Communicate carefully

When you have decided to contact several, as you think, most reliable companies, you shouldn’t provide them with complete info regarding your project at once. Keep a little intrigue and give info partially. That will make you aware about professionalism of companies’ project managers as well as about their communication policy. Communication is what you will appreciate during whole project’s development. Therefore, it is better to find out whether they are communicative enough before you sign contract.

Ask for references/samples

Although offshore developers cannot disclosure their recent contracts, anyway, they have several clients that can provide you with references whether they are bad or good. If there are no references at all, ask for some software company has developed. See and try each example of their work you can. That will make you aware about quality of their services.

Phone or visit them

The best way to test company, which you would like to outsource to, is contact them directly. Emails are good, but you can find out more info about possible partners if you phone them. At least you will know about their command of English (don’t forget, you are going to outsource abroad) and their real interest. Additionally, you can make them relax a little, so they will be less defended against your research of true situation. If you visit them personally you’ll see exactly who and where will work for you. At least, if company doesn’t mind you visit them, that can mean that they are open enough for collaboration and they have provided you with more or less true info.

If you can do at least three of these five steps, there will be little chances for you to be cheated by an unreliable company thousands miles away. You’ll be able to experience that kind of wise outsourcing that can give you required competitive ability. Each time you are going to give some project for offshore development, take into account that you should be an initiator and wise decisions maker. Research, consult, and communicate. That’s motto of any company that is successful in outsourcing. It’s not too complicated, is it?

Not this: “Jim, twice this past month you turned in late reports. You know that my expectation is that all reports will be completed by deadline. Do you realize that you turned in two late reports?”

This: “Jim, twice this past month you turned in late reports. You know that my expectation is that all reports will be completed by deadline. Do you agree that there’s a problem here that needs attention?”

To get employee to agree that a problem exists, a manager must do two things. First, he or she has to paint a mental picture for an employee that there is a difference between what is expected and what employee is doing. To paint that picture clearly, a manager must juxtapose two pieces of information for an employee to visualize:

• a description of what employee has done, using whatever numbers or facts can be gathered about employee’s performance
• a clarification of manager’s expectations of employee in performance area under discussion.

Positioning those two pieces of information together, using specifics, enables an employee to see difference between his performance and what is expected or what others are doing.

Imagine that an employee has been late to several team meetings in a row. Although you did not single out employee, you made it clear at last meeting that you expected everyone to be on time. In this case, you might say something like: “I wonder if you are aware that you've been late to four team meetings in a row. I thought I clarified at last meeting that I expect everyone to be on time.”

Second, manager must help employee understand negative affects associated with his behavior. Imagine that employee’s performance is a balance scale. Before a management coaching meeting, scale is tilted towards side stacked with all of reasons an employee might see for continuing his behavior. A manager’s task is to tilt scale in other direction so that an employee can see more negatives than positives associated with behavior. Then, manager will be able to get an employee to agree that a problem exists.

The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE) seeks to improve individual leadership and team member skills within organizations.