What to Do When Your Outsourced Project Goes Off Track: A Founder’s Guide

Outsourced projects often fail due to poor communication, unclear requirements, or misaligned expectations. These issues can lead to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and product quality problems.

Here’s how to get your project back on track:

• Spot Warning Signs Early: Look for delayed responses, quality issues, missed deadlines, or incomplete documentation.
• Track Progress with Metrics: Use KPIs like Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and sprint completion rates to monitor project health.
• Gather Team Feedback: Conduct surveys, retrospectives, and one-on-one meetings to identify bottlenecks.
• Adjust Scope and Deadlines: Document changes, set realistic timelines, and involve your team in planning.
• Improve Communication: Schedule regular updates, use clear documentation, and ensure everyone is aligned on goals.

How to Rescue the Problem Project

Spotting Early Project Problems

Catching problems early can save both time and money. According to Deloitte‘s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey, 70% of businesses outsource to improve operations ^[2]. However, many fail to recognize early warning signs. Here’s what to keep an eye on during your project reviews.

Signs of Project Problems

Progress Tracking Methods

To catch issues early, use these tracking approaches:

• Daily and Weekly Monitoring:
  • Conduct daily standups
  • Track commits and quality metrics
  • Review sprint velocities
  • Analyze earned value metrics
  • Assess team productivity

For a deeper look at project health, monitor these KPIs regularly:

Tracking these metrics consistently allows you to address potential problems before they escalate.

"As if managing complex technology projects wasn’t difficult enough, outsourcing can create numerous stresses you likely have not experienced when using a primarily or exclusively internal team. Interestingly, it’s not the technical competence of the outsourcer that normally derails projects. Instead, it’s a lack of communications and common understanding of simply what’s important and how to meld diverse organizations into a cohesive unit." ^[1]

Research shows that 67% of projects fail outright when organizations neglect proper monitoring ^[4].

To stay on top of progress, consider tools like Asana, ClickUp, or Monday.com for task management, automated testing tools, code review platforms, dedicated Slack channels, and centralized documentation hubs. Spotting these signs early helps you adjust project goals effectively in the next review stages.

Quick Project Review Steps

If your project is hitting roadblocks, a quick review can help identify the main issues ^[5].

Team Feedback Collection

Create an environment where team members feel safe sharing honest feedback. Use a variety of channels to accommodate different communication preferences and time zones:

"The post-evaluation is an opportunity for discovery, not for criticism and blame." - Harvard Business Review ^[6]

Focus on areas that directly impact project outcomes, like resource availability, technical hurdles, and communication gaps. For instance, Spotify‘s email marketing team used this approach to tackle bottlenecks, boosting deliverability by 34% ^[8].

After gathering feedback, compare project progress with initial goals to validate the insights and uncover additional issues.

Progress vs. Goals Check

Balance feedback with hard data to evaluate how the project is performing. Use these metrics to check alignment with original objectives:

Tools like scorecards and dashboards can help track these metrics effectively ^[9].

Finding Core Problems

Blend qualitative feedback with data analysis to pinpoint the root causes of issues. Common areas to investigate include:

1. Communication Barriers
   Address language or time-zone challenges with clear protocols and concise documentation ^[7].
2. Misaligned Expectations
   Examine the scope versus deliverables to identify scope creep affecting timelines or budgets.
3. Resource Allocation
   Review team capacity to spot bottlenecks or skill gaps slowing progress.

Once you’ve identified the core problems, take actionable steps to resolve them. For example, if communication is lagging, introduce daily standups and document key decisions to improve clarity.

Reset Project Direction

Refocus your project by addressing its core challenges. Research reveals that 46% of companies face difficulties in setting clear goals for outsourced teams ^[13].

Update Project Scope

Clearly document any changes to the project scope to avoid scope creep. Establish a structured change management process, including the following:

"In a profession where change is inevitable, the real reason for failure isn’t a scope change, but a poorly managed scope change" ^[10].

Work closely with your outsourced team to document these changes and secure necessary approvals.

Set New Deadlines

Establish realistic deadlines that align with both urgency and your team’s capacity. Sina Javadi, Chief Strategy Officer at Polcard, emphasizes that deadlines should balance ambition with practicality ^[12].

To create effective timelines:

• Break tasks into smaller milestones: Use historical data to make accurate estimates.
• Add buffer time: Account for unexpected challenges, especially with distributed teams.
• Validate deadlines with the team:
  

  "Involve your team is a best practice for setting realistic deadlines. This approach ensures that the people who are actually doing the work have a say in the timeframes set", says Tejaswini Dalvi Rai ^[11].

Once your deadlines are set, shift your focus to improving communication within the team.

Fix Communication Issues

Strong communication is critical for remote teams, with 57% of IT leaders identifying it as a top priority ^[13]. Use these strategies to enhance communication:

"It’s not the technical competence of the outsourcer that normally derails projects. Instead, it’s a lack of communications and common understanding of simply what’s important and how to meld diverse organizations into a cohesive unit" ^[1].

Build stronger connections through regular video calls.

"Face-to-face interaction (even if done electronically) is vitally important to developing a solid relationship and rapport with your team that ensures alignment on objectives and milestones" ^[1].

