Working as a freelancer can be extremely rewarding, but also extremely challenging. There are no two ways about it: being a freelancer is hard work. It’s even harder to make it in the freelance world when you’re not working alone. You might think that working with others makes things easier, but unless you’ve got your ducks in a row, it can make things harder than they were before!
That’s why we’ve come up with this list of the 15 best tips to help your freelance team thrive and succeed in today’s competitive market. These tips include everything from finding and hiring the right people for your team, to communicating effectively with them once they’re on board and more! We’ll cover all these topics below… so let’s get started!
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Carefully select freelancers with the right skills and expertise for your projects. |
| 2. Clearly define expectations and project requirements to ensure a shared understanding among team members. |
| 3. Foster effective communication and collaboration among freelancers to promote teamwork and project success. |
| 4. Utilize project management tools to streamline workflows, track progress, and manage deadlines efficiently. |
| 5. Invest in building strong relationships with freelancers to cultivate trust and loyalty for long-term success. |
| 6. Continuously evaluate and provide feedback to freelancers to support their growth and improve performance. |
| 7. Embrace a flexible and adaptable approach to accommodate the evolving needs of your freelance team. |
| 8. Foster a positive work environment that promotes creativity, autonomy, and a sense of belonging for freelancers. |
| 9. Prioritize fair compensation and timely payments to maintain motivation and satisfaction among freelancers. |
| 10. Regularly assess the team dynamics and make adjustments as needed to optimize productivity and outcomes. |
Identify Your Goals
The first step in building a freelance team is identifying your goals. This will not only help you to identify the skills and experience you need in a team but also what kind of people you want to hire. So, what are your goals? Do they include:
- earning more money?
- working fewer hours per day (and still getting paid)?
- Have more free time for family or friends?
If you don’t have specific goals yet, take some time on this now because it will make the rest of the hiring process easier if all members of the team have similar objectives and strategies for achieving them
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Create A List Of Positions You Will Need To (Eventually) Fill
Consider your business growth and how many employees you want or need to support that growth. You can only grow as fast as the team can manage, so be sure to consider this carefully when planning for future hires.
Consider the skills you need in each position: what is required for success? If you’re not sure, check out our list of skills every entrepreneur needs by clicking here!
Consider the skills you don’t have but still want or need and identify any internal resources or outside consultants who could provide them for less than full-time salaries (we’ll talk more about this later).
Think about whether any recent developments within your industry could impact your team’s capacity in some way such as new technologies or regulations which also dictate what kind of roles might be needed to stay competitive within those new paradigms; likewise, think about how those same trends may change over time due not just technological improvements but also changes in consumer tastes and preferences over time…
Consider Using Freelancers For Some Roles
For the most part, freelancers are more flexible and more cost-effective than full-time employees. A freelance employee can fill in for a short period, help you meet a tight deadline, or simply be more available for a brief project.
They will also not cost as much as hiring an entire team full-time, especially if that team has high salaries and benefits. Plus, once worked with your company once or twice before (or even just talked on the phone), they could be considered an asset when it comes to future projects.
Understand That Hiring Doesn’t Have To Mean A Full-Time Commitment
In this day and age, it’s easy to get carried away with the idea of hiring full-time employees. But let’s be real: there are some things that only freelancers can do.
What is a freelancer you ask? A freelancer is someone who works independently and isn’t bound by a full-time job with one company. Freelancers are also more flexible in their payments, as they don’t have to worry about deductions for taxes or healthcare.
So if your business doesn’t have the funds available to hire someone full time, but needs help on an ongoing basis, here are some reasons why you should consider hiring freelance team members instead:
They’re cheaper: Hiring an employee can cost anywhere from $10-$50K annually (or more), depending on their role and level of experience. If you need only one person for part-time work then hiring them may not be financially viable for your business yet – but a freelancer could come at a much lower cost than hiring someone permanent just so they can cover those hours!
They’re more flexible: As mentioned above…flexibility is key when working with others so having someone who isn’t locked into any particular schedule gives both parties freedom while still meeting deadlines together!
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Find People Who Are Adept At Problem Solving
But, how do you know if a potential team member is a good problem solver?. Simply ask them to explain how they solved a problem in their own life.
If they can’t give you an example of a time when they were able to figure out what was wrong and then fix it, don’t hire them for your freelance team. That’s because being able to solve problems is crucial for any professional working with clients who have issues or challenges that need solving.
