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How to Effectively Manage your Offshore IT Staff

 

How to Effectively Manage your Offshore IT Staff
Offshore Staffing in the Philippines particularly in IT has benefited numerous company all over US and Europe in order to increase their manpower and productivity. The several benefits brought about by outsourcing defined as subcontracting a part of a company for instance in IT, in its web development projects to an outsourcing IT company in Manila also promises firms like yours a top quality service at a much cheaper rate.
However, with many benefits also comes the rise of various concerns especially when an outsourced project turns out as a disaster. As many experts would suggest, although outsourcing in its greatest form may serve the best interest of your firm and the outsourced entity, in reality some outsourcing firms may not be totally reliable. Nevertheless, firms like yours should note that it is mandatory to check or conduct research prior to subcontracting a project to an outsourcing provider and assess the capability of the provider's staff in terms of their ability to project positive yielding results at the end of the day. In order to ensure success in your decision to outsource here are some helpful tips worth to consider in managing your offshore team.
Dedicating a Project Manager - A project manager is responsible for all concerns related to the outsourced IT team. Necessarily, you and your firm will be more efficient as you won't have to coordinate individually between the provider and the staff hired with the project monitored directly by the manager.
Designate a Process Manager - In cases when not all are implicated in the project directly, a process manager keeps track of the whole process on your behalf. A progress report is delivered to the process manager as he is in charge of the communication and project development by which are all essential at your end.
Both Managers Must be Accountable to You - This is particularly important especially if your firm continues to expand as managers often times takes all the decision making when you aren't around. Thus, if the managers are inefficient it may cause disruptions in your business process. Constant communication is important for your managers to align their decisions and relay it to the team based on your expectations.
Maintaining an Open Communication - Admittedly, if trust hasn't been established between you and your company issues regarding your employees security of tenure may arise later on. Thus in order to preempt protests and other misunderstanding at your end and the employees, open channels of communication would be helpful to be in tune with each other concerns.  Not only that, remember that you may also be subject to fall for wrong judgments. A good relationship with your staff will help you solicit ideas and feedbacks that may be helpful in order to excel with the development of the project. Acknowledgement to those employees who are dedicated with their job can also boost the relations.
Although not absolute, following the recommendations above will help you in creating a strong and lasting working relationship with your offshore web development team. Moreover, it will also help to minimize disappointments and make the flow of your organizational structure smoother.

Offshore Staffing in the Philippines particularly in IT has benefited numerous company all over US and Europe in order to increase their manpower and productivity. The several benefits brought about by outsourcing defined as subcontracting a part of a company for instance in IT, in its web development projects to an outsourcing IT company in Manila also promises firms like yours a top quality service at a much cheaper rate.

However, with many benefits also comes the rise of various concerns especially when an outsourced project turns out as a disaster. As many experts would suggest, although outsourcing in its greatest form may serve the best interest of your firm and the outsourced entity, in reality some outsourcing firms may not be totally reliable. Nevertheless, firms like yours should note that it is mandatory to check or conduct research prior to subcontracting a project to an outsourcing provider and assess the capability of the provider's staff in terms of their ability to project positive yielding results at the end of the day. In order to ensure success in your decision to outsource here are some helpful tips worth to consider in managing your offshore team.

  • Dedicate a Project Manager - A project manager is responsible for all concerns related to the outsourced IT team. Necessarily, you and your firm will be more efficient as you won't have to coordinate individually between the provider and the staff hired with the project monitored directly by the manager.
  • Assign a Process Manager - In cases when not all are implicated in the project directly, a process manager keeps track of the whole process on your behalf. A progress report is delivered to the process manager as he is in charge of the communication and project development by which are all essential at your end.
  • Both Managers Must be Accountable to You - This is particularly important especially if your firm continues to expand as managers often times takes all the decision making when you aren't around. Thus, if the managers are inefficient it may cause disruptions in your business process. Constant communication is important for your managers to align their decisions and relay it to the team based on your expectations.
  • Maintaining an Open Communication - Admittedly, if trust hasn't been established between you and your company issues regarding your employees security of tenure may arise later on. Thus in order to preempt protests and other misunderstanding at your end and the employees, open channels of communication would be helpful to be in tune with each other concerns.  Not only that, remember that you may also be subject to fall for wrong judgments. A good relationship with your staff will help you solicit ideas and feedbacks that may be helpful in order to excel with the development of the project. Acknowledgement to those employees who are dedicated with their job can also boost the relations.

Although not absolute, following the recommendations above will help you in creating a strong and lasting working relationship with your offshore web development team. Moreover, it will also help to minimize disappointments and make the flow of your organizational structure smoother.

