The entire process of offshore development is pretty much intriguing and captivating. The client is situated in one part of the world and it web developer which he has “hired” operates from some other part of the world. Internet has actually shrunk the big wild world into a small and closely knitted global village. However like any other employer – employee relationship, problems also creeps in, in the offshore outsourcing, the only difference is that it is worse – because there is no physical communication, and thus the chances of miscommunication and misjudgments are more. Provided in this write up are the two major causes and their pragmatic solutions.
The most common problem – clash between what is expected and what is delivered.
All the talk about technology and what is expected out of offshore IT outsourcing is quite dicey and unpredictable. It may be possible that at the time of communication, the client explained a kind of requirement for the web application. However, when it was all said and done, the final application was not what was expected. An easy way to combat this is through –
1.Being very clear about your specifications. The specification document should be clear cut and precise. Even if you want the designer to extrapolate, the boundaries of the same must be set in advance. A good document communicating the specification helps in saving all the troubles.
2.Never say – clone this! Another highly irritating habit of the clients is that instead of providing with any specification for their custom web development, they just say clone this – and provide a link to one of the web application. Well every application has a unique personality and there is a very unique reason behind the existence of the same website. If it can exist being a clone of some website, it should not exist at all. Another problem with the typical “clone this” situation is that it does not give the individual treatment to the website under development and mostly, after a while clients realizes some or the other feature and rush to ask the web site developers to not to clone but make some changes. Thus, the only solution which lies with the clients, in order to avoid any resentment is to write on the piece of paper, what all they require!
Communication problem between the client and the offshore IT outsourcing company
As said in the beginning, the entire concept of offshore IT outsourcing / development is intriguing, yet challenging. There no direct lines of communications, no way for physical communication to happen and the emotions can not be exactly conveyed while sitting online.
However, good and quality communication plays an important role in ensuring client satisfaction and going for productive business. At same time, if the communication between the client and the professional working upon his / her project is not clear enough, it surely ends in resentments, disappointments and other such negative vibes.
An easy solution for combating the gap in communication are given below –
1.In order to open the communication channels between the developer / designer working on the client project and the client himself is to share all the possible contact information. The developer / designer and the client must have each other’s email id, Yahoo messenger or gTalk id or Skype id and telephone number as well. One amongst these communication channels must be regularly checked, utilized and updates. Though verbal communication may be a road block because of the difference in languages, at least one can communicate completely in a written format – email or messenger etc. English though is the global language but is still a second language for many people. Thus, talking through the written communication channels is much more effective solution than verbal communications
2.Schedule a cam to cam to chat session – depending upon the duration of the project, schedule a face to face skype session, in order to understand the other side in a face to face way.
These were a few basic steps you can take, to retain offshore clients and achieve success.
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