Virtual teams are the oil that smoothes out the process of directing tasks to individuals who can deliver them faster, cost-effectively, or in a lot of cases, both. If your business is growing and you’re finding yourself unable to keep up with incoming work, then congratulations.
You’re well on your way to business prosperity. You’re also probably running races in your mind trying to figure out how your business can hire people that will not only keep up with the influx of work but will help it fuel growth.
Does this sound right?
When hiring a virtual graphic design, in particular, the risk of mis-hiring seems higher because business design in itself is sensitive. This is the factor that gives your brand its voice and makes an impression on potential clients.
Here’s a thought that’ll put you on the edge of your seat. Did you know that a number of globally recognisable companies have outsourced or continue to outsource to scale their businesses? We’re not talking about companies that you may or may not immediately recognize. Below is a list.
Yes, all these highly successful businesses engaged virtual teams when they needed to the most. This in itself should make you a bit more comfortable when considering virtualizing your graphic design. Small and medium-sized businesses are also improving their productivity by seeking the services of experts that can take them to the next level.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual agencies (like BPOZim ) have made it simple for business owners all over the world to hire out their graphic designs with zero risks of losing their valuable investments.
The idea of virtual teams might even seem like cheating if you’re a digital agency. After all, your clients trust you to create designs that are top quality like you always deliver. It, however, isn’t skimping since you’re working to build your business. Virtual teams lower the cost of hiring but they do NOT mean a compromise on quality.
Virtual talent is an individual who is a professional expert in a specific field. In most cases, you’ll find that they can complete tasks faster and better than an in-house employee since they are result-oriented.
Who should outsource graphic design?
- Social Media Management agencies
- Print Design firms
- Electronic newsletters and direct mail
- Whitelabel design
- Magazine Design
Web Design Agencies
- Online marketing materials
- UI/UX Design
- Web design
Graphic Design Agencies
With work coming in quickly and consistently, it’s no surprise to learn that graphic design companies work with virtual teams. White labels work here, and the graphic design agency then claims the design as theirs. Choosing to do all the work alone not only proves to be tiring but pretty expensive too. This is the reality of any other industry, but the critical thing is that quality work is produced so that the in-house team can focus on other aspects of the business that propel growth.
Large Businesses
- Print design
- Branding
- Online and offline marketing materials
- Presentations
- Email newsletters
What’s the process when hiring out graphic design to BPO’s(Business Process Outsourcing firms)?
Business Process Outsourcing agencies are usually big companies that offer a variety of virtual solutions which include graphic design. The process involves the hiring of a fitting graphic designer soon after your inquiry. The incumbent recruited depends on your business needs and budget. The interesting thing is the BPO handles all matters regarding the designer such as recruitment costs, work benefits, salaries and wages, quality checks and standards. The full responsibility of the claimed skills of the incumbent remains with the BPO.
Some BPO’s such as BPOZim give you the option to interview your new talent to see if they’d be a good match for your business. The fantastic feature is that you get talent that has the expertise and will deliver the results you’ve set for your business.
Titbits to put into consideration when outsourcing graphic design
Before deciding on bringing in virtual talent, take some time to consider a few things…
Management
Your new designer will need someone who will ease them into how your business functions, the voice of the brand, target audience and other important details. Will you give them an in-house position or work with them as a freelancer?
The person who manages them can either be yourself or a person in the administration department. Does such a person exist in your business? Keep in mind that this person has to be knowledgeable and have enough time to delegate tasks to the new designer sometimes.
Budget
What’s your graphic design budget? Put careful and informed thought into how much you’re willing to spend on your graphic design. How much graphic design work is required? Is it frequent enough to virtualize or you’re better off hiring a one-time freelancer?
How much will that freelancer then cost? How much of your business resources can you invest?
Your budget will help you to answer these questions effectively.
Client disclosure
If you are a graphic design agency, do your clients need to know you’ll be working with virtual teams to create their designs? There’s really no wrong or correct answer to this. It’ll be best to decide on what works for your company. Whatever you decide on, make sure that your graphic designer understands the arrangement to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.
Arrange confidentiality and information security documents that legally bind both of you to your decisions. BPOZimbabwe has a solid arrangement that legally binds all virtual talent to oaths of confidentiality along with state of the art information security systems to ensure that sensitive information belonging to your business stays safe.
Working arrangements
After deciding on whether you indeed need a virtual graphic designer, the next step is to consider if your new employee is going to be working on a full-time basis or part-time. Contract-based time durations are also an option with BPO’s.
Will they be working with you in the office or remotely? The COVID-19 pandemic proved that remote work can work smoothly if the correct measures are put into place. Virtual graphic designers are generally trained to work well unsupervised.
Always draft contracts
Before starting work with your new virtual graphic designer make sure that all the relevant contracts have been read thoroughly and signed wherever necessary. These contracts should include the amount of remuneration, how frequently payments come in, taxes, duration of employment, how conflicts will be handled, and the lawyer answerable.
Gain a thorough understanding of the differences between an employee and an independent contractor whilst you’re still considering if you should outsource your graphic design services.
Over to you…
All major business choices generally require a thorough accounting session and scrutinizing of the current state of your business before working with a virtual agency. If you’re not sure where to start, give us a ring and we’d be happy to help you to decide on which option is the best for you.
BPOZim ensures that you don’t have to get lost in the mix of recruiting, preparing paperwork and making sure your sensitive business information is secured. Our aim is to take the stress out of your hiring process by providing you with a result-oriented graphic designing professional who will help your business to grow and meet all its deadlines. By doing so, you’ll be able to focus on other aspects of your work that propel your business forward.