 

 


Ways to Ensure a Productive Staff Leasing Deal

The rising trend and growing number of companies that resort to staff leasing suggests that the business strategy ensures efficiency in the workforce. More than the fact that a leased staff can remove a lot of paperwork and hassles in the office, one of the most important reasons why many organizations advocated for employee leasing comes with the fact that it saves a lot of time.

As settling an HR issue for many of us is already a daunting task, staff leasing is an alternative solution designed for various employers who don't want to deal HR issues or too busy for their business expansion. At a fraction of a cost, employee leasing companies provides services which include payroll, recruitment, administration and others.

Although it doesn't necessarily guarantee all answers to different HR woes, careful planning and timely setups in terms of the conditions made between the employer and the employee leasing firm can reduce the hassle and increase its worth. Below are the main areas to reconsider to make the most out of an employee leasing deal.

  • Re-evaluate the objectives. Just like any other services, there would always be some certain rationale behind every employer's decision to resort on staff leasing.  But until they aren't certain of what position they'd like to lease and if they weren't able to assess their business ability to adjust for such arrangement, necessarily the provider will most likely be uncertain of delivering the results these employers are looking for.
  • Review the terms of the contract. Before signing any agreement, the terms in the employee leasing contract will determine the future growth of the company especially the rate of its expansion over a determined period of time. As like any other contracts previously conferred, it is a must for both sides to discuss the agreement and the terms thoroughly as reflected in the contract.
  • Prepare an Employee Recruiting Strategy. With the new setup, companies might have to restructure their entire organization. Some might have to fire certain employees and others might have to be re-hired by the leasing firm. If the employees aren't informed properly with any new arrangement made, it may cause strain in the management and affect the business operations as a whole.
  • Conduct a Frequent Performance Evaluation. Once the new set-up is in order, conducting frequent employee assessment enables the company to monitor the productivity of the leased staff and at the same time reflect the quality of the HR services provided the by partner firm in meeting their staffing expectations.

Virtual Office: To Accelerate Productivity

Work routines, 9-5 shifts, traffic jam, just can't get over the weekend thoughts; like so many employees contemplating over their productivity, it is no wonder why a lot of us ask whether we get eight hours of work done. Unfortunately, more often than not our work load the next day suggests it simply can't be made.

Sharing his expertise on office space productivity, Jason Fried in his TEDxMIdwest lecture believes that certain aspect of traditional offices effectively reduces the chances of us to be realistically productive. According to Mr. Fried, by the time that we enter in our respective offices the probability of us having a truly productive work day just diminishes.

He added that the environment itself, coming from all parts of the office such as the buzzing phones, the cubicles, the scheduled report presentation are merely turning our energy to dusts. As looks can be deceiving, traditional office spaces disguised by business attires, sophisticated machines and IT equipment intending to host efficiency is proved to be boring rather than effective.

Hence, in his hopes to help us in this ever yielding dilemma; he suggested that we should either choose to be accustomed to it or create an entire paradigm shift on how we conventionally picture our place of work.

Inspired to Virtually Work Anywhere

Imagine leaving the office for a day, most of us would probably plan what to do the entire day and couldn't just wait to make our way out to this life dreading work environments. The mere fact that we have to face the same uninspiring work environment daily understandably is enough to suck the life out of anyone.

Now, envision of having the benefit of working remotely and employ someone to run your day to day mundane office chores. From answering office phone calls and overseeing incoming/outgoing communication lines (via professional receptionist) to maintaining an impressive office address right at your disposal, non-traditional workspaces necessarily inspires all of us.

In response to our evolving need, comes the brilliance of virtual offices. As the environment drains out all the creativity in us and with the existence of tailor fitted services, who's to say that traditional office spaces are still the best option?

And although we may face the challenge of adjusting with our new preferred spaces, certainly with virtual offices we will never be caged in the same boring office space again.

Related Article: http://www.alliancevirtualoffices.com/virtual-office-blog/virtual-office/virtual-offices-today%E2%80%99s-cure-for-the-non-productive-job/


How to Reduce Business Overhead Costs

The constant risks present in today's economic volatility made many entrepreneurs especially from small businesses and start-ups to look for means to reduce overhead costs without undermining their business efficiency. As cutting overheads is one of the most proficient means to increase revenue, investors have been carefully implementing new means and reallocating company resources in recreating the essentials of their business and to some extent even including their brand.

For business starters, outlined below are the four ways that can help their company reduce its overhead cost.

Accounting- Keeping track of business expenses and understanding the dynamics of its cash flow is necessary for starting entrepreneurs. As it keeps the investor in tune with the daily business undertaking; the decision making and expansion process can be done on much faster and orderly manner.

