You are setting up an outsourced project. Like any business, things may initially seem to be quite complicated as there will be many jobs involved in the process. But it will also be a learning experience as any international project is bound to be.

The specific goals of different businesses will vary. So too will the management’s capabilities, style and focus. But eventually the basic goal will be the same-to simplify the tasks as far as possible and to use the available resources effectively and easily. Although the management of an outsourced project and the running of an international operation may seem to be quite complex they are not impossible to carry out successfully. One excellent way of managing this would be to break up the project into several segments that are more manageable and can be easily handled by the teams.

This in itself gets the team used to the concept and experience of outsourcing. Plan your phasing carefully and the team members will learn from it and gain confidence, too. This is also a time saving device in that as specific people are allotted specific tasks, the whole team does not work at every facet of the project, but at different ones.
This type of phased work can be put into four stages.

1. Commencement. This is where, at executive level, goals and expectations, and timelines are identified and communication strategies and other considerations such as legal matters are considered. Guidelines and principles for the other phases and the development of the project are thrashed out here.

2. Planning. In this phase all the guidelines and resolutions made in the first phase are examined and are used to plan out a detailed strategy for the execution of the project. It is desirable to spend as much time as necessary and even more in the planning stage as the better prepared the team is the more efficiently and effortlessly it will handle the jobs ahead.

3. Implementation. Now that the planning is done, the actual jobs in hand can be performed. This is where the project becomes completely operational after taking into consideration all the study and scrutiny, planning and development tactics out lined in the planning phase.

4. Management. Things do not come to an end once the operation starts. Now that your business is operational, its achievements must be regularly checked against the goals outlined in the first phase. At this phase the vendor management as well as the structure in place during operations will be established.