Should you fix a process before you outsource it?

Key takeaways

You should fix the basics of a process before outsourcing it: remove steps nobody needs, write down the method and the common exceptions, and agree what done looks like. You do not need a perfect process. A provider can improve speed and accuracy once it is running, but it cannot guess decisions you have never made.

• Fix the basics first: purpose, steps, exceptions and definition of done.
• Remove steps and approvals that add nothing before the handover.
• Do not wait for perfect; a provider can refine a stable process.
• Outsourcing an undefined process usually makes it slower.

Why not just outsource the mess?

Outsourcing a messy process moves the mess and adds a handover. If the steps are unclear, the team asks questions. If exceptions are undefined, they come back to you. If nobody agrees what done means, work bounces. Each of those adds waiting, so lead time rises even if the hourly rate falls.

• How outsourcing can improve business efficiency
• Outsourcing mistakes that make a business less efficient

What should you fix first?

Fix four things first. Confirm the purpose and who uses the output. Remove steps, approvals and copies that add nothing. Write the method, including the ten most common exceptions and what to do for each. Agree acceptance criteria so everyone knows when an item is finished.

• 1. Purpose: who uses the output and why.
• 2. Simplify: cut steps, approvals and duplicate entry.
• 3. Write: the method and the top ten exceptions.
• 4. Define done: acceptance criteria for each item.

• Document your processes before you outsource
• Acceptance criteria: define done for outsourced work
• Double data entry: what rekeying costs and how to stop it

What can a provider improve for you?

A good provider can improve a stable process faster than most small teams can, because it does the same kind of work daily. It can tighten templates, add checks, spot repeat errors and propose automation. What it cannot do is decide your pricing, your refund policy or your service standards. Those decisions must come from you.

• Continuous improvement in outsourcing: savings past year one
• Checklists that reduce errors in routine business work

How long does fixing the basics take?

For a typical admin process, fixing the basics takes a few hours spread over one or two weeks. In an illustrative example, an owner spends two hours listing the steps, an hour removing two approvals and a duplicate entry, and two hours writing the exceptions with a colleague. That is five hours to save weeks of questions later. Example figures only.

• Process maturity: is your process ready to hand over?
• Work instructions vs SOPs: which one does your team need?

When should you outsource before fixing?

Outsource before fixing when the backlog is so large that nobody has time to fix anything, or when the provider is engaged specifically to map and redesign the process. In both cases agree that the first weeks are discovery, with a written process as a deliverable, and expect efficiency gains to come later.

• Backlog clearance: catch up with an outsourced team
• Value stream mapping for service and admin processes

When is the process not worth fixing at all?

Some processes should stop rather than be fixed. If nobody uses the output, or the same result can be had another way, remove it. Others are so small that fixing and handing over costs more than doing them. Spend the effort on high-volume, high-interruption work.

• A stop doing list for your business
• When not to outsource

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a firm hands over customer onboarding with a two-line brief, and the provider sends twenty questions in the first week. Pausing for a day to write the steps and exceptions cuts the questions to a handful, and the process starts moving faster than it did in-house.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Process readiness checklist

Check these before you hand anything over.

• Purpose and output are written down.
• Unneeded steps and approvals are removed.
• The method is written step by step.
• The top ten exceptions have a rule.
• Acceptance criteria are agreed.
• One internal owner is named.

• Is your business ready to outsource?
• Outsourcing efficiency checklist: 20 checks

Next step

Describe the process you want to hand over. We will tell you what to fix first and what a managed team could improve once it is running.