Page 266 -

members at an outsourcing vendor lack this context, and, unless you work to provide that
context for them, that can lead to serious project problems.

For example, programmers who have worked at an accounting company for any length of
time will have naturally absorbed some knowledge of accounting. When these program-
mers are given a task, they will immediately see why the organization needs that task
done in terms of that accounting knowledge. They will be much better equipped to fill in
the gaps when presented with incomplete requirements.

If the same task is given to a team at an outsourcing vendor, the programmers will not
have the same background or knowledge. Even if that vendor has experience with other
accounting projects, the team members do not spend each day working at an accounting
company, talking to other people who do accounting, or reading the company newsletter
about the latest clients. They do not come to the table with the same expectations about
the software that an in-house team would.
This is why it is especially important to communicate the goals of your project to your team
all the time. You need to personally make sure that the team members understand your
organization’s needs, and that the tasks they are performing are in line with its goals. Since
they are not immersed in your organization’s culture, you have to be the ambassador of that
culture, so that they are always kept on track. You have to act as a rudder, constantly steer-
ing the team toward the goals of the project. That could mean that you need to have daily
discussions with someone from the team. You may need to spot-check work from selected
team members to make sure you are getting what you think you are asking for.
This can be very difficult and time-consuming, but it is easily the most important thing
that you can do to make sure your project does not fail.
Many outsourced projects fail because their project managers fail to understand or do any-
thing to compensate for this situation. They often blame the vendor for not understanding
what they are saying. This is frustrating for everyone involved: the project manager feels
betrayed by the vendor, while the vendor feels like the client did not adequately commu-
nicate his needs or goals. Nobody is happy with a failed project.
But despite how many project managers feel about their projects, in most cases this is not

the fault of the vendor. Rather, it’s a fact of life due to the way the outsourcing industry is
structured. Each vendor has its own business to run, and it’s absolutely understandable
and expected that they would want to train people and encourage them to grow within
their organization. It often falls to the project manager of the outsourced project—in con-
cert with the management team at the vendor—to balance the vendor’s needs with the
project’s goals. This means that you must form a relationship with their management that
allows you to deal with that problem and to reach an acceptable compromise.
The more you are able to integrate the outsourced team with your organization, the more
context they will have. If you are able to dedicate multiple people at your organization to
communicating with the outsourced team, the team stands a better chance of understand-
ing the complexities of your organization’s environment, and of ultimately meeting your
organization’s needs. It doesn’t always fall to the project manager alone to communicate
258 CHAPTER ELEVEN