When should you outsource research and insight management?

Part of Insight Angels’ offer is to manage research and insight programmes on behalf of clients – it’s something we enjoy and have gained a fair few learnings on over the years, so we thought it might be of interest to discuss the advantages of this approach, as well as some potential pitfalls.

The case for outsourcing

Where internal capacity or expertise is lacking, outsourcing client-side research management can really make sense and is a flexible approach.

But there are situations where it can also add unique value – for example where multiple organisations or stakeholder interests are involved in a study, and the objectivity of a third-party manager may be more prized. In our experience managing research programmes on behalf of client consortia, the slight ‘detachment’ we have from them often gives license to shape the research agenda more independently, inject some helpful formality and create distinctive momentum for the research as a work stream.

It particularly makes sense if the research to be managed consists of more than a single ‘project’ – for example, a programme of linked research studies within a topic - allowing us as external managers to strengthen relationships, apply consistent questions, draw insight linkages and add value through thematic synthesis.

When doesn’t it work?

When the arrangement doesn’t work so well, from our perspective it’s usually because the balance isn’t right between client involvement and our own autonomy to manage things – itself often a function of trust.

Scenarios that can be tricky include being brought in to manage another agency where there are pre-existing issues – it rarely helps to helicopter in another ‘manager’ and sometimes the agency can become (more) disenfranchised at this point.

There can also be a challenge if a client has trouble letting go of the detail of project management – granted we have a responsibility to demonstrate that we understand the brief, are aligned to the client’s strategic values, and can be trusted to get things done; additionally though, thought should be given to communication with stakeholders, feedback and sign-off procedures - in order to avoid adding management ‘layers’.

The bottom line

If Nic and I didn’t have backgrounds in client-side research it would have been challenging to bring an offer like this to the agency-side. Even so, it took time to develop the confidence we now have in this way of working. Key to it all is establishing trust between the client and the external research manager, which results in greater ownership and empowerment over the research agenda and in turn means we’re more likely to win the confidence of any agencies we manage. This takes a bit of time and in the end, there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Patience, listening and humility go a long way when we’re finding our feet with a new engagement.

Do get in touch with Insight Angels if you’d like to explore how we could help manage your research and insight programmes.