7 Ways to Manage Freelancers in India Effectively

Ways to Manage Freelancers

According to the State of Remote Work 2018,1 which collected data from 1900 remote workers around the world, 35% of companies have a workforce made from remote workers. With businesses beginning to use the advantages of the gig economy to their advantage, it becomes important to find out the way to effectively manage freelancers in India.

Freelance employee management, however, employs completely different management strategies as against managing your usual full-time employees. The reason being, you’ll get to manage people you haven’t met face-to-face and manage them from a distance. Managing Indian freelancers becomes simple once you develop the proper strategy to fit your business needs.

1. Recruiting the right freelancer:

Considering that we’ve concluded that the simplest thanks to work with freelancers is to figure with reliable and trustworthy freelancers, the foremost important tread on your road to raised freelance management is ensuring you hire the proper freelancers.

Here’s where you’ll find freelancers in India, and the way you’ll confirm they’re the proper people to ascertain the work through.

Hiring freelancers in India require different tactics from recruiting full-time employees. Be sure to seem for the below factors to assist you shortlist and recruit the proper freelancer.

Reviews on their website

Previous work samples

Freelancing platforms that display freelancer’s experience levels consistent with the amount of completed projects

Social media for verification

Some of the best freelance websites allow freelancers to contact you directly by sending their CVs, work samples, and get in touch with information. Others allow freelancers to send you their bids, estimates, and project proposals, so you simply pick the only one and then decide who you want to contact.

2. Insist on signing a freelancer contract:

Managing freelancers is simpler once you have clearly outlined the scope of services expected, deliverables, and payment terms, alongside refund and cancellation policies. Go over the small print of the contract together with your freelancers to make sure of mutual clarity. Additionally, signing a non-disclosure agreement together with your remote workers will make sure that all sensitive information about your business remains confidential.

3. Provide adequate details of your company:

Briefing your gig workers about your company’s primary competitors, the key stakeholders and therefore the final approver of the projects helps establish a business context. Similar to the induction process of a full-time employee, this may help in better management of your freelancers as they’re clear about the industry also as your organization’s goals and objectives.

4. Contour the objectives of the project:

Productive management of your Indian freelancer will ultimately determine the success of your project and your organization. Therefore, it’s important that you simply list out all objectives that describe the general purpose and expectations of the project. Make sure that you hired freelancers which exactly understand project requirements, deliverables, deadlines and meeting agendas. This will prevent misunderstanding and promote smooth functioning till project completion.

5. Build a relationship with the freelancer:

Last but not least, once you’ve hired your ideal, dependable personnel, explained everything they have to understand about the project, and made it a habit to use the proper software on a day to day, you ought to build an optimal relationship with the freelancer, and confirm he or she finds you a trustworthy and reliable leader.

Show that you simply care about the freelancers’ careers – supply them with quality projects, and not just something your team simply doesn’t desire doing.

6. Work out the cost:

Successful freelance management should also include costs. It is knowing to create an annual freelance budget than to affect budgeting whenever you would like to rent someone. Work out if it’s in your best interest to pay your freelancer via a long-term contract, an hourly/weekly rate or a project-based rate supporting the scope of your project.

7. Manage without Controlling:

The whole idea of working in autonomy is the first reason why freelancers choose doing gigs rather than full-time jobs. Furthermore, freelancers might be working with multiple clients. Therefore, it’s vital that you simply don’t micromanage them but give them adequate time and space to try to do their work effectively. Trusting your workforce to efficiently complete projects, without micromanaging, also helps to create and maintain a long-term relationship with them.

While all of the above methods can assist you effectively manage your freelancers, a contract platform helps you streamline the way you manage your remote workers. From recruiting, taking onboard, and assigning projects to tracking invoices and paying your hired freelancers, a contract platform makes freelance management smarter and faster.

Now you know how to manage your freelancers. You know the way to cash in on the various freelance markets to rent skilled and dedicated laborers without all the headaches.

