Resolving Outsourcing Issues without Arbitration

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In our outsourcing book, we said arbitration is the last thing you want (and we meant it!). Arbitrations protect outsourcers from paying for shoddy work, but they delay a project’s completion as well. They also bring out some rather unprofessional behavior when unchecked.

Here are some resolution tips to try before initiating arbitration and creating a tense-filled situation.

Expect Problems

A Good Read: The Thinker’s Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving

No matter how much you’ve studied outsourcing or practiced outsourcing, issues will always be present. It doesn’t even matter how thoroughly you’ve vetted a prospect, or how long you’ve worked with a particular service provider either. Contracts can’t even protect you from problems. They may protect and assist you in solving financial disputes – but used as a shield against problematic issues in general, they’re defenseless.

Those of us who’ve been in the industry for a decent amount of time know there’s absolutely no such thing as a perfect outsourcing experience.

That’s because issues are inescapable. To expect otherwise is to expect a perfect outsourcing experience. You must, therefore, expect problems when outsourcing. Actually, you should expect them before you start outsourcing.

It’s far better (read, responsible) to expect problems, and plan for them, than to be surprised by them without an appropriate problem-solving program in place.

Address the Real Issue

You’ll waste a lot of time and energy dancing around issues that cause problems, so be direct and zero in on what’s wrong.

• Is your service provider’s waning enthusiasm worrying you?
• Are you concerned about the number of errors in submitted milestones?
• Are too many points of contact delaying what should be timely responses?

Whatever issues there are, you won’t be able to solve them if you don’t honestly evaluate and discuss what they could be. Find out who’s the source of a dilemma (and yes, it could be you!), discuss solutions, and then work it out so that everyone is satisfied and eager to bring a project to a successful close.

Ask for Help

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Not a single one of us knows everything about everything. So when you encounter a situation that you don’t know how to handle, reach out. Ask a friend, your boss, your colleague, or your trusty forum buddy for advice.

If necessary, seek advice from several different 3rd parties at once. When you find commonalities among multiple sources of input, you can clearly see what may have been hidden.

A 3rd party perspective can offer insight into a problem’s real issue (and a solution) when you may be too emotionally involved to see what’s really going on.

Make an Issue Chart

So just when do you seek arbitration? It all depends on your “boiling point.” An issue chart can help answer that. An issue chart is a simple diagram that lists who you should consult when or if a particular problem crops up. Here’s an example:

The very last point and contact listed should be the call for arbitration. Everything above the last item should be issues you’re willing to work out on your own.

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