In today’s fast paced environment, finding the time to complete every task that comes up can be burdensome and overwhelming. As mundane household chores pile up, your business projects become harder to focus on, leaving you searching for more time in your busy schedule. And let’s face it, pushing aside important clients to do the laundry is downright foolish in any competitive marketplace. We all know that effective time management and project management techniques are vital to a successful business, but how do business owners really manage to stay on top? Simple. They outsource. Not just professional services, but every day personal chores.
Outsourcing is no longer limited to help with professional services. In fact, services such as Task Rabbit now offer the ability to find local freelancers to help with everyday household tasks such as cleaning, laundry, gardening, shopping, and even handyman work. The idea of outsourcing your personal life has grown to such a level that finding someone to assemble your IKEA furniture isn’t that weird. This takes outsourcing to the level of the consumer. Even everyday Steemians can benefit from outsourcing, but it’s important to understand the risks and benefits of outsourcing, when it’s time to outsource, and how to make your outsourcing plan work for you.
Step 1: Leverage other people’s time.
Identifying which area of your life that you need help with is the easy part, but finding someone to help you can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to understand how to leverage the time and skills of other people effectively. If you need help with your personal life, you’ll want to find the right candidate. Students are often an excellent choice for outsourcing tasks such as shopping and other household chores because they’re always looking for extra money, but aren’t in the position to hold a full-time job. Other times, you may find a semi-retired professional who is just looking to fill their time. Personally, I get frustrated when I have to go to the market, so I found people to do it for me. Sure, I might pay a bit more for my produce than when I got to the markets personally, but I’m saving my time and my sanity by outsourcing it.
Step 1 should consist of making a list of tasks or chores you want to outsource. Then use this simply impact & effort matrix to find which of them you want to delegate.
Outsourcing the tasks in the high impact fields will yield the greatest results. Tasks in the low impact, high effort region should not be done at all! And the low impact, low effort ones should be outsourced as efficiently as possible. Another thing to consider is the level of joy you are getting out of a task. Outsource the tasks you don’t like doing, it will massively increase your productivity!
Step 2: Set goal and expectations.
When you’re searching for a freelancer, whether it’s to complete personal or business tasks, you have to know exactly what your expectations are. Develop a solid list of criteria that you want your freelancer to meet and request samples or references before you hire them. If you don’t lay out a roadmap for the task that says exactly what is expected and within what time frame, you’re likely to run into some frustrating and costly situations.
Remember, you are the employer and set the standards, so if the work isn’t up to your expectations then hiring a freelancer isn’t worth your time or money.
Typical corporate behavior would be to put let some poor sap run this through the Logic Model and turn it into a fancy presentation. The Logic Model is used widely by business professionals and often incorporated into business plans and return on investment (ROI) models. It’s a simple flow chart that takes into account the resources, outputs, and outcomes that are needed for the successful implementation of your project. For smaller outsourcing tasks it can still be helpful for you and your freelancer, as it provides a template to create clear expectations and goals. If you don’t understand how to correctly identify your own objectives and subsequent goals, your freelancer won't get it either. There's no need to go corporate crazy and spend hours or days doing this. Just use it as a guideline to a successful employee relationship.
Step 3: Find your employees.
There are literally hundreds of websites available to find freelancers for almost any project imaginable. So before you waste your precious time browsing the internet for freelancers, you’ll want to ask yourself exactly what it is that you need. Are you looking for a local freelancer? Do you need a native speaker to complete your task? Or, are you okay with outsourcing to another country? These are all important questions, and the answers depend largely on the job that you plan to outsource.
Two of the most popular platforms to find reliable freelancers are Freelancer and Upwork. The number of freelancers they have available is far greater than most other sites on the internet, although the downside is that you’ll have to choose your freelancer carefully. Some of them are more experienced than others, and some outsource their own work so you’re never sure exactly what you’ll be getting in terms of quality. Make sure that you do your own due diligence before hiring and if you’re looking for a local freelancer, be sure to include that in your search criteria.
Another alternative is craigslist, which can have some of the same drawbacks but does allow you to ensure that you freelancer is truly local and available. Other websites, such as toptal.com are open source, niche specific websites, while oddball sites such as Fiverr and Taskrabbit allow you to hire freelancers for household tasks and other uncommon jobs that don’t fall under the category of conventional services. If you have a lot of brain-numbing and mundane jobs such as data entry, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk can be a great source. Ultimately, it is up to you to make sure that you get what you pay for and that hiring a freelancer for your task is productive and worthwhile.
If you’re not sure about your ability to outsource effectively, you can always employ the services of an HR consultant or outsourcing manager. It’s their job to outsource your work and make sure that your expectations are met, but it’s also an additional service that will cost you money. However, spending a little extra cash on an outsourcing manager may save you time and money in the long-run. You may be ready for this step if you’re behind the controls of a growing business or if you have a large project that is time sensitive.
Step 4: Evaluate your progress.
Not only should you monitor and evaluate the progress of your hired help, but you need to evaluate your own progress. An evaluation process is incorporated into every business plan for a reason. Monitoring the progress of your business allows you to understand what practices are working versus what practices are costing you unnecessary time and money. But the evaluation process is also a way for you to set dynamic goals and objectives, allowing room for you to attain more in the future. Develop a timeline with specific criteria and monitor your progress continually. Once you’ve met your own objectives, it’s time to incorporate new goals into your business plan. Exceeding your own expectations is a sign of real productivity and success, but you won’t be able to recognize it if you aren’t making a continual effort to track your progress.
A well designed outsource project is the ultimate time management hack
Not only is outsourcing an effective means of managing your own productivity, but it’s also beneficial for society as a whole. As the global economy becomes increasingly interdependent, the traditional 40-hour work is becoming a thing of the past, opening the door to a new form of entrepreneurship that is spreading across the connected and free world. Freelance work is already starting to dominate the employment arena, websites and social media are already the main focus of advertising, and outsourcing is becoming more socially accepted than ever before. And if you can get paid or be paid in cryptocurrency, you have the possibility to create an income free of government control. Whether it means outsourcing your personal or business tasks, effectively utilizing the services of an outsourced freelancer can help you achieve your goals and objectives, save you time and money, and catapult your business into a new level of success.
If you have some outsourcing horror or success stories, please share them in the comments!
Signing off,
Menta