A 90-day plan to outsource your repetitive tasks

Key takeaways

A 90-day plan gets a UK SME from a list of repetitive tasks to one or two stable, outsourced tasks with a scorecard. Days 1 to 14: inventory and score. Days 15 to 30: simplify and document the first task. Days 31 to 60: parallel run and go-live. Days 61 to 90: review, step down checks and start the second task.

• Days 1–14: inventory, counts and fit scores.
• Days 15–30: simplify and write the first method.
• Days 31–60: parallel run, go-live, weekly scorecard.
• Days 61–90: review, step down checks, add task two.

Days 1 to 14: what should you find out?

Build the task inventory, count volumes and minutes for the main tasks, and score the top ten on the fit score. Ask the team which tasks they would hand over. By day 14 you should know your first task and roughly how many hours it takes each week.

• Build the task inventory.
• Count volumes for two weeks.
• Score the top ten tasks.
• Choose the first task.

• How UK SMEs can use outsourcing to handle repetitive tasks
• Repetitive task inventory: list every recurring job once
• Count your task volumes before you outsource anything
• Ask your team which tasks they would hand over

Days 15 to 30: how do you prepare the first task?

Simplify the first task with ECRS, write the method, rules and exceptions, fix the input channel, agree the scope of work and put the data protection paperwork in place. Name the in-house owner and tell the people affected. By day 30 someone new could do the task from the written method.

• ECRS: simplify a repetitive task before you hand it over
• Decision tables: turn judgement calls into clear rules
• Scope of work for an outsourced task: what to write down
• How to tell your team you are outsourcing

Days 31 to 60: how do you go live?

Run both teams in parallel for one to two weeks, compare outputs daily and fix causes in the method. Switch over when accuracy meets the target. Check every item for the first week, then about one in five. Review a weekly scorecard of volume, turnaround and accuracy with the owner.

• Parallel running: test an outsourced task safely
• Quality sampling: how many outsourced items to check
• Outsourcing efficiency KPIs: prove the work got faster

Days 61 to 90: what comes next?

Hold a 30-day review, step sampling down to steady state, record the hours returned and how they are used, and update the method with what you learned. Then start the second task, which reuses the method, access and scorecard and usually moves faster.

• Post-implementation review: did outsourcing work?
• How to measure the time outsourcing saves you
• Job enrichment: better roles once routine work moves

How much of your time does the plan need?

As a GBL rule of thumb, plan on 3 to 4 hours a week of owner time in the first month, mostly writing the method and answering questions, falling to 1 to 2 hours a week by month three. In an illustrative example, that buys back 10 to 20 hours a week once two tasks are stable. These are example figures.

• How much of your time does an outsourced team need?
• What is your time worth as a business owner?

When should the plan go slower?

Slow down when the first task involves regulated decisions, special category data or a staff consultation, or when the parallel run shows the method is not ready. Ninety days is a guide. A stable first task matters more than speed.

• Mistakes when outsourcing repetitive tasks, and the fixes
• TUPE and outsourcing

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: businesses that finish the first 90 days with one stable task go on to hand over three or four more in the following six months, because the method and trust are already in place.

Across our client work, back-office cost per task has fallen by 42% once the process was written down and run by a managed team.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

90-day plan checklist

Tick these off as you go.

• Inventory and scores done by day 14.
• First method written by day 30.
• Parallel run complete by day 45.
• Weekly scorecard running.
• 30-day review held.
• Second task chosen by day 90.

• Outsourcing repetitive tasks checklist: 20 checks
• Run an outsourcing pilot before you commit

Next step

Send us your top three repetitive tasks and team size. We will sketch a 90-day plan for your business and say plainly which task should go first.