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Project Planning - Creating a Project Description before Posting it Live online.

Topic: Business ConsultingPublished July 13, 2010

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As the trend of posting projects online is rapidly increasing due to the ever increasing popularity of outsourcing, it is extremely important to learn how to write an effective project description before posting it on a job site. Project planning and writing efficient descriptions for your projects are the most important factors while gaining knowledge about how to outsource. You should keep in mind a lot of things while writing an enticing project description, our rudimentary aim is to produce a description which is captivating to providers, stipulates the category completely, and depicts the work required in a most detailed and comprehensive fashion so that the person that is reading does not lose interest when rearing through it .
To begin with you should set a project title, the title should be comprehensive and should be targeted to the type of service provider you wish to hire, e.g., "A Technical Writer for Website Documentation Project and .Net Expert for Programming Work". These titles clearly distinguish who is required to complete the project. If the work you are advertising for is for a long term, you could begin the title using the phrase Long Term for example, "Long Term - Technical Writer for Article Writing Project". Always try to make the description brief but appealing so that you receive maximum bids, a good job description should have the following qualities:
1. It should be short, close to two or three paragraphs, but should list all the capabilities required to perform the project.
2. It should determine the payment mode, either hourly or fixed price. It is usually advised that you specify hourly payments as you can supervise your providers work and good providers favour working on an hourly rate.
3. It should have a nominal due date, it is commonly proposed that the due date you suggest to the freelancer should be a a day or two before you require the work to be finished, this can allow for for any problems that may arise if the project is not presented on time.
4. It should be in a clear and precise language so that providers can understand it easily.
You may add phrases like, only serious candidates should bid or people with 300 plus hours are encouraged to apply etc. This will help filter the candidates.
5. You are encouraged you to supply attachments that show samples of the types of work you require or give raw material on which work is to be provided.
6. Always ask for work examples, examples of work will give a good reading of the calibre of the freelancer and the quality of his or her previous work ,this is going to help you during the interview stage.
7. If you are planning on paying a fixed price, quote a price which suits the job! For instance no one will perform a months work efficiently if he or she gets $2 for it! Always quote an amount that is a lesser amount than what you can afford because thorough providers usually bid more than you cite, this will allow for a adequate balance in pricing for both buyer and the service provider.
A few Expert Tips!
When outsourcing, project planning is the most important factor if you want to get high quality work at the lowest possible cost. Learning how to outsource correctly will help you achieve the best results. Here are a few expert tips to help:
1. At all times plan your project well and have a great idea in mind before beginning the description.
2. Your intention is to target the most enticing provider at the best price so you will have to work for that!!, i.e. Attracting the attention of the best providers to interview.
3. Always keep in mind that workers from developing countries offer work at a much lower rate because labour costs are much less expensive there, so try to target such people with good experience. It is most important to check the English communication ability of such providers prior to accepting their bids.
4. Offer incentives for providers, such as the possibility of more work, bonuses and long term hiring and so forth. This will give possible candidates an incentive to put their best efforts into your work.
Once you get a grasp on these ideas, learning how to outsource well, is mostly based on proper project planning and long term practice.
Good luck.

Article author

About the Author

Steven Brough is a Technical Designer and a Project Manager from New Zealand. You can read more about project planning and other outsourcing tips at Steven's website http://www.freelancerselite.com

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