As accounting generally can be utilized in all parts of business operations, the hassle behind supply and stock management, storage costs, market changes and purchases can be monitored efficiently reducing the chances of occurrence to begin with.

Outsourcing- With many multi-national companies understanding that growth translates to changes in terms of business needs, many organizations resorted to outsourcing as a form of business strategy. Although there might be some drawback in terms of quality check and fee transparency; outsourcing in the Philippines or elsewhere, if done fittingly can provide great savings on necessary services.

Task in IT, accounting, customer service support, marketing and even recruitment can be delegated to an outsourcing service provider that specializes in those services. Instead of hiring a full-time customer service representative especially on the early stages of the business, an employee leasing firm can provide you a dedicated staff that will assist a client concern and manage a business support center for the meantime.

Human Resource Management- Worker's compensation take's up a big share in terms of operating costs hence before hiring a personnel, re-evaluation in terms of employee roles in the business is necessary. On the other hand, ensuring employee development, training, performance review and staff meetings are crucial for business continuity and growth. Therefore, hiring a dedicated staff to fulfill a range of company roles and training current staff to be able to handle more than one job function should always be checked and measured.

Green Initiatives- Aside from saving the earth, going green can significantly reduce costs and encourage savings. The practice can also be a point of interest for many employees especially with the rise in popularity of advocacy support. Being environmental friendly can cover from going paperless, to telecommuting to save on transport cost and even installing energy saving equipments which at the end reduces unwanted costs. Moreover, the efficiency behind eco-practices is good even for long term.

Related Article: http://www.virtualoffice.com/blog/small-business-tips-reducing-overhead-costs/


How to Secure Efficiency in Outsourcing

Many prominent global investment organizations nowadays constantly emphasize the importance of evaluation as criteria in determining strong business standards. As an entrepreneur, evaluation enables you to determine the rate of your business expansion and assess your overall business competence. Comparing your business to a human body, an annual check-up enables you detect early state of illnesses and at the same time determine the state of your overall health condition. Similarly, business standards and performance can be accurately evaluated and "treated early" if reviews and analysis are performed religiously.

 

Below are the suggested key areas that you need to review and check on a regular basis to ensure that your company's operational processes and administrative task are done efficiently.


Employment Recruiting and Management

One main challenge of outsourcing in the Philippines and elsewhere is the employee turnover rate. With stress and high demands present in the outsourcing industry, your human resource department should be in tune with the workloads of each employee.  Determining whether replacements or additional people are required in your office helps the business to maintain its pool of dedicated staffand ensure project continuity.

Data Security

Information such as client and payment Information, confidential company files and bank account details are hard to replace and potentially dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. With many companies experiencing data security breaches, it is only wise for you to invest on your security software and its updates. Obtaining certifications from organizations helps you to asses if your software and its properties conform to the international standards.

 

Operations

Many firms outsourcing in the Philippines or elsewhere has to deliver projects within certain time-frame while simultaneously secure their service quality. Considering the pressure coming from all parts of the business, it is only necessary for you to regularly evaluate your dedicated staff to measure their productivity. Regular evaluation helps you to assess what are the strengths and weaknesses of your team and at same time gives you the opportunity to make changes needed to reduce inefficiency. Moreover, it also allows you to deter and address specific issues before it escalates.


Certainly, there are many other parts of your company that needs to be evaluated. However it is important to note that in determining additional key areas to review, reflecting back to the company's core competency enables you to truthfully detect your present business condition.


The Importance of Securing a Vibrant Working Environment

Today, businesses are expected to adapt to a fast-paced environment. With time becoming one of the most precious commodities, attending to the demands of the clients and securing business growth seems to be an already daunting responsibility for many entrepreneurs. As an investor doing business in the Philippines, the last thing you would like to do is to spend so much time looking for an office space to the country's central business district. However, although such matter is seen with little less importance, a striking and contemporary office space gives a tangible picture about your business, your brand and somehow reflects you as an entrepreneur.

 

As a serviced office provider, KMC Solutions offers a fully-functional, serviced office in the Philippines to many foreign and local companies setting up business operations in the country's Central Business Districts (CBDs). With the company's presence already established to cater to your needs for a serviced office in Makati and Fort Bonifacio, projecting a professional yet cutting-edge image of a clean and sophisticated office space won't be a part of your problem. As image defines almost everything in your business these days, standing out in the marketplace at a fraction of a cost makes KMC your perfect office space partner.

