Understanding Crowdsourcing and its Evolution

Crowdsourcing is no longer merely a tool for raising funds or solving technical issues. Businesses in various industries increasingly use crowdsourcing to be agile, scale their operations, and stay innovative. The concept has expanded as companies of all sizes recognize its potential to improve flexibility, tap into a global talent pool, and drive faster problem-solving. A 2023 report from McKinsey cites that the organizations embracing flexibility at work and crowdsourcing are likely to outpace their competitors by 35% in innovation and productivity.

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Flexibility in Current Economy - Crowdsourcing workforce solutions

Flexibility comes in handy for businesses which want to learn how to adapt to globalization in terms of fast-pacing changes within the global economy. Companies have been asked to think about how to do business differently due to the ongoing uncertainty brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic in the global arena. Crowdsourcing is a solution, where businesses can rapidly tap into a remote, high-skilled workforce to satisfy emerging needs. With social distancing and remote work as integral components of business operations, sourcing talent on demand allows organizations to adapt without disruption.

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How Crowdsourcing Works

At its core, crowdsourcing is about breaking down jobs into smaller, more manageable parts and spreading them out over a larger community. This model enables companies to source diverse expertise and new views that may otherwise not be available through the traditional models of staffing. Crowdsourcing can come in the form of two major streams: the distributed micro-task model, which breaks down tasks into units and has many contributors who complete the same, or the contest-based model, in which people compete to produce the best solution for the challenge.

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The Distributed Micro-Task Model

Here, tasks are broken into smaller units and the large pool of remote distributed micro-task models. Speed is essential in this context, and the model takes advantage of the fact most tasks are brief and simple to accomplish. For example, this scenario may involve a software developing company breaking down a task into several coding, testing and implementation tasks, each completed by different contributors. This approach ensures that projects move forward efficiently, with multiple contributors tackling the work simultaneously.

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The Contest-Based Model

The contest-based model invites individuals to compete by submitting solutions to a given challenge. Rather than focusing on one winner, multiple top submissions are often rewarded, allowing businesses to receive a variety of high-quality options. For example, an app design company could hold a crowdsourcing contest in which the best five designs are chosen and rewarded. This allows businesses to access a broad range of creative solutions while ensuring that the final product benefits from diverse ideas.

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How Crowdsourcing Supplements Traditional Staffing

Crowdsourcing allows businesses to have an elastic workforce on demand, and thus, it does not incur the time and money required to hire a regular employee. It enables business firms to access specific skills as needed and helps fill in the skill gaps that may exist in the current teams of employees. According to Harvard Business Review, companies can save as much as 50% on costs when they are able to outsource the same work that a full-time employee would do through crowdsourcing.

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Expertise On-Demand

Platform-based crowdsourcing platforms for business help access the expertise that businesses need, breaking up roles into smaller or more specialized tasks so instantly available freelancers with specialized knowledge can be accessed in software development, data science, and so forth. Topcoder makes access to this global body of experts possible.

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Talent as a Service

Crowdsourcing platforms allow organizations to reach a much deeper talent pool than the traditional staffing processes. Online marketplaces, such as Topcoder, help businesses find high-caliber freelancers who go through a screening process for technical and communication standards. According to PwC, companies leveraging talent marketplaces experience an increase of 30% in productivity and 25% less overall cost on their projects.

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Hybrid Crowd: A Blending of Internal and External Talent

The integration of crowdsourcing with businesses' current models for hiring and staffing takes it one notch further. Hybrid Crowd connects the in-house people to crowdsourced talent; as such, they become flexible workforce pools ready to be leveraged at all points. Thus, through the model, a firm will gain niche access, yet facilitate cooperation among in-house teams and contributors. Workforce flexibility strategies like this one help organizations grow faster.

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One Point One Solutions: Harness Your Business Power Through Crowdsourcing

At One Point One Solutions, we understand the power of crowdsourcing for availing benefits of workforce flexibility to transform how businesses operate. By providing access to a global network of skilled professionals and offering tailored crowdsourcing solutions, we help businesses improve agility, innovation, and cost-effectiveness. Our platform connects you with a pool of experts who can support your projects and scale operations when you need it most.

If you are ready to take your business to the next level with a flexible workforce, call One Point One Solutions today. We can help you unlock the power of crowdsourcing for business scalability in solving complex challenges, driving innovation, and getting results faster. Contact us now to find out how our tailored crowdsourcing solutions can work for your business.

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