Document Services: Creative
The importance of in-house Creative Services (part two)
Steven Hall, November 2009
In this second part of the article, we will look at how to effectively outsource creative functions and how to enable, innovation, continual improvement and return on investment.
Employees within service functions are a major asset but they can also be a substantial cause of variation and inefficiency when not managed effectively, consistently and strategically.
Whilst outsourcing should address this problem and others, you would do well to remember that the nature of human beings is to maximise a return for the least amount of effort, and that outsourced vendor’s are experts within this discipline.
Consequently, enabling a robust cost/benefit analysis and requirements process prior to any outsourcing decision is of extreme importance, as the ultimate aim is to increase the return on investment, whilst avoiding the pitfall of false economy.
A good starting point for this process is to read the first part one of this article and also ‘Maximising ROI via integrated services’, as these articles will help you to formulate a strategy and a Request for Information.
When developing the RFI, ask open questions and request structured responses, such as ‘what are the top three objectives for enabling and maintaining continual improvement’ and ‘how will staffing levels be flexed to match demand’, all within no more than 20 words per prioritised objective.
It is then possible to pick the best elements from all the RFI responses for inclusion in the Request for Pricing. Furthermore, it will be relatively easy to remove minor requirements that may reduce the contract cost without undermining the service provision. In addition, be mindful of the following:
- Any decision must be based on filling a strategic role, not just a functional one.
- The expectations of the organisation must be consolidated and stated explicitly.
- The governance process should be clearly defined.
Finally, time must also be spent ascertaining how the metrics and regular reporting process will be used to build confidence and trust. This includes ‘warts and all’ disclosures to enable balanced evaluations of what is and isn’t working.
Having covered all of these aspects, you should then have good understanding of what you will be paying for throughout the life of a contract, which is fundamental to developing partnerships that are mutually beneficial, long lasting and relatively problem free..
If after having read this article you believe that your organisation does not have the skills and experience to outsource effectively, you may wish to consider utilising the services of Essential-Media to help you through the process.
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