Outsourcing mistakes that make a business less efficient

Key takeaways

Outsourcing makes a business less efficient when it adds handovers without removing waits. The common mistakes are handing over an undefined process, keeping every decision with one person, sending work through several channels, skipping the baseline, judging on hours not outcomes and giving no one ownership. Each is avoidable with a few hours of preparation.

• Most efficiency failures come from the handover, not the provider.
• Undefined processes and central approvals create new queues.
• No baseline means no proof of gain or loss.
• Judge outcomes, not hours.

Mistake 1: handing over an undefined process

If the steps, exceptions and definition of done are not written down, the provider learns by asking. Each question waits for you, and lead time rises. Spend a few hours writing the process and the top ten exceptions before the handover.

• How outsourcing can improve business efficiency
• Should you fix a process before you outsource it?

Mistake 2: keeping every decision with one person

If every exception needs the owner's approval, the owner becomes the bottleneck the outsourcing was meant to remove. Set written approval limits, a deputy and a daily decision slot.

• Approval bottlenecks: when sign-off holds up the work
• Escalation paths for outsourced teams: fast, not chaotic

Mistake 3: sending work through every channel

Requests by email, chat, phone and meetings get lost or done twice. Use one intake point and one task list, and agree that nothing outside it is worked.

• Task management for outsourced teams: one list, no chasing
• Workflow design for outsourced teams: a practical guide

Mistake 4: skipping the baseline

Without measuring lead time, accuracy and senior hours before the handover, nobody can show whether things improved. Problems get blamed on the provider and gains go unnoticed. Two weeks of measurement fixes this.

• Outsourcing efficiency KPIs: prove the work got faster
• How to measure the time outsourcing saves you

Mistakes 5 to 8: the quieter ones

Four further mistakes are less obvious but just as costly, and each adds waiting or rework.

• 5. Judging on hours billed rather than turnaround and accuracy.
• 6. No named process owner on your side.
• 7. Access arriving weeks after the start date.
• 8. Judging the arrangement in week two instead of day 90.

• The process owner: who keeps an outsourced process healthy
• System access for outsourced teams: fast but safe
• How long before outsourcing makes you more efficient?

What does a mistake cost in numbers?

In an illustrative handover where every refund above £20 needs the owner's approval, about 30 refunds a week wait an average of two days for a decision. Customers chase, creating around 25 extra contacts a week. Raising the limit to £100 with weekly sampling removes most of the waits and the chasing. Example figures only.

• Failure demand: the customer contacts you pay for twice
• Outsourcing decision mistakes UK SMEs make

When is the problem really the provider?

Sometimes it is. Signs include missed turnaround with no clear cause, rising errors after the process is defined, high staff turnover on your account and reports that never show actions. Raise it with evidence, agree a fix and a date, and be ready to change provider if it does not improve.

• Switching BPO provider without losing service
• Staff turnover in outsourced teams

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a business concludes outsourcing does not work after a difficult first month. A review shows four of these eight mistakes, all on the client side. Fixing them with the same provider produces the gains that were expected in the first place.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Mistake-avoidance checklist

Check these before and during a handover.

• Process and exceptions written down.
• Approval limits and a deputy set.
• One intake point and task list.
• Baseline KPIs recorded.
• Named process owner.
• Access ready on day one.

• Outsourcing efficiency checklist: 20 checks
• A 90-day plan to improve efficiency through outsourcing

Next step

Tell us how your outsourcing is set up, or how you plan to set it up. We will point out which of these mistakes are likely and how to avoid them.