If Done Right, Freelancers can be Your Secret Weapon. Here’s How
At the first TAP series launched by CreativesAtWork, a group of company executives attended the event with a mission: to learn about how they could tap on the expertise of freelancers to better accommodate their growing business needs.
When it comes to workplace matters today, it doesn’t quite feel like we’re in the year 2018. Rather, it feels like we’ve skipped a step on the way here. For example, the 8-hour work day, which was invented to run factories during the Industrial Revolution, still remains in force.
And freelancing is still not considered to be a real job.
Gainfully Employed, Passionate Experts
This is despite the fact that there are over 200,000 self-employed people (and fast growing!) in Singapore. Out of this group, more than 81% of them picked this career path by choice, and not because they couldn’t find a job.
At the aforementioned event, the team at CreativesAtWork explains that they have observed this trend also. Their pool of talented freelancers has grown steadily to 1500 over the past 5 years, growing at a rate of 20% year-on-year. In the process, they’ve facilitated over 300 projects between freelancer and client.
You see, when it comes to expertise, freelancers are way ahead of the curve. Because their craft is their livelihood, they have to perfect it. Throw in a splash of passion, and you have someone who is more than capable of delivering quality results, every single time, over as short or long a time period as you desire.
But this will only happen if they’re treated with the same respect any other business owner is accorded. And this is a skill in itself - though well-worth the effort.
Be Respectful
Many problems associated with working with freelancers stem from a misunderstanding of how to communicate with them. Co-speaking with CreativesAtWork, freelance marketer Nicole Tan explained to the audience that freelancers should be working with clients, and not for them.
Here’s why. Freelancers are typically hired as an expert in a particular area. For example, someone like Nicole might be brought in by a client to help establish their digital marketing processes and workflow.
However, clients are usually managers in their own companies as well, and are used to directing employees in their work. As such, they tend to bring that mentality over to working with freelancers, attempting to direct and dictate the work to be done, and how it should be done.
And then they wonder why the final product didn’t produce any good results.
For example, take a “blue flower” that the client might request a freelance designer to deliver. To the designer, a blue flower isn’t just a blue flower - it needs to be broken down into many details, such as the type of flower, the shade of blue, and so on. However, if the client doesn’t get advice from the designer on this, the result might be far from what he or she had in mind at the start.
Because of this, it is critical for companies who are looking to hire freelancers to work with freelancers, and not expect them to work for you. Remember, many of these freelancers chose this path not necessarily because it is lucrative, but because of sheer passion for the craft, whether it be writing, design, or development.
If you treat them with respect, they will become the strongest asset in your toolbox.
Be Clear On Paper
That said, it is still important for you as the client to have a clear objective in mind when hiring a freelancer. You will need to be specific with what you want to achieve or receive, so that there will be as little unnecessary stress as possible for both parties.
If you’re unsure about what you should expect, it’s perfectly fine to consult the freelancer and get his or her advice. After all, he/she is the domain expert, and has likely worked with other clients on similar projects.
Having a project brief written up beforehand would be extremely helpful to this end, as it would help both parties to understand the parameters involved, and determine the right pricing to agree on.
In this document, it is essential to clearly state the project objectives and goals that were agreed upon, to prevent any dispute further down the line.
In fact, CreativesAtWork has a template that they always bring out when helping their clients to lock down project details with freelancers.
Having a Service Agreement to firm up all the details from a legal perspective would be preferable, too. However, don’t make it too lengthy, as it is simply a confirmation of what was agreed upon in the project brief.
Tap Into A Growing Expert Workforce
You might say that it’s impossible for you to get on the same wavelength as your creative counterpart, because business and creative work is so different in nature - the twain shall never meet.
Jayce Tham, CEO and co-founder of CreativesAtWork, assures the audience that it’s possible. Personally, she started off quite far removed from the creative scene. As a student, she studied finance at National Technological University (NTU), and then went on to become a Senior Associate at Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX).
Finally, she became an Assistant Director at the Media Development Authority of Singapore, where she was exposed to the thriving media landscape in Singapore. It was there that Jayce decided to do something about the slowly growing freelancing scene locally, starting up a media agency called CreativesAtWork.
Still, she had no technical experience in this space at all. However, over the years she and the CreativesAtWork team have gained a better understanding and appreciation of the many creative talents that exist in this space, and how to best work with them.
You can work with the best of them, too. Sure, it might take some time to set everything up with your freelancers at the start. But the satisfactory end-results will make it more than worth your time.
About TAP Series
CreativesAtWork has been running our regular coffee talks as well as our marquee training programme - 2-days freelancing 101 bootcamp workshop.
Going forward, other than continuing to empower the freelance community, we will also be launching a series of workshops for client management and get client to understand how to better work with freelancers. This series will be called the TAP series. TAP series is supported by e2i and Pixel Studio.
About e2i
As the leading organisation to create solutions for better employment and employability, e2i exists to create better jobs and better lives for workers. Since 2008, we have helped 300,000 workers through providing better jobs, developing better skills through professional development, and improving productivity for companies. An initiative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), supported by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF), and the Singapore National Employers’ Federation (SNEF), e2i serves all segments of workers, from rank-and-file to professionals, managers and executives.
Visit http://www.e2i.com.sg for more information.
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