Total Cost Of Delivery
In an earlier post we discussed the key advantages, and also some of the hidden costs, of outsourcing to remote teams via upwork, freelancer and similar job boards. As mentioned, you can achieve project success via remote teams if you align your budget with the Total Cost of Delivery. In a nutshell, this is about making sure you consider all of the direct and indirect costs of setting up and delivering a successful project. This is not about the benefits or disadvantages of outsourcing or using freelancers. It is just a brief reminder of the costs of researching, shortlisting, vetting, managing and working towards common goals with a remote workforce that is not an integral part of your company.
To visualise what I mean, consider the tasks and associated cost items below.
- Initial web based research (registering and trawling through freelancer websites)
- Initial shortlist (deciding your criteria and applying it to your initial list of candidates)
- Email, skype and telephone based interviews (consider this to be the first filter)
- Second shortlist
- Interviews
- Basic paperwork and contracts
- Statement of work and deliverables
- Project plan or at least agreement regarding start and end dates for major tasks
- Risk management and contingency plan
- On-going project management
- On-going feedback and review of work
- Formal sign-off of each agreed item delivered against agreement
- Invoice management
- Project close and de-brief
Granted, for very small projects you may not wish to consider every item listed above. However, I hope that the list gives you some food for thought, especially if you are planning projects that are time sensitive or critical to your company.
+44 (0) 2039497344