Closure –

Freelancers will bring prosperity to your start-up as you narrow down on overhead costs and grow your market. If freelance labour doesn’t initially sound sort of a promising route for your business, I encourage you to require a re-evaluation.

Don’t be afraid to require freelance management a step at a time. Follow the guide above, build a routine for managing freelancers in your start-up, and begin discovering what the freelance market has got to offer for your start-up.

Tips for Interviewing and Hiring Freelancers in India

Tips for Hiring Freelancers

Hiring freelancers on a per-project basis can often compute far more cost-effective than taking over a full-time member of staff. Maybe your working relationship with the freelancers hired are often very different from your in-house hires. In-house teams are basically far more expensive and harder to manage. Freelancers, on the other hand, allow you to be versatile and pay them only for the projects and tasks you require. Freelancers manage their own time and workload, and with their specialized expertise are able to reach the deadlines before given time.

Oftentimes, freelancers feel like outsiders at the workplace. Let their skills and their work impact the corporate and provide them feedback such as you would your full-time employees. Even invite them to company events. If these people are working for you, there’s no point why they should be forced to the side. Don’t just choose the first freelancer that comes even if they have Top-rated qualifications. Freelancers are still working for your company. They’re still going to interact with others. So cultural fit isn’t an element that ought to be placed on the rear burner. It’s always helpful to find a freelancer who fits in with your organizational culture.

Let’s discuss five tips to look for when hiring freelancers in India which help you explore freelancers who accomplish business goals-

1. How long a person is working as a freelancer?

Asking a freelancer about how long he/she is working as a freelancer will help you understand what to expect from the freelancer. An experienced freelancer is probably having more productivity, while freelancers who are beginners are more flexible and budget friendly. Good freelancers have solid experience with many various sorts of businesses. As they continue to work with a variety of clients, they expand their skills and your company will benefit from their knowledge.

2. Ask about their past projects?

One of the best tips for hiring freelancers is to discover the freelancer’s area of expertise, so as to understand what special project you want to hand over from your end. You would also get a good idea of how he/she expounds your project and what principles from past projects are likely to be applied to yours.

3. Ask about their working hours?

A full-time freelancer is more likely to possess the bandwidth to take a position into your project while a part-time freelancer will probably be available only during the evenings or weekends. Make your decision counting on the timeline of your project. Sometimes working hours depend on the requirement of the projects how much working hours per day a project needs to be complete or it is for long or short term.

4. How much do they charge?

Freelancer will charge 10%, 5%, or 3% of the complete amount immediately, supporting your subscription. Most of the beginners start with a free account, and hence are charged 10% of the full amount from Rockerstop.com. Basically, a freelancer is charged an hourly rate for the time that they worked. Either you can ask to estimate the number of hours that a project would take, or they would utilize the time tracking software. This would literally track your computer activity as the freelancer worked on the project. When getting started, this isn’t a good way for freelancers to cost high for themselves. If the client’s scope creeps up or the project takes longer than anticipated, then freelancers are compensated for that additional time.

5. Ask for a project proposal or contract?

Too often, the client-freelancer relationship drives into inconvenience due to assumptions that have gone bitter. To avoid disagreements and keep a good working relationship, compute mutually agreeable terms through a contract or proposal. This is very true within the case of huge, long-term projects, because it will bring both parties on the ‘same page’.

6. What’s the work structure a freelancer follows for a project?

You could also phrase this question differently and ask what his/her initiative on your project is probably going to be. The answer should offer you an inkling of how well the freelancer has understood the scope of the project, your business objectives and milestones. If you were to pose the question to a contract blogger as an example, you’d get insight into his/her research methodology–the sources they use for reference then on.

7. Ask for samples and references?

At last however good the interview might have gone, your decision will need to take into consideration the exact work done by the freelancer, not just what he/she says has been done. This is easier for a few jobs like designing and content writing, while it’s going to not be as clear in roles where the freelancer had provided strategic direction, for instance as a consultant. In such matters, a reference or feedback from previous clients will help you in making decisions.

