Selecting and managing independent talents

More and more business leaders believe that independent talents or freelancers are more productive than salaried employees.  If you’ve considered working with these freelancers before or had a bad experience with an unprofessional freelancer, here are some straight-to-the-point ways to get the most out of the relationship for everyone.

• Identify the need for freelancers well in advance. Prepare and identify your “go-to team” for last-minute jobs, your “A-team” for serious, important jobs, and your “junior-level team” to handle smaller projects.
• Hire the right freelancers for the job. 
  • Hire freelancers whose skills match the project, even if they say, “Hell yeah, we can do that!” Their hearts won’t be in it.
  • Hire the right level of freelancer for the level of work to be completed. Don’t hire someone with 20 years of experience for a junior-level project. More likely, the freelancer will be bored and will squeeze your job in between jobs that he or she is excited about.

• Tell your client. Remember, clients hire you. Most clients don’t care as long as the freelance work is included in the budget and is part of your agreed work plan, and the talent is well-respected, understands the project, and is being managed by you.
• Define the project and scope of work in great details. 
  • Set up a kickoff meeting. Make sure the freelancers know exactly what the project is and what’s needed, including deadlines, materials, and most importantly, deliverables. Leave nothing open-ended. Define what you’ll pay for and what you will not, such as travel, food, postage, and so on.
  • Set time frames, meeting agendas, expectations, and requirements.  Make sure freelancers know beyond deliverables, such as agency policies, protocol, values, and culture. Policies are good and help keep control of the work.
  • Make it clear who they report to.
• Care about freelancers’ careers.
  • Treat them as well as you would treat your own employees. This includes paying them on time. In return, they’ll care about your project and in turn, your company.
  • Don’t give only crappy projects to freelancers.
  • Give and request feedback frequently.  It’s important to give constructive critiques rather than not using them again. It is much more financially prudent to retrain an existing freelancer than to hire a new one.

• Legal and Tax considerations. 
  • It’s important to consider how they may be a liability for your company. Send out a contract and a Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) to all projects and freelancers who will have access to some confidential or sensitive information.
  • Don’t forget about taxes, too!

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