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Managing Teamwork – Key to Successful Offshore Operations

January 25, 2010

In the usual case, Western firms tend to offshore work that is easy and routine. Software support or call centers are good examples of this. The presumption is that the easier it is the more efficient the operation is likely to be.

According to an online report by the Wall Street Journal, this notion is not always true. A survey of 130 offshore projects in India revealed that it is not the ease of transference of knowledge that determines the success of an operation. This may prove to result in a narrow advantage to outsourcing, analysts say.

Rather, the key to successful offshore operations is teamwork and how it is managed. There are several factors involved in this process. The offshore and onshore staff has to be well coordinated. It helps if they speak the same language in emails and during conversations on the phone or conference calls. Having the same work culture is extremely important to understand complex ideas.

The study found that encouraging collaboration between workers of various cultures and geographical backgrounds was more important than having offshore employees work on specific projects. This would imply that the range of projects that can be offshored may be significantly larger.

Communication is an integral part of managing offshore operations. Although some firms invest a lot of money into high-end technology like videoconferencing and travel, these options may not be the most ideal. Communicating via teleconferencing can be confusing when discussing complicated ideas and plans for projects. Additionally, traveling onsite to meet offshore employees can be an expensive way to manage offshore operations.

One option that seems to work for some companies is to share common ground. This means that as companies focus on sharing knowledge across distant locations, there is little need for undue discussion since offshore employees are able to anticipate what is required of them. They are also better equipped to anticipate decisions made by their onshore colleagues.

Jacob Cherian writes for SourcingLine, a leading source of data on web design and programming directories related to outsourcing.

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  4. High skilled IT and BPO jobs are going offshore
  5. Specialization – Name of the Game in IT Outsourcing


Written by Jacob Cherian · Filed Under Outsource Blogs 

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