When a company has more work than it can handle, outsourcing some of it to freelancers is a viable solution. However, the problem with outsourcing creative work is that during the onboarding process, the business needs to make their vision of the project crystal-clear.
Helping freelance contractors understand what the organization expects is a little more complicated than just giving them a brief and expecting them to know what you want. Your goals for the project may be significantly different from what your freelancer is aware of.
Below, 10 members of Forbes Agency Council offer insight into how your company can communicate effectively with freelance contractors in such a way that they know what you want and can deliver according to expectations.
Members explain how to ensure your freelancers understand your project goals.
Photos courtesy of the individual members
1. Provide Clear Process Documentation
Virtual assistants and freelancers will be as good or bad as the documentation that you provide them. Document your processes painstakingly accurately. This will not only make you more efficient but will make your business dependent on processes instead of employees. That means you can bring in new team members, point them to the documentation, let them loose and scale to new heights. – Damon Burton, SEO National
2. Feed Them What They Need
Typically, a good freelancer goes into any project with the hope of becoming a staff employee, or at the least, earning more work. So it’s wise to take time upfront to ensure they have all the info they need. This starts with the most important document of all: a good creative brief. A good brief should convey key market and demographic insights, unique value proposition, goals, budgeted hours, meeting recaps, etc. – Ward Duft, duftwatterson.com
3. Hold Briefing Meetings With Clear Schedules
Having a briefing meeting, providing access to background documents and letting them attend meetings to hear the discussions firsthand have helped immensely. Having a schedule on when components are due and what the output of the deliverables will be helps a lot so there are no assumptions. There is often no time for major revisions, so plan ahead for a positive experience for all. – Laura Glotzbach, LGS Marketing Services
4. Set Unbelievably Clear Expectations
Far too often, expectations are filled with blur words: “Build a successful campaign. Deliver the project on time. Come in on budget.” If you eliminate the blurriness, you end up with far clearer and more measurable expectations. So instead of the above, try, “Build a campaign that drives 22% YoY growth by Jan. 15, with a budget of $50.” This leaves little room for misunderstanding. – Vic Drabicky, January Digital
5. Consider Value Alignment
Assess every freelance contractor before you hire them, as you do for permanent team members to ensure your relationship will be a successful one. While skills, expertise and cost are all essential factors to take into account when hiring a freelancer, you must also consider cultural fit. Make sure each freelancer aligns with your purpose and values, in advance. – Fran Biderman-Gross, Advantages
6. Try A ‘First Date’
With new freelancers, we start by assigning a small project with a lengthy deadline, paid at regular rates. Much like a probationary period for new employees, this allows us to give ample feedback and direction while still respecting the freelancer’s time. In this context, it usually only takes a few rounds of communication to determine if the candidate is a good fit for your company’s needs. – Hannah Trivette, NUVEW Web Solutions
7. Integrate Them Into The Team
Hire freelancers with the same attitude as your in-house experts. You can’t just give them a task and some guidelines and expect accountability. Treat freelancers as team members and they’ll reciprocate. We are working with many freelancers and we rarely have problems with them adhering to company goals. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS
8. Onboard Strategically And Think Long-Term
Freelancers, no matter how skilled, face the same learning curve as new employees adopting your work process, style and brand. Take an onboarding mindset with standardized creative briefs and documentation that gives them everything they need to deliver production-ready content. Then offer consistent feedback on their work. The effort will pay off in efficiency and reliable long-term performance. – Kim Charlton, PMG (Pinnacle Marketing Group)
9. Sketch It Out First
Creative freelancers rarely have their hearts in your project the way you do, so keep creative briefs short and focused. But always require a sketch of their idea, whether it’s an outline for an article before the first draft is written, or a stick-figure pencil drawing before a graphic is designed. This way, 90% of misunderstandings are cleared up in sketches before the real work begins. – Kevin Lund, T3 Custom
10. Set Well-Defined Milestone Payments
I know it sounds obvious, but pay one-third upfront, one-third when the product is done and the last-third when the client approves. This payment schedule aligns your interests with the freelancer’s and provides full transparency. – Tom La Vecchia, MBA, X Factor Media
