It’s easy to see why small businesses work with freelancers regularly. From content creators to web designers to graphic artists, business owners have no shortage of tasks for freelance employees to tackle. However, this isn’t to say that every experience your business has with freelancers will be pleasant. Depending on your general approach to recruiting and managing contract workers, you may find yourself dealing with constant headaches whenever it comes time to enlist the aid of freelancers. To keep conflict with freelance employees to the barest of minimums.
Consider the following pointers below to Work With Freelancers:
1. Make Sure They Undergo Proper Training
If your business has a unique way of doing things, your freelancers must receive proper training – especially if you intend to work with freelancers consistently. Depending on the work assigned, hands-on training, e-learning, or a combination of the two may be necessary. Should you go the e-learning route, it’s in everyone’s best interest to utilize a practical, user-friendly learning platform. For example, if user engagement and knowledge retention are among your chief priorities, an enterprise learning platform should suit more than meet your needs.
2. Be Upfront About Expectations
Failing to be upfront about expectations makes things difficult for you to work with freelancers you bring on board. A lack of clarity about expectations can result in finished products that bear virtually no resemblance to what you had in mind. To avoid this situation, provide as much detail as possible when outlining your expectations. The more clarity you provide, the less likely miscommunications are to occur.
Maintaining regular communication with a freelancer throughout the project is also a good idea to ensure that the two of you remain on the same page. Additionally, freelancers should be encouraged to ask questions whenever they need to. While you may find addressing inquiries cumbersome, taking the time to do so will ultimately enhance the quality of the finished product.
3. Be Clear on Deadlines
Deadlines are necessary for virtually any job. In the case of freelancers, many regularly juggle deadlines from multiple clients. Furthermore, without a clear deadline, to work with freelancers some might spend more time on projects than you’d prefer.
With this in mind, make it a point to be upfront regarding deadlines. At the outset of a project, make sure that any freelancers have a workable timetable and deadline. Additionally, if a freelancer has concerns regarding your desired deadline, encourage them to make them known as early as possible. For example, the deadline you have in mind may be different from how much work a project entails.
Should a freelancer realize that a deadline isn’t feasible after beginning work on a project, they should inform you ASAP. This will help ensure you have as much time as possible to amend the deadline or recruit other freelancers to assist with the project.
4. Submit Payments On Time
In addition to setting clear deadlines, you should adhere to strict payment dates for services rendered. Provided a freelancer completes their work on schedule, thereby upholding their end of the deal, the least you can do is ensure they’re compensated promptly. So, instead of leaving payment dates up in the air, ensure there’s no ambiguity concerning when freelancers will be paid – provided their work is completed on schedule. When working with freelancers who charge by the hour, give a date by which invoices should be submitted.
To work with freelancers can be an effective way to save your small business money while ensuring that tasks are completed effectively and efficiently. Still, this doesn’t mean every freelancer you hire will be equally pleasing. While bad experiences with freelancers can sometimes be attributed to the employees, the problem often lies with employers. So, the next time you need freelance labor, put the above tips to good use.
