Outsourcing is a great way for your startup company to expand its capabilities and reach more customers. But to get those benefits, you should know how to work effectively with the outsourced team.
And one of the aspects that you have to think about is cultural compatibility. However, this can also be one of the challenging aspects to implement. Let’s explore what it entails and how you and your outsourcing partner can make it succeed.
Why Cultural Compatibility Matters During Outsourcing
When looking for an outsourcing partner, you often focus more on the technical aspects like provider capability and cost. Cultural compatibility is something that comes only after all of these. But that does not mean it matters less. There are several reasons why you should work on this compatibility.
It Makes For An Easier Working Relationship
As you might already know, working with another team can be a rather nuanced experience. That is more so the case with outsourcing. Often, you will be working without physically engaging with the other side.
Image from HR Solutions.
This is where being effectively able to pick up on work nuances comes into play. With it, you can better respond to the other party and work with them more efficiently. Cultural compatibility helps you pick up on these nuances and deal with them the right way.
Breaking Down Work Barriers
On the other hand, you will also likely encounter a lot of barriers during outsourcing. Most prominent is the language barrier you might encounter when working with an overseas partner. Beyond this, you might also deal with more complex barriers like technology differences.
Image from LSA Global.
While you would want to try avoiding these barriers from the get-go, cultural compatibility helps you overcome them if they do show up. It does this by making it easier for both sides to break through these barriers. There is also a strong sense of familiarity, even if this is the first time working together.
More Conducive For Exchanging Ideas
One great thing about outsourcing is that you can learn a lot from your partner. After all, they have worked with different businesses. And strong cultural compatibility can make that exchange much more efficient.
It does this by creating a more conducive environment for exchanges. Here, both sides become more encouraged since they know that the other party is willing to receive their suggestions. That continued back and forth lets you further evolve the outsourcing relationship in unique ways.
The Elements Of Cultural Compatibility That Affects Outsourcing
As it is, every company culture is unique. With that, it can seem like gunning for cultural compatibility with an outsourcing partner is going to be a challenge. However, you can simplify the process by knowing which elements to look for.
Language
The first element you want to consider when looking for an outsourcing partner is language capability. Note that this is more than just looking for a provider that can speak your language. You would also want someone willing to learn that language.
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This second condition lets you know they are serious about establishing a working relationship with you. But it shouldn’t be just one way. You should also be willing to understand their language even if a bit. That will help you greatly in better reaching out to the provider.
Communication Style
Language is just a small part of the overall communication effort. Cultural compatibility also requires looking into an outsourcing provider’s wider communication style. Here, you would want to ask what type of channels they most often use and see how they align with your own.
For instance, a provider might prefer a more indirect means of communicating. In case this doesn’t completely align with how you do things, both parties can work out how to find a compromise. This step is another great test of cultural compatibility, as you see how they can work with you to resolve the matter. Here, both parties can also start exploring new communication strategies they can employ.
Work Style Of The Outsourcing Provider
Beyond communication, you also need to consider the overall work style of your outsourcing partner. That is a lot broader in scope, as there are many nuances you would want to account for. On the other hand, you would also want to look into the larger impact of their work culture on your operations.
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One way to better understand this work culture is by looking at the region that the provider hails from. For instance, some regions place a stronger emphasis on corporate hierarchy, while others might lean more towards a decentralized work environment. As is with the above, these cultural differences are not necessarily insurmountable. But you should work on addressing the issues and concerns.
How Your Startup Company Can Further Bridge The Cultural Gap
The above considerations are just the preliminaries. Once you sign up with the outsourcing provider and start working together, you will run into more cultural challenges. With that, you need to know how to bridge the gap fully.
Creating Openness Within Your Ranks
One of the concerns that you would want to deal with early on is friction from your employees. While most of your internal team will be willing to work with the outsourcing one, there will still be issues. Your goal is to create a greater buy-in from your team for the outsourced crew.
For that, you can ask the internal team about their concerns. You will often discover some hesitation about how they will interact with the external team. Address these and explain to them how they can overcome these hesitations.
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You would also want to create a more proactive means of getting the two sides to interact. Regular meetings are a great way to facilitate that. Ensure that these meetings are not uptight, to help your team get better accustomed to the other side.
Beyond this, you might want to organize a physical meet-up with the external team if possible. That might involve having to fly to or bring them in. Use this opportunity to immerse both sides in each other’s culture.
Bridge The Cultural Gap And Let Your Startup Company Tap Outsourcing More
A cultural difference might seem like a challenge for your startup company initially. But once you overcome it, you can open the door to greater outsourcing opportunities. Virtua Solutions knows that well, having worked with diverse clients. Outsource to us today and team up with the best provider for your culture.