A key area that has to be continuously kept on the radar when outsurcing business processes is Knowledge Management. While deciding to outsource ask these two KM questions:
1. Is your team capable of / has bandwidth of conducting efficient Knowledge Transfer to the provider’s team?
2. Who among the candidate providers have matured Knowledge Management practices implemented in spirit in its operations? You may want to check if the provider’s personnel are aware of knowledge management and/or actually implement it or at least has had such an experience in the past.
For me, Knowledge Management capabilities of the provider must be a key factor influencing the Go-Ahead decision.
Transfer State KM Tips: While transferring business process, as best as possible, use the three tier transfer model as follows: a. Shadowing – Here the provider’s team shadows your team. b. Reverse Shadowing – Here the provider’s team takes over processes with your team shadowing. c. Full Transition – Your team slowly reduces the reverse shadowing density till it completely vanishes. I would advice to permanently continue at least 5% reverse shadowing, this will keep your team close to the ground and you can better manage the whole engagement.
Study State KM Tips: 1. Get the provider to maintain an internal backup for all the processes from people within other processes. This can be achieved by cross knowledge transfer among teams owning various processes at the providers end. This will be a life buoy in high waters. 2. Encourage innovation, process improvement from provider’s personnel. Recognize and Reward personnel who innovate and suggest accepted process improvements. These rewards must be higher and more valuable than those given for personnel excelling within their job definitions.
Exit State KM Tips: 1. Always ensure all the Knowledge the provider’s team has created during the engagement is well captured before exiting. 2. One may repeat the three tier transfer model here again.
Very interesting article. What you have described in your above article is an universal gospel for all outsourcing projects.
It is the first time that I have come accross your blog. Keep the articles coming and I will surely come here more often.