Keep your in-house staff close and your offshore team closer—a powerful motto that can increase the chances of doing outsourcing successfully.
Entrepreneurs who want to lower their labour costs or gain access to a more talented workforce often decide to move tasks offshore. But no matter what their reason is, one way to get the results they want is through building a good relationship with their offshore teams.
We asked some engaged staff to share how their clients take care of them and how they make them feel that Philippine-based staff are no different than their local ones. Here are some of our most successful clients’ techniques in keeping their remote teams close, like they are just working in the same office:
They maintain communication
“Our client proved that through communication, anything is possible to enhance our bond as a team,” said Lani, a staff of a large Real Estate firm that outsources more than 70 other Cloudstaffers.
Communication is essential in business and in most, if not all, aspects of life. Given the fact that you are miles apart in outsourcing, you have to take communication to the next level. You should utilise the most effective tool for your offshore team—it could be through email, Skype, or any other instant messaging app.
Cloudstaff has also developed some messaging applications for convenience in communication between the clients and staff. One of these is the Cloudstaff Buzz, a web and mobile application that allows clients to send a message to all their Cloudstaffers’ registered contact numbers and email addresses without a fee.
They take time to visit their team
“Our clients often visit us to hold regular meetings, ensure clear communication, and sometimes paying off a visit with different executives,” Lani stated. She also mentioned that their clients make sure that important announcements are discussed personally and that they grab every open opportunity to head to the Philippines.
Long distance communication is not always enough to build a strong bond with your offshore staff. You also have to visit them from time to time to check on them, to address their concerns, and of course, to spend quality time with them. It is very important that your staff get to talk to you face to face once in a while.
They appreciate their staff’s work
“Every task is appreciated, even the smallest ones,” said Jeneva, a Marketing Coordinator for a client.
A simple ‘good job’ to acknowledge your staff’s work will go far. Not only does it fuel them up, it also results to a friendly and happy atmosphere between you and your staff. It makes them confident in doing their tasks because they feel that you believe in their capabilities. When you know how to appreciate your staff’s outputs, you get better results—that simple ‘good job’ can lead to a really great job!
They are proud of their offshore staff
“Our names are even part of each team profile flyer that they post in various offices and hand out to their prospective customers,” Jeneva gladly shared.
“We were never treated like ‘secret employees’; nothing beats a boss that proudly talks about his/her employees to everyone,” Lani also said.
Even though your offshore staff are not physically with you, you should always recognise that they are a big and significant part of your company. Making your staff feel that you are proud of them is one great way of appreciating their contribution to your business.
They get every staff involved
“They include us on their meetings regarding how projects will be done by exchanging different ideas,” said Loverday, a Software Quality Assurance Engineer for an Australian company.
Involving staff in decision making improves the staff’s morale and it evidently affects their productivity—staff are more motivated to do a project when they have an active participation right from the planning process and onwards. Including your staff in discussions means that their opinions highly matter. It is not only about the benefits to the project in hand, but it also develops your communication as well as your working relationship.
Cloudstaff encourages customers to take actions in getting close to their staff, and we are grateful to have such who take the opportunity to bond with their team. In support to their initiatives, Cloudstaff organises events that allow clients and staff to enjoy quality time with each other such as team dinners, team buildings, year-end parties and many others.
Jeneva expressed her thoughts, “I enjoy the team dinners organised by Cloudstaff whenever our clients are in the country. Little after-work get-togethers may be simple but these gatherings in small scales are what I think bring the whole team closer together. Sharing beers, playing party games, singing at the top of our lungs—everyone can be themselves around the clients and it’s perfectly fine!”
When everyone (the service provider, client, and staff) works together, the physical distance between onshore and offshore teams wouldn’t matter anymore—you can disregard the geographical barriers and do business like how it is normally done.