 

The serviced office has a light, fully air-conditioned, ergonomically-designed interior with an innovative design, floor to ceiling windows, glass doors and a vibrant, yet stylish color palette. The office furniture is modish and multifunctional, which helps to create purposeful, yet comfortable working environments. In addition, a professional yet personable receptionist welcomes the guests into a smart and impressive reception area.

 

Understanding the realities of the harsh business environment, expansion and growth can be difficult to forecast especially in times when the economy is in turmoil. For start up businesses that needs to be cost-efficient, KMC Solutions offers serviced office in Makati and Fort Bonifacio for one, two and more employees, creating a fully flexible office space that can adapt to your changing business demands and needs. Aside from keeping your office spacing needs off pressure, negotiable rental periods and rates are also available to burdens and hassle.

 

And because in business time is money, serviced office gives you more chance to concentrate on your core tasks and frees you from mundane choirs with ease and efficiency. Overseeing your mail, telephone calls, fax and printing needs and maintaining the pantry aside from keeping your office fully stocked of your necessities are all included in a serviced office.

 

As stress and anxiety often affect any working environment, with KMC solutions your serviced office in Makati or Fort Bonifacio gives you the leisure of quick breaks in those long afternoons to jump-start productivity in relaxed and trendy break-out areas.  Definitely, entrepreneurs like you will truly benefit from the daily opportunities of networking with other businesses before returning to your own private office feeling re-energized and eager to tackle awaiting tasks.


3 Main Issues to Settle in an Outsourcing Deal

Many entrepreneurs would agree that setting up a strong business partnership early on can determine the success or failure of outsourcing services. As complexity arises from the negotiation process, operations and day to day management; identifying evident issues can significantly help to increase the chances of ensuring a successful outcome. According to Kit Burden of TechRepublic.com these are the three main aspects to note in an outsourcing deal.

 

Customer and Supplier Commitment

In outsourcing, trust is difficult to define for both parties. Resentment usually arises at certain point of the deal as one party or both have failed to deliver their promise. For instance, due to negligence the client might have provided inadequate information for its service requirements but pursued outsourcing firms to bid. The issue may not raise concern to both parties temporarily but definitely will cause glitches in future.

On the other hand, a staff leasing services provider may have mispriced a deal maybe because of the complexity of its requirement or the client's transition. The outsourcing provider then will seek to remove the lost margin by adding additional costs to the estimates to deal with the changes. The play of interest between the clients to reduce costs and the employee leasing firms opting for additional charges are typical. However, these scenarios if not mitigated can lead to shorter term of contract aside from the ill feelings it generated from both sides.

Differences could be resolved easily if only the two parties reach efforts to compromise and remains trustworthy, in a sense that neither is trying to profit unduly from the other.

Transaction Transparency

Transparency is a big issue in every business undertaking as clients demands it. More than being honest, open and accountable, it requires responsibility from the both sides to secure validated information and reduce doubts. And although it sounds redundant, many clients raise complaints to their staff leasing services provider due to their dubious pricing mechanism. Transparency in this sense means that the outsourcing firm is ready to present accurate information based on the services provided.

In contrast, although it is understandable that certain information must remain confidential on the part of the clients, timetables and plans that may concern the outsource service provider should be shared to minimize breaches of contracts.

Adaptability

Amidst the security that a contract brings, provisions must be ready to adapt for sudden changes. Furthermore, it should be supported by an appropriate governance structure; flexible rates it cases of future fluctuations and the service requirement and features the rights in cases of early termination.


It is important to understand that relationships and dealings don't have to be only confined to legal agreements. As in the future, contracts can simply be a subject to the attitudes and the proceedings of the both sides. With such reason, upon the draft of the contract; both parties should note their future priorities to minimize complaints and operations delay.

 

Source:http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cio-insights/three-factors-that-fuel-successful-outsourcing-projects/197


How Staff Leasing Firms can assist your business

Aside from assuming many responsibilities and liabilities as your "co-employer", an employee leasing firm and the services it offers is great for your company as it gives you more time to manage the key parts of your business. With many entrepreneurs realizing that training and recruitment shouldn't be that time consuming, difficult and risky, staff leasing has been a smart solution for employers who wish to fulfill their HR requirement. Below are some of the few reasons why it has been a top choice.

 

Efficiency

One advantage of staff leasing is that it helps employers like you to focus on your core competencies instead of worrying about government regulations, payroll taxes or administrative duties.  With such assistance, you can focus more on product development, production, marketing, sales and customer services which by far are integral to your business operation. Moreover, it allows you to get back your time, and increase your revenue.