Fix Project Problems

With the growing use of project management tools and Agile methodologies reaching 86% adoption in 2021 ^[14], structured systems and Agile techniques can help get stalled projects back on track.

Better Project Tracking

Keep an eye on your projects in real time. Bassem Handy, Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Procore, highlights the importance of collaboration:

"Provide your team with a collaborative software solution that allows them to work together. With immediate access to project data, team members can spend less time tracking down information and more time being productive. Project team members and stakeholders alike will have visibility into the project, keeping everyone on the same page." ^[1]

Choose project management tools that align with your goals:

Use automated metrics and brief daily check-ins to track progress. Kapil Bagai from LexInnova Technologies suggests:

"Create a concise playbook with step-by-step instructions to standardize processes." ^[1]

Once tracking is in place, consider adopting Agile methods to make quicker adjustments.

Using Agile Methods

Agile can improve flexibility, teamwork, and delivery speed ^[14]. Focus on these core practices:

• Sprint Planning: Break large tasks into manageable two-week sprints. This approach provides better control and allows for quick adjustments when challenges arise.
• Daily Stand-ups: Conduct 15-minute check-ins where team members discuss:
  • What they accomplished yesterday
  • Their goals for today
  • Any current roadblocks
• Regular Retrospectives: Hold bi-weekly reviews to assess progress and refine processes. This keeps teams accountable while allowing them to adapt to changing needs.

If Agile tweaks aren’t enough, you might need to bring some work in-house.

Moving Work In-House

Before transitioning work internally, carefully assess your team’s capabilities and resources. Here’s what to consider:

Start with smaller, clearly defined tasks to test your team’s capacity before taking on larger responsibilities. Keep communication open with your outsourcing partner to ensure smooth knowledge transfer and minimize disruptions during the transition.

Avoid Future Problems

Nearly 90% of small businesses rely on outsourcing to handle various processes ^[3]. To ensure smooth operations and avoid setbacks, it’s crucial to plan carefully and establish solid systems. Here are some strategies to protect your outsourcing efforts.

Choose Better Partners

Tom Fountain, CTO of Pneuron, points out that many failures stem from poor communication and mismatched priorities ^[1]. Choosing the right partner is key to success. Evaluate potential partners based on the following criteria:

Improve Documentation

Good documentation is critical for long-term success. Poorly managed documentation can waste up to 27% of engineering time and lead to 33% of rework ^[15]. To avoid this, create detailed documentation covering these areas:

• Project Vision Statement: Define clear goals, success metrics, and expected outcomes. Include detailed specifications and acceptance criteria for each deliverable.
• Technical Requirements: Outline system architecture, coding standards, and quality assurance practices. Clearly state the "definition of done" for each phase.
• Communication Protocol: Set up structured channels for daily updates, issue escalation, change requests, and milestone reviews.

"Always create a playbook that contains step-by-step instructions. This facilitates consistent application of your requirements. A well-designed and robust workflow builds accuracy and promotes overall effectiveness." ^[1]

Build Tech Knowledge

To effectively manage outsourced teams, founders need to develop a solid understanding of technical concepts. Focus on these areas:

This technical knowledge complements other efforts like clear communication and progress tracking.

"When it comes to building a startup, you’ll face more than a few bumps along the way - prepare to be persistent…You’ll make mistakes, people around you will make mistakes and everything takes longer than you would expect (this bothers me still today)…Ultimately, the secret to surviving the roller coaster is surrounding yourself with people you can trust. People who believe in your idea as much as you do…Regardless of whether it’s a technical co-founder, CTO or an agency. Focus on finding the right fit for you and go for it." ^[3]

"They added value to the project far beyond the intended scope of work. Their advice and guidance about running a new business have been invaluable. The team is clearly passionate about the work and shares innovative ideas and solutions to drive the project forward." ^[3]

Conclusion: Next Steps

Action Steps

With the warning signs already discussed, it’s time to take action to regain alignment and control. Here’s a plan to get things back on track:

"Without knowing root causes, you could end up making a bad thing much worse." - Moira Alexander ^[16]

While these steps address immediate concerns, maintaining progress requires a focus on long-term strategies.

Long-term Success Plan

To avoid future setbacks, consider these strategies:

• Establish Clear Accountability
  Create a system to ensure team members take ownership of their responsibilities. As Cristina Imre, Holistic Executive Coach for Tech Founders, puts it:
  

  "Accountability is the cornerstone of high-performing startup teams. Leaders can foster a culture of ownership, responsibility, and collective achievement." ^[17]

• Strengthen Quality Control
  Implement a system to ensure consistent quality, including:
  • Regular code reviews on platforms like GitHub or GitLab
  • Automated testing processes
  • Routine performance tracking and quality evaluations
• Improve Communication
  Build stronger communication channels by introducing:
  • Daily stand-up meetings
  • Frequent progress check-ins
  • Scheduled sessions to align on strategy and direction

These steps can help ensure both immediate recovery and long-term stability.

Related Blog Posts

• Choosing the Right Outsourced Development Partner in India: Key Questions for Non-Tech Founders
• Scaling from MVP to Full Product: How an Outsourced Team Can Grow with You
• The True Cost of Poor Communication in Outsourced Development Projects
• How to Transition from One Outsourced Partner to Another Without Losing Momentum