Although there’s big differences between a full-time, salaried employee and a contracted freelancer from an administrative and legal standpoint (ie. compensation, benefits, work structure, and even meetings), many of the things you do for your full-time people can also apply to having happy, effective working relationships with your freelancers.
Here are the four management tips for working effectively with your freelancers.
1. Get to Know Their Goals and Professional Interests
You’re not going to have a talk about career goals with a freelancer like you would a full-time hire or someone who plans to eventually join full-time. However, you should establish what their goals are for the project you’re hiring them for, as well as what interests them professionally. You’ll see higher quality work from a freelancer who’s working on something they’re passionate about or interested in, so you want to ensure there’s alignment there.
You can try to learn more about how you can uniquely contribute to the success of anyone you work with. For a freelancer, this might mean offering a case study or allowing them to use your name or logo to build credibility and social proof. Or maybe it’s offering them the opportunity to work on a specific part of a project that’s relevant to the skills or portfolio area they’re looking to build.
A freelance relationship is a two-way street. By gaining a better understanding of what skills someone is looking to build or what type of jobs they hope to secure in the future, you’ll provide value to them beyond their hourly rate. If you’re both working to help each other achieve your goals in the engagement, then everyone wins.
2. Have Regular Check-Ins for Sharing Impact, Praise and Constructive Criticism
Regular check-ins — weekly is usually sufficient — demonstrates to your freelancers that their work is getting noticed. Make it a point to share how the work they’ve done is important and impacts the business beyond the direct results they’re reporting on. This creates buy-in with your company and adds a layer of dedication and motivation.
To make the most of these check-ins, go over what they’ve accomplished over the past week, celebrate what was good and share constructive feedback on what needs improvement. This will direct the future of their work towards success and will help build a healthy relationship.
One-on-ones also help you gauge how your freelancers are feeling about the work they’re doing. Although they may have been hired to do what could be considered “boring” work, by including an exciting task or two and hearing what’s working and not working for them, you’ll maintain their interest, and therefore a higher quality of work delivered.
3. Make Small Talk
Genuinely caring about someone can go a long way in building a foundation of trust and rapport . Your freelancer is more than an interchangeable cog. By taking interest in their life and wellbeing, you’re showing them that you care. If you occasionally have even a quick casual conversation with them, they’ll be more apt to communicate openly with you. This is important when communicating on things such as deadlines and expectations around any given project.
Genuine care can go a long way in building a foundation of trust in your freelancer relationship
Learning more about them makes for a more pleasant experience for you as well. You never know what you might have in common with your freelancers! Maybe you share a passion or hobby you can chat about.
When you have a solid relationship with your freelancers, they’re more likely to stick around with you longer on ongoing projects. This is better for them, as it means they don’t have to find a new client to replace the income they were receiving from you, and better for you because you’ll save time on bringing someone new up to speed.
4. Use Your Mission to Help Recruit
When creating your job description, be sure to include the mission of your company. You’ll stand out over boring postings that are 100% task focused and attract talent who wants to contribute to and appreciates the cause you’re working towards. It also creates a bond that will impact the success of your freelancing relationship, because they’ll see you as more than just a paycheck.
Just as you would a full-time employee, ensure you and your freelancers are aligned on the goals and mission of the company and their role. Communicate regularly on what you’re accomplishing together and how their work has an impact. When people care about the company’s mission, they produce better work and feel more connected to the company.
Final Thoughts
Remember, just because your freelancers don’t work full-time for you, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t feel like more than an interchangeable cog in your company’s machine. By using these four approaches, you’ll make your freelancers feel more valued and connected to both their work and your company. When that happens, you’ll get more passionate, quality work from them, which improves the value you get from hiring them.
