Hello.
Does anyone know the best way to outsource project management?
I have a good outsourcing company and there is a project manager on there end but they are Indian.
What i want to do is stop me being fully involved with projects.
I would ideally like it if the person was English and could speak to the client direct.
Thanks
Not necessary, it can be Team Leader or Team manager who does that job at the outsourcing provider’s side. Project manager is a higher level, beside managing the development, he also works with Business side (Executive), User side and other stackeholders. Of cause in reality for smaller project Team Manager and Project Manager roles can be compbined and done by the same person, but if you want it’s not against the rules to divide them.
You must have every aspect of your business written down into simple processes that people can follow. Then have experts within each of those processes that can train new people.
The project manager would then have to go through the whole process, and understand the tasks fully. It would be essential in my view that they already have experience with the sort of tasks your company does.
They would then be left to oversee it and you would have several benchmarks to measure performance, and a clear process for how they should manage staff (like every week check x, and email x with improvements).
If you don’t have all that in place outsourcing project management will fail.
The only time it wouldn’t would be if you got hold of someone exceptionally talented and motivated to run your project, but such people tend to be running their own successful businesses and the only way to attract them is a very big pay check or equity deal.
I’ve been a project manager as well as managed project managers. The best project managers are usually senior level programmers who have somewhat “graduated” and then help the other developers get the best plans for the projects. A project manager should also have excellent organization skills and be able to write clear specs.
I wonder about that Indian company… Looks like you would like to change them. Why?
You know they can do the same job for you cheaper then any other company. Some Indian companies are really great.
Yes it is a viable option for project management outsourcing. A staff of professional project managers and project control personnel as needed are provided by the outsourcing partner. This option is pretty effective and ensures that experts are on hand to manage the more complex, unique or difficult-to-staff projects. In addition, internal staff has access to coaching and mentoring from the outsourcing provider. Here, the company pays only for the outsourcing staff needed, and resistance among internal staff is less likely…
Does anyone have any experiance outsourcing this kind of thing?
I think that you’ll find that project management is one of the absolute hardest things to outsource - much harder then design or development.
Project manager should be visible on the floor or on the working area of his/her employees. You will be having a hard time looking for the right candidate.