The Great Service Cost Project
We’ve started a big service cost project. I’m looking at all the services we provide and am trying to ballpark the costs of them. As the bean counter and I travel from office to office to gather data, folks are starting to look more and more stressed. All I can do to help alleviate the fear (a composite of outsourcing fears, economic stresses, organizational stability, etc.) is talk about what, how, and why of this project and solicit feedback. But, in the end, some people may not be able to grow and so will have to go. We shall see.
I want us to understand the costs of our services for two reason: to align resources with our priorities and to inform our decisions regarding sourcing services. Cost isn’t the only factor in deciding whether or not to outsource, but it is a consideration or sometimes just an indicator that it’s time to review the service and possibly rearchitect it.
Kyle said:
Oct 22, 08 at 5:53 pmMy staff has been very resistant to putting any kind of hours worked into either a project tracking or work tracking solution. So while I can say we completed 100 tasks or closed 500 calls, I can’t tell how long it took us. I think their fear is the same. No matter how much I say this is about showing how we can’t do more work and need more resources, they mostly think it’s about catching folks who aren’t working hard enough.
Hmmm, if that’s what they’re all worried about maybe they aren’t working hard enough… ‘-)
admin said:
Oct 23, 08 at 4:05 pmright. I think some people are probably secretly applauding your efforts, and you can build trust and win over some, and then some people will just hate you regardless.