I hope now you will be able to get an idea what you should ask a freelancer before hiring. Let me know in the comments what you think about these tips or you have any other tips.

How do you find freelancers in India that fits your business domain?

Recommendation to find freelancers online?

Looking forward to hiring a freelancer may be a good decision because freelancers are flexible and fulfill company expectations as their priorities. Freelancers help in making new ideas for your business and put them into practice and also provide a valuable contribution to the business. Many corporations in India do not prefer to hire workers for a short-term project. Today’s technology allows us to rent quality freelancers to job recruiters, wherever they’ll be situated.

Before hiring freelancers in India, you’ve got to decide with a freelancer skill, it’s going to be difficult to understand who you choose and where to start out to find a freelancer. Here, we will help you with a couple of mediums to find quality freelancers:

1. Face to Face Proposal

You could also consider it as word-of-mouth recruitment. Several HR managers aver to the efficacy of this strategy and lots of companies offer employee referral bonuses with good reason. In fact, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released a study stating that 80 percent of organisations ranked these programs as the favourite source of high-quality hires. The reason is that folks who work for you’re likely to understand others in your business domain. Since they’re personally known to your contacts, credibility might be high. For an equivalent reason though, there are chances that the advice might be biased.

2. Freelancing Platforms

As you are trying to find freelancers in India, freelancing platforms have a translucent advantage. Many freelancing platforms have several freelancers on board and you can pick and choose from people that want an equivalent work found out as you are doing. Freelance platforms help corporations to hire independent professionals for temporary jobs or particular projects. These platforms offer a marketplace for businesses to search profiles of freelancer workforce based on skills, experience, location, or other criteria. Oppositely, industries can also post a project description and request proposals from freelancers. Companies outsource work on projects that require specialized skills or additional workforce to focus on other business activities. Many freelancing platforms focus on hiring freelancers with some skills, such as writing, designing, or programming, development while others provide marketplaces for professionals with a wide variety of skills. Freelancing platform also allows you to shift through many profiles and actively choose the simplest candidate that is right for your business work and suits your industry type. 

3. Social Media Groups

Man-in-the-middle marketplaces freelancing websites aren’t the only places available to find a remote freelance job. Clients post their remote jobs and projects in places like Facebook Groups, Twitter, Reddit, community sites, forums, and lots of more places. Social Media is the most effective medium for engagement. There are many social media groups which allow postings for consultants and freelancers. These groups often compile people with similar interests. You can seek out professionals with the content strategies, you’ll try posting on groups with marketing professionals, content writers, developers or digital marketers. The aim is to viral your message across to circles instead of restraining yourself to at least one specific area in order that your message goes to urge carried. Maybe after posting several irrelevant responses that are unrelated to your posting you will get.

4. Professional Social Networking Sites

Many sites like LinkedIn have job sections where you’ll consider posting. Apart from LinkedIn, there are several social networking sites to find freelancers. Your perfect candidate could be right there. Check out which freelancing site is most preferred by candidates for your job profile. You can request people to share or retweet. Research proves that posts which actually invite shares get them! The world of social media looks too great to be true. For this reason and lots of more, corporations should take care of the freelancers that they devour from social media. Do a thorough background check of the employee; ask for a legal contract before starting and a recommendation when you’re done with shortlisting any candidate.

Guide to help you choosing right candidate –

1. Make sure your job description is clear. If there are non-negotiables, confirm that you simply mention them.

2. Make sure you ask for samples, portfolios or check previous work and conduct a quick interview. 

3. If you have shortlisted a number of freelancers but are unable to select, go for a different test project. This will help you engage with different freelancers, judge their sort of working and find someone who can accompany your working style and company ethics.