And when you’re building your freelance team, it’s even more important than ever before: If your employees don’t know how to solve problems like this one, they won’t be able to help you grow your business!
Communicate Effectively And Often
The most important part of managing a team is communicating effectively and often. You must be clear about what you want, expect, need, are doing, and are not doing.
Be clear about what you want: Make sure everyone understands the project goals and vision by writing them down in detail. This will eliminate any confusion that may arise later on in the process.
Be clear about what you expect: Explain your expectations clearly so that your team knows exactly what they’re supposed to do and how much time they have for each task.
Be clear about what you need: Provide detailed instructions for each phase of the project so there’s no room for ambiguity or misunderstanding when it comes time for employees to complete tasks (this includes any materials needed).
Be clear about not doing certain things yourself: Let go of some duties so employees can manage those aspects of their jobs without interference from management this allows more time spent focusing on other work tasks instead.
Don’t just stop at being transparent during initial interactions; keep communicating throughout every stage until completion!
Make Sure Expectations Are Clear From The Start
When you’re hiring a freelancer, you’ll need to be clear about the role and the expectations from the start.
When it comes to roles and expectations, be specific. If we tell you that we want someone good at copywriting and marketing, don’t just send us any copywriter or marketer. Tell us what kind of copywriting experience and marketing knowledge will make them better than other options in your opinion.
Likewise, if you’re applying for a position where there are multiple candidates, make sure your resume gives proof as to why it is exactly that you deserve this job over everyone else who’s applying for it (or else why should anyone hire you?).
It helps when writing resumes if you have examples of past work or accomplishments this way potential employers have something concrete they can look at rather than just listening vaguely about how great so-and-so thinks they are (which still isn’t enough on its own).
Don’t Over-Hire
Engage your team in a discussion about what success looks like. What are the goals? How will they be measured? Once you’ve established these criteria, determine how many people are needed and how long each role should take. If you’re hiring someone to replace an employee who has left, don’t hire someone with less experience than the person they are replacing hire someone more experienced.
If possible, try to find candidates who are better than yourself at what they do so that your team can support one another as well as grow together. If this isn’t possible (or if it’s too costly), set up weekly meetings between everyone on your freelance team to discuss challenges, successes, and best practices for solving problems.
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Hire People Who Are Better Than You (If You Can)
This is a pretty simple concept, but it’s one that many freelancers never even consider. If your goal is to make money as a freelancer and grow your business, then you should only hire people who are better than you in specific areas and general.
For example, let’s say that I’m an awesome writer and my friend Alice is an amazing designer. We decide to start a website-building team together where we share the profits 50/50. Here’s how that might work out:
- Alice designs our website while I write content for it.
- Next month, Alice designs another website while I write more content.
After three months of working together as partners in this fashion, our site gets picked up by Google Adsense but guess what? It turns out that writing ad copy isn’t my strong suit! So now we have to hire someone else just so they can fill in all of those little pieces of information on our sites’ pages (like disclaimers etc.).
Permit Yourself To Make Mistakes When Hiring (Because You Will)
You will make mistakes. It’s okay.
You will make mistakes when hiring people, and it’s okay. You’ll learn from those mistakes, even if you never share them with anyone else.
I can say this from experience because I’ve made so many hiring mistakes in my career as a freelancer that they could fill an entire blog post alone. Thankfully, those who hired me were kind enough to not hold my past against me (and we’re all still friends).
Be Willing To Fire Someone If It Isn’t Working Out
It is a fact of life that not every person you hire will work out. If you can’t afford to fire someone who isn’t doing well, then you should consider hiring only freelancers who have prior experience in this area. You don’t want someone on your team who doesn’t know how to do the job well and is slowing down progress because of it.
If someone isn’t working out, let them go immediately. Don’t wait for their contract to expire or for an offer from another company just do it! The time spent trying to train them up or waiting until they make another mistake could be better spent looking for a replacement candidate by using online job boards like Upwork or Freelancer.com
Consider Your Hiring Process As A Marketable Skill
Hiring is a skill and it can be learned. You can hire great people if you know how to do it, but what are the steps? Will hiring help your business grow? How do you get started?
I once had a client who knew all these things, but they were too shy or insecure to try them out on their own. They wanted my help with hiring because they didn’t have enough confidence in themselves to make good hires without me there every step of the way.
When I started working with this client and we got on track, he was really happy about how his business was growing but he still wanted me there every step of the way!
