing life. We are learning how to manage real industrial projects. Although, the former is important too

Project management is important to ensure that all the requirements and expectations are fulfilled. It lets you plan things right from Level 0 to Level top.

How to get started with project outsourcing services?

Outsourcing project work is easy. It can help your team grow on a whole another level if used wisely.

It is okay if you don’t have a clear idea of what it is and how exactly it works. Let us understand what outsourcing project work requires, step by step.

When it comes to managing a project, it is important to make sure a few things.

1. Knowing your requirements- Very Important!

If you think identifying your approach is not that important, you’re wrong. Consider it to be the foundation of your project. You should know what you are looking for and what exactly do you need. This will only help you get the right resource for your project within the right cost.

Well, if you have money in abundance you can definitely go forward with undefined expectations. 😉

While you are in the process of searching for the right human resource for your project, make sure you do that wisely. Make and present a clear picture of your goals.

2. Decide how to pay.

You have the money. Checked.
You found the right person or a team for your project. Checked.

What now?

Obviously, you’ll have to set a mid-ground of how you will assess their performance and pay.

Either you can pay on an hourly basis or set a fixed project rate. While a Fixed Project rate can be a great option, paying hourly is too not that bad. Just make sure you keep a check on their work using various online tools and services.

3. Expectations, Goals, and Outcome

You already know why you need to outsource project management services. It is time to set clear and defined expectations.

You should have an idea of how long your project can be. That way you can easily set deadlines for task submissions. (But hey! Don’t boss around. Explain your requirements well and build a collaborative bond. Be a good leader, come on!)

4. Involve yourself, but not poke.

We know you want only the best for your project. But it is important that you keep yourself involved in the process. This is not necessary that you keep interfering in the work constantly. A regular check can work fine.

Build a good environment for your freelancers. You have recruited them, but you should make them feel like it’s their team.

You need to discuss the exact deliverables as well, especially in fixed-rate projects.
It is important that make it very clear beforehand about what are you going to pay for.

5. Write a good and clear project/job description

Manually screening all the applications can cost you a lot of time. Therefore, doing well with the description will not only help you describe the required details, but also will help you filter out the right and qualified resources.

You must let the Outsourcing companies or Online freelancers know about your expectations from the very start.

6. Test and Interview

The interviews are not always meant to be formal. The main idea is to test their skills in reference to their portfolios and past work. It is important that you don’t skip this process and ask or clear doubts in prior.

But there’s an ocean of options, how to find the right outsourced talent?

There are a number of online platforms to help you find outsourced talents. A few of them are mentioned below:

Freelancercommunitee.com

Freelancecommunitee.com is a team of highly skilled freelancers who aim to deliver enriching, easy and affordable Project Management, Web Development, and Digital Marketing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of project outsourcing?

Advantages of outsourcing project management:

1. No need for hiring more employeesThe burden of a salaried employee is really a thing. Outsourcing can rescue a company from that. Freelancing rates can be higher based on hours but that way you get trained and highly skilled human resources even for a temporary project.
2. Faster Project completionOutsourcing can be affordable and can also help with faster completion.
3. Expert level skillsYou get highly skilled talents at affordable rates. This gives you time and space to work on core competencies.
4. Work FlexibilityOutsourcing leads to the broadening of resources. This not only helps the organization to try different resources but also with the growth and development.

Disadvantages of outsourcing project management:

1. Coordination IssuesThis becomes a possibility when there is a lack of mutual understanding. This generally happens when there are multiple organizations working and do not good collaborative approach.
2. ConflictsThis is normal but must be avoided. Conflicts can occur due to a mismatch of values and ideas. But this must be sorted out wisely.
3. Security IssuesThere are chances where confidential information about the project can be revealed to external sources. This is why, it is important that you outsource project services from trusted and well-known platforms.