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“Crowd-sourcing” sounds like an unprofessional term; however, it is a very important idea for best practices. The definition of this term may vary; however the basic idea with crowd-sourcing is to get an insight into what the public thinks. The information of the intelligence and reaction of the public can help with best practices to execute and succeed with business related tasks.

The best practices could mean using the crowd to complete tasks the business would instead need a third party for. In other words, crowd-sourcing is more like using free labor. However, crowd-sourcing as a best practice allows managers to collect a pool of talented people, and at the same time getting an insight to what customers are looking for.

Why Crowd-Sourcing Is Important

Recently, information via the media in the form of blogs and informative websites has become too common. The traditional differences between consumers and producers are melting away. Now everyone has knowledge about everything that matters to individuals. This is why through the vest practice of marketing, collecting people with the same intelligence of way of thinking is much easier. Now it is possible for companies to find nontechnical people that can perform complex tasks and that are more creative than those with qualifications. Hiring such people significantly reduces costs for businesses.

With all the available information online and with the best practice like; clearly defining your objectives as a business organization, people are ready to volunteer to help. For instance, if campaigning is part of the best practices of an organization, there are greater chances that people outside the company can help. They can offer better best practices in marketing, new ideas for solving problems and getting work done. In exchange for all this, the crowd may require recognition, or financial incentive which is also a good best practice. Encouraging people who assist will increase trust and popularity of the business.

Crowd-sourcing is Powerful

Being used as a best practice, crowd-sourcing improves the creativity and productivity of a company, with minimal labor and expenses. With internet technology and web tools, soliciting feedbacks from customers as a best practice reduce the stress with conducting researches. This makes collecting data and conducting researches much easier for managers. Joining groups and forums online where the company’s products are discussed is also a new idea for best practices. It also reduces staffing costs and ensures risk management when the demand in the market is unpredictable.

Weaknesses with Crowd-sourcing

One major weakness with using crowd-sourcing as a best practice is that the crowd is not employed, and therefore it cannot be controlled. They may expect recognition in other ways because they are not being paid, and this could mean their demand for more time, attention, transparency, patience and honesty. This shift from the traditional ways of doing things in marketing and business is usually a difficult change to accept.

To understand crowd-sourcing better there are some key terms that one must get familiar with. These include:

• Worksource
• Prosumers
• Ideagoras
• Expertsource

Although crowd-sourcing is a new idea for best practices, it is quickly becoming a trend in most businesses.

Further reading: Corporate Governance | Audit | Performance Improvement