Outsourcing has really become a prevalent phenomenon yet creates an extra concern that organizations are now dealing with: How do you develop a powerful business culture in a business context that includes outsource service providers, virtual assistants, freelancers, and consultants?
Many concur on the importance of creating that kind of culture. After all, you do not want to have an us-versus-them mentality in your company, with in-house workers not really appreciating the benefit that the outsource personnel can supply (and the outsource staff members not understanding what's going on). Instead, you really want to have a business operating as a strong, single entity focused on keeping your clients happy. Whilst it can seem daunting to create that business culture it is really not. It begins with good communication. Be certain that you offer your personnel (both in-house and outsourced) a lot of ways to communicate with each other. E-mail is one thing, instant messaging is another, even social media might be a good one.
Set up periodic conference calls as frequently as you may setup a normal in-house meeting. For example, a weekly meeting call where everyone dials in may be a valuable solution to touch base and keep everybody up-to-date. Make sure you listen to everybody. Consider using meeting software programs like Adobe Connect 8 so the personnel can see each other, share desktops, and take a few notes, just like in a regular meeting. There may be a slightly greater cost in having to pay salaries for the hour-long meeting, but the enhanced, effective interactions that come out of that will be worth the expense.
Be intentional about exactly who you assign to jobs. You should connect an in-house person with an outsourced service worker; don't just connect two in-house workers simply because they happen to be in the same room when you need the actual work done. That is another reason why Adobe Connect is really a good choice as it will allow workers to know each other much better.
Team building is however a bit more difficult to do in this type of situation but possible. Have a contest, partnering your in-house employees each with an outsourced service provider and give them a job or business issue to find a creative answer to. Once again, you may at first resist the extra cost, but this builds relationships between staff members and it is still a lot more productive than getting your in-house employees in a room for a bunch of stupid team building activities.