4. After selection of a freelancer make sure to have a formal freelancing contract should include every detail and expectation that both parties hold including but not limited to: pay rates, vacation holiday days, work and delivery expectations, deadlines and a service level agreement. 

I hope these tips help you in finding appropriate freelancers for your business domain.

Five Traits to look for while hiring freelancers in India

5 Qualities to look when hire freelancers

Freelancing has become a source of economic process round the world and will be a secret ingredient for our economy growth. More than 500 companies and start-ups regularly outsource their highly budget projects to freelance writers, designers, and developers to make sure a top-quality product completed within budget during a short period of time. Several websites today connect quality freelancers to genuine clients. The reason why companies hire a freelancer is they are continuously focused on performing a superb job on time. For freelancers, reliability and fulfilling your expectations are high priorities, and meeting deadlines are great ways to make good working relations and be hired for other projects within the future. Freelancers help in making new ideas for your business and simply put them into practice and also provide a valuable contribution to the business.

If you are also thinking of hiring quality freelancers for your business, keep an eye out for these five traits:

1. Attentive

Most of the freelancers put their best efforts during an interaction with clients. The quality of the freelancer’s profile could be a direction of his/her attitude towards work. The way freelancers communicate, or respond to the details say a lot about his/her seriousness for the work. Disconnected thoughts can indicate a person is careless and inattentive to details.

2. Consistent Work Past

Some freelancers could also be skillful at their work but lack the talents to present their thoughts effectively. Look at their online portfolios, check their ratings, and see what clients they need worked for repeatedly. Talk together with your candidates over the phone, in person, or by Skype and make assessments supporting their work and your interviews. Good communication skills would be an absolute requirement for a marketing or communications project, it’s going to not be that one non-negotiable trait on a technical project. In such cases, rummaging through the freelancer’s portfolio will offer you a thought about his/her suitability for the project at hand. The brands they’ve been related to either as freelancers or on a full-time job, the testimonials they’ve received and therefore the quality of labor they’ve delivered on previous jobs will be the right decision to avoid false claims.

3. Enthusiasm to Learn

Willingness to find out new skills is one among the foremost important qualities’ employers search for when hiring new employees. Being a freelancer in any industry declares a way of freedom upon you – and to some … into the firing line quickly so you will need to be responsive and enthusiastic and willing to adapt to differing cultures and always ready to explore. Try to interact with the freelancer before you bring him on board. Most of the freelancers have their subject matter expertise and are sometimes more qualified than you. Every project is unique and a freelancer who comes with a “I can do” attitude will stand on your requirements and recommendations.

4. Independent Workforce

Top rated freelancers require minimal hand holding on the job. Freelancers know what is expected from them and work actively to meet deadlines. Also, freelancers work remotely, lowering the office space needed and utilizing their own resources. Freelancers require minimal contribution from the client side. Freelancers are most of the time highly experienced and also very quick to accept the culture of your company and can establish good working relationships which helps to be connected for a long time.

5. Versatility

Top rated freelancers make a brief list before starting any projects and agree on all the terms and conditions, which totally avoids the new demands or unexpected changes in the project completion. Flexible freelancers deliver high-quality work, which they prove that they don’t got to be physically present to supply quality work. Freelancers have their success metrics, not supported the amount of projects engaged but the amount of successful projects. So, freelancers know that if they don’t provide quality work to their clients, their future is going to be in danger. Therefore, freelancers affirm to deliver quality work to clients. It is highly recommended to hire quality freelancers who are able to compete with the new challenges and have willingness to learn.

Conclusion 

There are a few risks related with hiring freelancers in India that you should check out before hiring but reviewing freelance profiles will lower the chances of any false claims. From freelancers, you will be able to get quality work on time, it saves costs, meets deadlines, and so many other perks without any burden. Whether you need full-time or part-time, freelancers are available whenever you need them on an urgent basis.

Let us know if your freelancer has any of these traits. Also share your experience with your recent freelancer. We would love to hear from you.