Effectively Integrating Freelance Workers into Your Business

Effectively Integrating Freelance Workers into Your Business

When your business is occasionally in need of someone with a particular ability or skillset, rather than hiring a full-time employee, it’s smart to look to independent contractors and freelancers to get the jobs done. After all, you may not need a web designer, graphic designer or photographer on staff at all times, but when you’re rebranding, you’ll want to bring in the pros to help you look your best. Hiring freelancers with specialized talent allows you to benefit from their expertise without incurring the high overhead involved in hiring an employee.

While freelancers are independent of your organization, your business’ relationship with them can be optimized to best integrate into your operations with a project-based, relationship-driven approach. Some best practices to that end include:

Use of project management tools to ensure that:

• scope of project and deliverables are strictly defined
• communication is clear and check-ins are regular and designed to share constructive feedback and address problems early
• payment processing is smooth and not contributing to holdups or a sense of distrust among parties
• a contract is generated that spells out the particulars of the project in addition to deadlines, payment terms and clearly-defined conditions for sign-off
• progress is carefully monitored for acceptable pace and outcome

Streamlined onboarding that ensures:

• contractors are provided immediate access to the tools, systems and documentation they need to hit the ground running without delay or confusion
• concise training on your specific workflows to help freelancers get up to speed quickly and efficiently
• a straightforward channel of communication with a designated contact person who understands the project and the freelancer’s role in its completion

Inclusion on contextual communications and engagement opportunities to ensure contractors are:

• experiencing a sense of connection to the organization’s mission so as to perform at their best
• kept aware of and aligned with relevant updates pertaining to the project
• able to collaborate with your team as appropriate to foster a sense of cooperation

Compliance with legal aspects of working with independent contractors including:

• use of a risk allocation matrix to define liability and identify who is legally and financially responsible for various issues, especially for remote or high-risk tasks
• verification that those hired meet the legal criteria for independent contractors (like making their own work schedule and providing their own tools) in order to avoid legal and financial penalties from improper classification
• automated generation of standardized paperwork (like W-9 forms, non-disclosure agreements and proof of insurance)

Because they are not employees, contractors are not eligible for bonuses or raises for a job well done - so offer recognition programs or provide testimonials (for their own marketing) to reward greatness and build loyalty to your business for work on future projects. And speaking of future projects, to reduce recruitment costs and the need to keep finding your contractor "dream team," it’s prudent to maintain a list of high-performing freelancers you’ve hired so you can quickly and efficiently re-engage them for new work.

They may not be your regular team, but the "freelance economy" can be a crucial part of getting the work - all the work - of your business done. Optimizing your strategy for working with independent contractors will help you get the most out of the arrangement. To integrate them into your organization, shift to a project-based, relationship-driven approach to account for differences between working with your regular employees and inviting freelancers into the fold.

How could your business benefit from optimal integration of independent contractors into your workflow?