Did you know that every one in ten workers is a freelance contractor? As the demand for such services increases, more people are now changing their working terms to improve flexibility.
Due to the limited availability of some talents, your company may need to hire freelance contractors for some projects. But, without suitable contractor management methods, it may be hard to get the right talent.
Lacking proper systems to help you oversee their work can also make it difficult to identify the ones to keep.
With efficient freelance management methods, you can improve the future of work and oversee external talent. You can also create ways to make them feel more included in the company. Here, we discuss five steps that will guide you in managing your freelance workers.
1. Consolidate Your Database
If you want to have better methods for managing freelancers, it is advisable to consolidate your database of external talent.
An ideal way to do this is by using cloud-based contractor management systems. Using these, you will have better control of your workforce.
By uploading all details about the talents in your organization, you can quickly find the right ones for specific projects. Tools such as marketplaces will also simplify selecting the right freelancers to add to particular teams.
Another benefit of combining your list of freelancers is that it improves visibility. With digital programs such as JobBliss, you can create a searchable database. Here, add various details about all your available external talents. Such include work history, contact information, and performance.
Having this data in an accessible platform will make hiring contractors and managing freelancers simple. If you need to add talent to your current project, all you have to do is search for the skills required in the database.
2. Improve Freelance Management by Being Inclusive
Have you ever hired a freelancer and wondered how you could retain them in your company? Well, the best way to do this is by providing your external talents with a good work environment.
First, ensure that the processes you have in place keep them connected with your internal workers. For example, use communication methods that allow them to feel more included. With these, they can collaborate with internal employees on different projects.
Besides, they can share ideas on how to serve clients better and provide quality services. Another way to make your freelance talent feel like part of the company is by encouraging open communication. You can do this using different tools and platforms with messaging and chat features.
You can also adopt project management programs with collaborative tools. Such will make it possible for all employees in the team to work towards common goals. They will also give you and your managers better ideas on how to manage freelance workers.
By making your contractors feel more included, you can improve the rate at which you retain them. In the long run, you will have more reliable talent and avoid skills shortages.
3. Streamline Your Contractor Management Methods
Streamlining your contractor management methods will help you improve productivity. Work with your team to create better ways to have visibility over your freelancers. You can do this by first checking if the current methods are effective and determining if anything needs improving.
With this information, you may go ahead to discuss how to manage contractors better. One method you can consider for better control is centralizing your contract information. Having a tool that provides all details about your external talents will improve efficiency.
Team leaders can easily use the database to identify the talents that would grow their department. They will also be able to communicate better with both internal and external workers.
Streamlining contractor management with your entire team will then improve cohesion in different units of the company.
4. Improve Future of Work by Building Teams
Another step to help you improve managing contractors is building teams you can rely on in the future.
Share a detailed database of the freelancers you have worked with over a certain period with various internal workers. These include your managers, recruiters, team leaders, and department heads. After that, schedule a meeting where you can identify the contractors that are good for the business.
Having such discussions with your staff will help them pick the resources that can benefit their teams. They can also strategize on how to include these talents in their departments in the long run.
While identifying the best freelancers may take time, it is a crucial step to improving the future of work. Other than that, having reliable talents on standby will help you save time and resources in many ways. For example, you can quickly contact them when you have pending projects.
Besides, the onboarding process will be easier since they understand the goals and culture of your company. You will also build strong business relationships and enjoy many benefits from them in the future.
5. Improve Visibility
Lacking enough visibility over your freelance contractors makes it hard to manage them. An ideal way to have a better idea of what is going on in your company is by identifying inefficiencies.
Do your communication methods allow everyone in the company to understand the role of your freelance talents? Does your management method help you get total visibility into resource activity?
If your answer to these questions is no, it may be time to adopt ways to give you better insights into various processes. For example, inform your internal talents of all existing freelance employees and their roles. Moreover, help your team leaders track how contractors work using management software.
You can also improve project execution by encouraging transparency about the use of allocated budgets. Another way to boost visibility in management is by using different tools to monitor the timelines specific freelancers use to complete their work.
Improve Contractor Management With JobBliss
Using practical freelance management steps can improve productivity in your company. At JobBliss, we provide tools to help you enhance the future of work by having a database of your contractors. Using our software, you can quickly identify the right talent for a particular project.
You can also build reliable teams by tracking how each freelancer works and picking the ones to keep. Contact us today to understand more ways we can help you improve contractor management.