Ask Your Team What They Want, Too
You know how to hire the right people, but you should also make sure that they are happy and fulfilled in their roles. This is especially important if you’re hiring a team of freelancers who are working remotely. They need to be happy with their work environment and pay as well as feel like they have been treated fairly by the company so that they can enjoy doing quality work without feeling stressed or pressured.
Think about your ideal candidate for each role, then ask yourself what qualities they would possess to succeed at it:
- Do they have experience?
- Will their personality fit well with the rest of the team? Are there any clashes that could cause problems down the road?
- Is this person capable of handling pressure from clients/bosses if necessary?
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If you hire well, it’s much easier to grow
One of the best ways to grow your business is by hiring people who are better than you. If you want to be a good writer, hire someone who is a great writer. If you want to create beautiful websites, hire an amazing designer. If you want to help businesses with their marketing strategy, hire someone who knows more about marketing than you do.
We’re not saying that everyone has to be an expert at everything it’s important for freelancers and small businesses alike to have a diverse set of skills on hand but it’s essential that the person leading your team knows what they’re doing in their respective area of expertise and can fill any other gaps within their department if necessary.
For example: if one person on your team has excellent project management skills but isn’t as strong when it comes to design work.
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Final Thoughts
We’re sure you’ll find that a freelance team can be one of the most rewarding and valuable experiences in your career. Just be sure to follow these steps before you begin!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to explore for further information on building and managing freelance teams:
6 Proven Strategies for Managing Large Teams of Freelancers: Discover effective strategies for managing large teams of freelancers, ensuring productivity, collaboration, and successful project outcomes.
The New Dream Team: Building a Successful Team of Freelancers: Learn about the key aspects of building a successful team of freelancers and harnessing their collective talents to drive business growth.
5 Tips to Build a Remote Freelance Team for Your Business: Explore five valuable tips to effectively build and manage a remote freelance team for your business, enabling seamless collaboration and achieving project success.
People Also Ask
How Do I Know If A Freelancer Will Be A Good Fit For My Team?
There’s no way to tell for sure, but you can use the same type of questions and guidelines as you would when hiring full-time employees. That means asking about their work history, how they work with other people and what their strengths are.
Why Is It Important To Have A Strong Team Behind You When Starting Your Own Business?
When you’re just getting started with your company, there are so many things that need to be done and done right that having a team who can help with those tasks will allow you more time to focus on building relationships with clients and growing your business.
What Is The First Thing I Should Do If I Want To Build A Freelance Team?
You need to set up your business and make sure that everything is in place. This includes setting up a website, buying necessary equipment, and making sure that you have enough money saved up for the start-up costs. Also, make sure your company name is available for use.
Do I Need An Office Space For My Freelancers?
No, you don’t need an office space for your freelancers; however, it can be beneficial if you have one because then they will be more likely to work together as a team instead of doing their own thing.
How Can I Attract Quality Candidates Who Are Looking For Work?
You can attract quality candidates by posting job ads on Craigslist and other sites where people look for jobs online. Also, tell everyone you know about your new business venture so they will recommend you when they know someone who needs work done remotely (e.g., graphic design).
What Are The Benefits Of Hiring A Freelance Team?
There are many benefits to hiring a freelance team. First, you get access to a wide range of skills and expertise, so you can find the right person for the job. Second, you can connect with new people and build valuable relationships that can help your business grow in the future.
Third, it allows you to work on projects when you want or need to without committing to full-time employees. You can also hire multiple freelancers at once if necessary, which helps save money on overhead costs like office space and equipment.
Finally, freelancing is much more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees because it does not require benefits like health insurance or retirement plans (which can be quite expensive!).
What Is The Difference Between A Virtual Assistant And A Freelancer?
A virtual assistant is someone who does all the work for you, from booking travel to managing your social media accounts. They work on your behalf and report back to you.
A freelancer is someone who works for you, but they have their projects as well. They can’t work 24/7 as a VA would, but they’re also more likely to care about the project in question and give it their all because it’s not just about money for them it’s about pride in their work.
What Are Some Of The Common Concerns That Clients Have When Hiring Freelancers?
Clients are often worried about getting scammed or ripped off by a freelancer. They’re also worried that they’ll have no control over the quality of their work or whether they’ll show up at all!
That’s why we’ve developed our vetting process: we want to make sure that every single one of our freelancers has been thoroughly vetted before we put them on our platform. We also make sure that each client has multiple options when hiring a freelancer so that if something goes wrong with one hire, they can easily find another one who’s better suited to their needs.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.