by Tina Martin | Mar 20, 2022
Every business owner wants their freelance workers to remain productive after hiring. Often, though, managing remote workers across the globe may feel overwhelming. If you do not put in the preparation effort, you may not have a successful team on your hands. However, by following these tips from Alyssa A Hogan Enterprise, you’re giving your team the edge it needs to succeed in today’s competitive and ever-changing business environment.
Prepare Before You Hire
Before you can hire any help, take care of your administrative tasks. Choose the business structure that works for your company. Many business owners prefer limited liability companies. LLCs have tax benefits, limited liability and less paperwork. Different states have various regulations, so check the rules before forming an LLC. If necessary, use a formation service to avoid the legwork and lawyer fees. When you have an LLC, your personal assets are protected even if your business fails.
Identify key tasks that can be sourced to independent contractors. There are various jobs freelance workers can perform from home. Some examples include:
Bookkeeping
Virtual assistance
Transcription
Tutoring
Graphic design
When searching for talent, utilize the same tactics you would with potential employees. Write an interesting and detailed job description. Be thorough so freelancers can find you. Additionally, look through job boards for contractors. Online job boards allow you to narrow your search by talent and country. You can find remote talent from across the globe. For example, business owners who seek French freelancers can search for contractors in France on Guru.
Pay Your Contractors on Time
Many freelancers experience late payments or have to fight for their pay. Experts claim about 70% of freelancers deal with pay trouble throughout their career. Set a payment schedule so your independent contractors never have to wonder when the money comes in. After all, paying your freelancers on time sets a foundation for trust. If you have remote workers across the globe, prepare to use different payment methods. Some freelancers may prefer a check, whereas others prefer Paypal.
Be Constructive With Your Feedback
Freelancers thrive when they have feedback. They need to understand the company’s standards and what they can do to impress you. Give constructive feedback as often as possible. Feedback should be specific and tangible but also presented positively. This does not mean sugarcoating a problem but instead reinforcing what the worker does right and identifying problem areas.
Prioritize Effective Communication
While you should not micromanage your contractors, you should not isolate them. Isolation eats at productivity and mental health. Have the tools available to communicate with your workers. Encourage contractors to email or video conference with you and other colleagues. Share your company’s goals and have a strategy to reach them.
If you share project details and ideas with freelancers, you need to communicate. For instance, when working with graphic and web designers and marketing professionals, you may need to send JPG files to one another. Unfortunately, compressing a JPG degrades the image quality. If you have a JPG-to-PDF converter, you can preserve the image quality. This tool converter can also convert multiple JPGs into one PDF, allowing you to send fewer files.
Additionally, don’t forget to give cybersecurity the attention it deserves. These days, hackers love to target small businesses – including freelancers – because they perceive them as being more vulnerable. So safeguard your financial information and sensitive data by installing antivirus software, ensuring that all patches are up-to-date, and regularly backing up any and all sensitive data.
Lastly, if you plan on holding conference calls and video meetings, you’ll definitely need a home office. Make sure it’s a place where you feel comfortable working, free of distractions. If your home requires some renovations, like expanding a room or adding bigger windows to let in more natural light, there’s an added incentive: in addition to helping you focus on work, these modifications also boost your home’s appraisal value.
Hiring freelancers for your business can help your company succeed. However, to manage a productive team, you need to focus on structure, payment, and feedback. You may have a happier and more productive team when you do so.
Alyssa A Hogan Enterprise helps business owners start and organizations grow with business and strategic planning & development, leadership training, and more! Call 407-308-5838.
Photo via Pexels
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