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Tips for Assembling a Productive Team of Remote Freelancers
Offer Valid: 09/07/2022 - 10/07/2024Have you thought about outsourcing extra work to freelancers? Leveraging the skills and abilities of freelance professionals is a great way to shore up your internal weaknesses and get a fresh set of eyes on your business challenges. Whether you’re looking for short-term help with a specific business project or long-term assistance with general work, freelancers are your answer! Check out these tips to build a remote freelance team that will thrive at your business.
Take Care of Housekeeping Items
To be set up to hire and work with freelancers, you may need to take care of a few business to-dos. Specifically, make sure your business is registered with the state before bringing on any employees, even if they’re contract workers.
Deciding on the business entity you’ll operate under will take a little research, since you’ll need to look at the pros and cons of each. For example, if you’re looking for simplified paperwork and asset protection of your personal property, a Texas LLC might be a good fit. If you want to see reduced self-employment taxes and would like the option of pass-through taxation once your company grows large enough to have shareholders, a Texas subchapter S corporation may be ideal. A formation agency can take care of the paperwork for you no matter which structure you decide on.
Use Tools to Streamline Collaboration
Communication is the biggest issue among home-based business owners with freelance teams. With people working all over the world, keeping everyone on the same page can be tough. Thankfully, many tools exist to solve this problem. Put together a suite of apps that your freelancers can use to collaborate and communicate efficiently. Project management software is a must. Kissflow explains that project management software allows business owners to oversee project progress, control costs, and keep everything organized as team members plug away at various business tasks.
Your freelancers will also need access to specific tools designed for the type of work they’ll be doing. Designers, web developers, and marketing professionals will need to send assets back and forth when collaborating on projects. Get set up with tools that enable quick and efficient file sharing. For example, your team can use online tools to convert a jpg to PDF to preserve image quality and combine multiple images into a single file.
Define Project Details Carefully
Clear communication is vital to the freelancer-client relationship. Because your freelancer doesn’t know the inner workings of your business or how you want projects completed, it’s important to clearly define project details ahead of time. Let them know your expectations, workflow preferences, and budget. Instead of waiting for your freelancers to ask about the project details, write up a project description that you can share with them. Better yet, post this project description in your job listing so you only receive responses from freelance candidates who can perform the work you need done. This saves everyone valuable time.
Build Long-Lasting Relationships
Your freelancers don’t work for your business like traditional employees. As a result, it can be hard to get freelancers engaged with your brand values and business culture. Work to build long-term relationships with your best freelancers so they feel like part of your team. This will encourage your contractors to continue to work with you, even as they receive requests from other clients. WorkforImpact.com stresses the importance of introducing your freelancers to others in your organization and keeping them in the loop regarding what’s going on in your business.
Provide Feedback to Your Team
Freelancers thrive on feedback. Great freelancers know that constructive feedback helps them produce better results and improve client satisfaction. Make sure your feedback is actually useful to your freelancers. Be specific and provide visual examples so your freelancers understand exactly what it is you want. Remember, they can’t read your mind!
Pay Your Freelancers Promptly
Paying your contractors on time is essential to maintaining long-lasting professional relationships. If your workers are concerned about when they’re going to get paid, they’re not going to work as hard or creatively for your business. They might even drop you as a client and look for work elsewhere. Prompt payments will show your freelancers that you value their work and respect them as fellow business owners. Say goodbye to paper checks and pay your freelancers electronically to ensure they receive their money when they expect it.
Remote freelancers can offer many benefits to your business. Don’t let the prospect of managing a remote team scare you away from hiring freelancers. With the right tools, good communication skills, and a clear set of expectations, you can build a very successful freelance team!
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