Outsourcing - As it happens
Our company finalized the project and completed all the formalities. Our developers were strictly on schedule. We were then ready for the first set of tasks to demonstrate to the client!
The day finally arrived and we had a surprised client! Client rejected all the features. We described the first set of tasks that we agreed on. After series of emails and lots of explanation, client accepted the features were developed as per the requirement & agreed specifications.
Not all companies are that fortunate. They may loss the client & the time they have invested in the project. Ultimately, they left without payment for their work. Running a project smoothly is a usual pain for every company working with overseas clients.
There are, however, few points both client and company can follow:
- Know the background of company/client. Learn about their past projects/providers they worked on/with. If possible, ask for references
- As a company make sure client provides very clear details about what s/he wants and ask questions, lots of questions which helps you understand a requirement/feature better.
- As a client, confirm that company understands all the requirements and have enough experienced & qualified resources who can work on the project and deliver on time. If required, ask company to provide skill/contact details of the developers who are going to work on the project.
- Make sure you communicate well, every day, every hour. This helps you both. Communicating on important aspects of the project/tasks will keep you in-line with the requirements.
- As a company, provide the client with progress report on regular basis, even if client has not asked for it. This way, you make yourself committed to the project. If there is a query or question, immediately ask the client.
- As a client, keep an eye on what's going on with current tasks. If they deflect a bit, correct them. Otherwise it will be a big issue as project moves ahead.
- Divide payment based on tasks or set of tasks. This helps both ways. To confirm a full delivery, and protecting already developed tasks, ask the company to upload on your own server on regular basis.
Outsourcing is a great way to get your projects done, if executed properly. Otherwise it turns out to be a nightmare!
Consulting Technical Manager (Mobile)
10 年In America we would call that "getting burned" I am sorry for you.
Serial Entrepreneur
10 年Excellent article Bhavin J.. If we were all so fortunate to have experiences like this, we would all benefit from higher productivity. Unfortunately, both sides (clients and customers) are guilty of not abiding to the recommendations you have outlined here. We should all strive to follow these recommendations if we desire a smooth outsourcing experience. Thanks for sharing!