Improve Cash Flow

An employee leasing firm like KMC Solutions takes all your other expenses including your employment fees and combines them into one which will be charged on a monthly basis. Easier compensation schemes coming from a provider that offers predictable payments each payroll period is much more convenient and logical. Moreover, instead of increasing internal investments in new employees, these firms help you to minimize your labor costs.


Manages workers benefits

They also can provide you an umbrella structure and take on many small companies and consolidate them to offer lower premium medical benefits. As these companies have a pool of 1000 employees or more, it can absorb your personnel and incorporate them to a bigger medical benefit system. By such means, it will enable your business to compete and offer comparable benefits similar to that of larger companies.


Familiarization of domestic laws

Aside from that if you're thinking of starting-up a new business offshore or vice versa, these companies are very much useful as they will help you understand the various rules that might affect your growth. They can also provide assistance as to what you should do in certain problematic situations. In addition to the services they offer for the compliance of labour laws, they also provide and store legally required employee forms and paperwork.


Maintain and Reduce Risk

Lastly, additional benefits are acquired in companies with workers compensation modifiers that are relatively higher. An employee leasing firm may have a modifier that is less than that, therefore offering your small business a cheaper rate. Most importantly, they can give advice to develop workplace safety especially in reducing claims. They will also proactively manage your worker's compensation coverage and will help you to reduce claim costs including fraudulent claim identification.

Anthony Kelly is a frequent contributor to employee leasing firms in America. He frequently writes about compliance, human resource outsourcing and many other issues affecting small business owners in the country.

Article Ref: http://www.populararticles.com/article267637.html


Serviced Offices: to aid your technological woes

Today, running your business is impossible without heavy reliance on technology. From means of communication such as emails, VOIP's to daily operations and security, many firms like yours won't be able to function without a plethora of complex devices and systems.

Daily activities like such may cause you enormous stress or strain your business progress if done inefficiently as those activities makes your entire operations vulnerable. Thus, if you have plans of expanding your operations offshore or moving to a new working environment, setting up a similar office with all the necessary infrastructure is more difficult and costly. Certainly, your resources may not be much abundant in order for it to assists your future endeavor.

With this in mind, your preference for an office space is crucial. Contrary to traditional offices, serviced offices gives you all the required infrastructure at a reduced starter costs. For those who are cost conscious, traditional offices may not be a wise choice as these spaces are usually bare or simply empty shells that requires a lot of work and comes with a high cost or complexity. Serviced offices in the Philippines or elsewhere offer a packaged solution that comes with features such as phone answering and maintenance services, high-end security, reception, networking and high speed internet access. In addition, workstations and seat leasing facilities offer an plug and play services so as access to video conferencing facilities which may be of great help to your business.

As an entrepreneur, to benefit from such services without worrying about other overhead costs can make your daily operations considerably smoother and proficient. Aside from being located in a business center, technical issues may be addressed at a faster rate unlike conventional offices, due to its accessibility to the concerned service providers to help you out in your dilemma.

And although the technology and other overhaul associated with serviced offices comes with a price, its costs are incorporated in the payments only upon such services is availed or used.


Service Office in Makati: An Alternative in the CBD

The stable economic growth shown by the Philippines for the last few years established itself as one of the most conducive investment destinations in Asia.  No wonder why many investors ponder where to set-up their business in the country. As location is integral in determining the growth or failure of a business, many chose to establish their business in Metro Manila's central business district, Makati.

 

However, since the demands for traditional office spaces are often high and sometimes too pricey compared to leasing its own space; much of start up businesses prefers serviced office in Makati as practical alternative.  With a serviced office in Makati, businesses can still reap the benefits of the city as a financial district. Below are only some of the few advantages of renting a workplace in this prime metropolis.

 

Location and Convenience

As it has been home to many headquarters of local and multinational companies in the country, in addition to various embassies, banks, premier hotel and leisure facilities even BPO operations, investments are highly concentrated in the city rather than any other place in the Philippines. Usually offices in Makati are adjacent to sophisticated restaurants and posh bistros. In just a few minutes, reaching another office or an establishment can be done so easily without a problem as the city is walker friendly.

 

Special Economic Zones

Certain areas are also part of special economic zones including traditional space and serviced office in Makati. This is highly beneficial for first time investors as incentives are given by the government provided that their firm meets the requirements and are in located in the areas covered by the economic law.  Daily operations are more manageable and less costly with tax holidays and non fiscal incentives brought about by the Philippine special economic zones (PEZA).

 

Transportation

Shuttles, Cabs, buses, railways are plenty and are all within the metropolis. Unlike other parts of Manila, going in and out of the central business district won't be a big of a hurdle. For investors, it is more convenient as majority of prime offices and government institutions especially concerned for business development are stationed or has satellite offices in the city.