The Difficulties in Finding Good Freelancers (and How to Address Them)

Freelancers are extremely useful to get certain small tasks performed, a series of them, or a larger project that runs over weeks or months.

23:56 07 June 2020

The difficulty for employers is mostly around finding an effective freelancer and getting sustained high-performance from them.

 

Here are some tips on how to find better freelancers and ways to address performance-related issues connected to them.

 

Finding the Right Freelancers

 

There’s now an abundance of freelancers in numerous categories available to perform for your business.

 

Whatever you wish to outsource, it often makes sense to pass it onto a freelancer – however, how do you locate a good one?

Word of Mouth

 

Word of mouth is a useful method for finding a recommended person. A colleague or fellow business owner may have a suggestion for someone who performed well for them in the past. They’re not guaranteed to still be working in that field, performing at that high level or be currently available, but this might be a place to start.

 

Trial Period

 

Taking a freelancer on but only temporarily to see how they perform protects the downside.

 

It doesn’t avoid the lost time and money in a trial period after during which they may fail to deliver up to your expectations. However, sometimes it feels like this is unavoidable.

 

Vetted Network

 

A vetted network of freelancers is a better way to go. A freelancer network can offer benefits including reviewed freelancers, references checked, and work assured.

 

It cuts out much of the uncertainty and can reduce the likelihood of disappointment.

 

Setting Things Up Right

 

When the task is similar to previous ones or it’ll be an ongoing task, then it’s useful to prepare some documents and/or instructional videos to guide the freelancer. This will be beneficial for them but also anyone that may come after them too.

 

The idea with this information is to let the freelancer study the materials, so they’ll be better prepared to leap into the role with both feet. It gets them over the hump of dealing with new systems, different procedures, and uncertainty to get moving quickly.

 

Consider Setting Small One-off Tasks

 

Initially, it may be a good idea to set a smaller, one-off task that’s not as critically important. It provides a brief testing ground for a freelancer on something less vital. This can confirm whether they have the qualities required for the larger project.

 

For instance, small tasks may demonstrate whether they take instruction well, have good attention to detail, and can communicate well with colleagues. It will also highlight their deficiencies too.

 

This is useful to avoid committing considering funds to work with a freelancer when there’s little space to try again with someone else should they fail to hit the mark.

 

Finding the right people to support the business is never easy. You compete with companies of all sizes looking for the right people. It’s necessary to provide a welcoming environment, clear instructions of what needs to be done, and a degree of positivity too. Ultimately, this is likely to deliver the results you’re looking for.