Freelance is no longer just a contract-based profession but a lifestyle. People are adopting this particular way of work-life rapidly.
As the Zipia Reports on the statistics show, almost 70% of small businesses now prefer freelancers to be on their team.
Most companies even prefer to hire freelancers and remote workers more than they are to invite any in-house employees. Undoubtedly, it has some amazing perks, and one of them is the cost efficiency on both sides. Workers can work on their terms and have the liberty to choose the projects of their choice. On the other hand, companies get relief from asset management.
However, that being said, most people still feel that freelancing has a low productivity rate. This is contradictory at various levels, as some of the best freelancer tools for collaboration are making it easy.
If you are among the ones who feel your freelancing team’s productivity is low, here are the ways to increase it.
Tips to increase the productivity of your freelance team
There is no denying the fact that freelancers have more distractions and challenges rather than the teams working in the office. Therefore, as a team manager, you can either panic or sort this out like an efficient leader. The best thing is to utilize some of the very best apps for freelancers. These team collaboration tools can help you collaborate more efficiently, keep your team close to each other, and enable teamwork.
So, what do you really need to do?
. Set some ground rules:
Ground rules are necessary to keep the team in a productive mood. Yes, there is a free comes in freelancers, but you do not need to give them a free pass for everything. You need to set some terms in the contract.
Moreover, set out some of the policies for freelancers too. Besides, one of the benefits is that they become a part of your team entirely, and the second, you have some control over the off-site teams.
. Use collaboration tools:
Collaboration tools for business are not only for the in-house team. You can connect your freelancers on these apps too. When freelancers are in touch with the team, they feel valuable and less distracted from their physical surroundings. Moreover, the collaboration tools make team communication easy and smooth.
They will likely have better access to all the information they need to focus on the tasks. Besides, you can also monitor their activities through the dashboard, review, report, and manage meetings when needed. Overall, the connection becomes slid and unbreakable. Now, you are not just a contract-based team, but the people who work together to make a real difference worldwide.
. Set deadlines by discussing them with the team:
Scheduling is most important. The significant point for this matter is keeping the team in the loop. Ultimately they are the ones to work for you on your project. For example, only a designer can evaluate the timeline for any specific designs. No other team member can do it on his behalf.
So, if you have a freelance designer on the team, you need to discuss project requirements with him/her before you get back to the client with an expected deadline. Do not take their time for granted and value every minute by making them part of project timeline discussions.
. Set time for useful meeting hours:
Freelancing is a lonely profession. The freelancer’s chances of work taking a toll is more than any other worker. Keeping the meetings on a regular basis can help them know that you value their mental health. Also, a meeting doesn’t just have to be about the work only.
You can arrange a meeting just to collaborate, brainstorm about something else and make your team of freelancers feel more important in your company. Now, many project collaboration tools also give you amazing features for meetings. So, go for them and have an interrupted session any time.
. Do not underestimate the power of time management:
Time management has been overused in the business world for a long time, yet it is still important today. Managing your time is essential if you want to be effective. So, set the proper priorities for the tasks. The good news is that if you are using the best freelancer platform for project management, you will find that feature such as the severity of the task or status, etc.
It enables users to set the priorities considering the tasks. As a manager, you can easily manage the status simply by setting it when assigning the task through the tool. Your freelancers will get notified about it; voila, they know the time they need to give your project.
. Encourage them for short breaks:
Breaks are really important. We are not simply talking about a rule of a 5-minute walk during long sitting hours. We are talking about long vacation breaks. If you have full-time freelancers working with you, you must encourage them to the breaks often. They might be urged to utilize the time for more work, but if you can compensate for that time, they will surely love to take a break.
If you have a creative team as a freelancers, you will receive them back with the most creative minds after the break. So, ultimately, it works in favor of your own company or business. Yes, the temptation here is different, and the urge to save some more money is great. But giving your freelancers an equal opportunity for the break can eventually help you retain the employee for the long term.
Bottom line
Businesses might benefit from working with a freelancing workforce in a variety of ways. However, to get the most out of what it has to offer, you must first understand the fundamentals of working with remote teams with varying schedules to boost the effectiveness of your freelancing workforce. Moreover, understanding the significance of the best communication tools for teams is vital for a productivity boost.
The ideas described above should serve as an excellent starting point for better serving the demands of your remote freelancing teams and increasing their productivity.
