4 Foolproof Tips for Minimising Contractor Time to Value
Wondering how to get the best return on investment from your contractor hires? Here’s how to minimise time to value with your next recruit.
TTV (time to value) is a critical metric that measures how long it takes for you to get value from a particular service. While it’s typically used to describe how quickly customers can get value from a product or service, it applies to contractors, too.
After all, since you’re hiring contractors on a limited time scale, getting results as soon as possible is key.
To get the best value for money from your contractors, you’ll have to create conditions that are conducive to productivity and efficiency. Here are a few simple tips you can implement to minimise the time to value the next time you hire a contractor.
1. Establish expectations and share resources from the start
To allow your contractor to hit the ground running from day one, share all the resources they’ll need to complete the project successfully. That way, you’ll avoid back-and-forth emails asking for information, log-ins, and data further down the line.
Setting out expectations is crucial, too. You can’t be frustrated with a contractor for not fulfilling certain tasks or meeting deadlines if you don’t make your expectations clear from the start.
Begin their contract with a meeting to lay out expectations, timelines, key contacts, and resources and you’ll soon see a return on investment.
2. Keep meetings to a minimum
How many times have you sat in a meeting only to leave without having learned anything new?
According to Forbes, around half of work meetings are a waste of time. And when you’re employing a contractor, time is literally money.
Next time you’re about to invite a contractor to a meeting, ask yourself the following questions:
- Will this meeting help them successfully complete the project?
- Will I or the contractor learn new, useful information from this meeting?
- Does this meeting cover issues that couldn’t be dealt with in an email?
If the answer is no, there’s a high likelihood that the meeting is unnecessary.
When you do need to meet, try a stand-up meeting instead of sitting down. That way, you’ll be much less likely to keep the meeting going for longer than it needs to be.
3. Stay focused on projects
When you’re working with a contractor, it’s tempting to use their expertise to your advantage by asking for support with anything and everything in their field. But asking them to cast a quick eye over plans or going to them with abstract technical questions is a recipe for slow progress.
More often than not, you’ve hired a contractor to carry out a particular project or set of tasks. Any deviation from the project will not only reduce efficiency, but may lead to extra costs you haven’t budgeted for.
4. Don’t micromanage
Contractors choose to work on a self-employed basis for autonomy - and that’s how they work best. While it can be anxiety-inducing to let the contractor get on with their job without constant check-ins, looking over their shoulder at every opportunity will hinder progress, not help it.
Instead, set up structured weekly check-ins to get regular updates on the tasks at hand. For the rest of the time, leave the contractor to it.
Minimising the time it takes to see value from your contractor involves setting up working conditions that encourage productivity. Be clear with your expectations, focus on the task at hand, and keep interference to a minimum to get more bang for your buck.
Ready to hire? Send us your vacancy details now.
Looking for more advice and useful resources about offers & onboarding? Click here.