TIPS FOR OUTSOURCING YOUR WORK

Growing a successful business out of a personal passion is a great achievement, but there may come a time when the tasks of running that growing business may start sapping away your ability to do what you truly love. Outsourcing can give you back the time and energy that you need to do what your business is built on, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. The following are good tips for outsourcing work successfully.

Make sure the outsourced work represents you and your business accurately

While outsourcing your work opens up more opportunities to invest time in the things that you truly love doing, it also opens up more opportunities for diversions from you and your business's values. People providing outsourced help may not be aware of what your guiding mission or main creative vision is, so let them know. Do what you can to make sure that the outsourced work remains consistent with the underlying values that you built your business with.

Have every project detail written down and contractually validated

Let nothing be agreed upon or begun without having it written down, dated and signed. Even with full confidence in nothing being at serious risk, it never hurts to have a detailed archive of all actions taken and the scope of all work performed. In the event that any future liability issue may arise from the outsourced work, you will be thankful for having the specific terms, dates and granted permissions for every aspect of the project written down.

Have a live view on the progress of outsourced work

Don't take an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to your outsourcing. Establish semi-regular, periodic meetings with your outsourced worker to ensure that you're always up to date with their progress and priorities. The key to pain-free outsourcing is absolute transparency at all levels.

Set goals that are specific, measurable and realistically attainable

Coordinating with an outsourced worker will be easier with a simple series of concrete, feasibly attainable, quantifiable goals. Have a specific beginning point and end point in mind for every task that you outline for an outsourced project, and communicate this ideal timeline to the outsourced worker as simply and clearly as possible.

Conclusion

Outsourcing work can be both professionally pragmatic and creatively fulfilling in the time that it can afford you to double down on tasks that you're most passionate about.