Have some big projects ahead? Why not work with several freelancers and even build your own freelance team? This article will be a helpful guide on how to hire, onboard, and manage freelance teams to achieve your goals. Here’s all you need to know to easily manage a freelance team.
What is the difference between managing in-house employees and a freelance team?
First off, let’s clarify the difference between your regular full-time employees and freelance team members. Missclassifying a worker can lead to some problems. In general, freelancers are free to work flexible hours or take on multiple projects without promising their future availability. Therefore, managing freelance workers will require a different approach than working with the employee. Because you hire them for a very specific task. Once you find the talent, it is important to form a contract to protect both parties. Your contract with a freelancer will specify the type of work you are requesting them to do, limiting your professional relationship to a one-off project.
What are the benefits of working with freelance teams?
Choosing to run your project through a freelance team carries many benefits. The main one is the huge freelance workforce, thanks to which you can hire specialists according to your current needs. A big talent pool means you will be able to find the right person for almost any need you might have as a business owner. For example, if you run international social media accounts, you can find a freelancer not only with the knowledge but also located in the right time zone to provide services for your needs.
Working with freelancers will also allow you to offer more services and open your business to new markets. Take translation agencies as an example. They can have an in-house team for common languages and outsource more specialized client requests. So when they have a new project, instead of turning a client away, they delegate the task to their trusted freelancer. This way, they can offer more services and save the costs of training a full-time employee. A freelancer team can also step in to help ease the workload, simply letting your staff focus on more crucial tasks.
Other commonly mentioned benefits are:
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Reduced payroll costs
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No need for office space or work equipment,
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Reduced training and onboarding costs,
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Faster scaling and project turnover.
How to assemble your freelancer team?
Once you decide for what projects and purposes you want to hire gig workers, it’s time to find the best candidates. When hiring freelancers, you have several channels to choose from, such as recommendations, marketplaces, and LinkedIn. Reviewing their work samples, skills, and ratings left by previous clients will help you choose the best candidates. Once you select the top 3, send them project proposals and invite them for a technical interview. Freelance platforms also allow you to publish a job offer and wait for the independent contractor to reach out to you instead. If you’re picking this option, make sure to include as many details in the offer as possible. If you’re already hiring gig workers, it might be worth asking for their recommendations. Most experienced freelancers have many networking connections or even run agencies, so it shouldn’t be difficult for them to recommend a new team member.
5 tips for managing a remote freelance team
You might find there won’t be much need to train freelancers, as you will be working with specialists with experience. Once you get used to working with remote teams and invest in the right project management systems, you will be surprised at how much time you save. As you are paying directly for skills and time, the real secret to efficient freelance management lies in smart business planning. Check our handy list of things you shouldn’t forget about.
1. Establish a relationship
It’s simple: once you find the right freelancers, you want to build a nice relationship with them. Especially when working on long-term projects, cultivate the relationship exactly as you would with a valuable business partner. Your relationship should start with clear communication, making sure both you and the freelancer are aware of the project’s particular tasks and terms. If possible, prepare a freelancer onboarding presentation, outlining all the important information.
2. Set clear project expectations
Clear project requirements will ensure everybody in your remote team is on the same page. Try not to leave any space for confusion, and define project details such as:
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Required work tools,
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The project timeline,
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The project tasks,
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The project deadline,
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The project’s hourly allotment,
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Preferred communication channel,
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The feedback and approval process.
It’s worth defining the scope of interaction with other team members. Regular meetings will help you discuss the project’s progress and also strengthen the relationships within your team.
If you work with many external contractors, it might be helpful to gather all this information in one place. We recommend using a project management tool or creating a freelancer onboarding process. This way, instead of explaining the details to each contractor, you can direct them to a source of all information.
3. Discuss the pricing
Before you manage freelancers in your team, consider what budget you can allocate towards the project. Independent contractors often have a preferred way of settlement. Some of them want to be paid for complete projects or at an hourly rate. Many forms of settlement can add accounting workload, so try to create a standard payment form throughout your team.
When setting your budget, it’s also worth setting aside some funds for unplanned tasks, such as extra work from the freelancer’s side. Managing the payroll can become quite a task if you’re outsourcing work to more than 10 contractors. To avoid unnecessary time spent on figuring out all payment details, invest in the right tool, such as Useme. With Useme, you can quickly work with freelancers. We will send the payment after you approve the project.
4. Provide all the resources
While most freelancers work with their own tools and software, in some cases, the success of your project will depend on specific resources. For example, freelance writers might need a brief or style guide and graphic designers should have details about your brand’s colors and fonts. Try to consider what tools will make the task easier for your freelance employee. Remember that, as opposed to your in-house team, your gig workers will not be familiar with your branding and internal structure.
5. Use collaboration platforms and project management tools
A great project management tool can make managing freelancers a walk in the park. Luckily, there are many resources on the market made especially for these needs. Some of the leading project management tools on the market are Trello, Asana, Monday, and Notion. With their help, you can easily assign tasks, check on the project’s progress and organize all the relevant documents in one place. Your tool should be an equivalent of an office for your remote team and support seamless collaboration.
In conclusion, building and managing a freelance team requires a different approach than working with regular full-time employees. It’s important to first clarify the difference between freelancers and employees. Also, understand their unique characteristics. Once you’ve identified the right talent for your project, establish a contract that outlines the project scope, timelines, payment terms, and confidentiality agreements. By following these steps and talking regularly with your freelance team, you can achieve your goals and have high-quality work. Now you are ready to grow your business.
