Top 6 Tools to Effectively Manage your Team of Freelancers
Collections 🗒️With time, businesses have changed their outlook while hiring people. Nowadays companies are taking interest in freelancers apart from permanent employees. During the pandemic era, when people were left jobless, they opted for the second-best option, Freelancing.
In freelancing, one is not permanently hired by a company; here they work as an independent contractor for a particular project provided by the company. Somehow, the second-best option has now turned into the best option for most of them. Businesses took this opportunity and started turning it into their favor by hiring freelancers for most of the work.
Now, the benefits of this new kind of employment have attracted a world. In the point of view of a business, they are getting their work done by a person who specializes in the preferred domain and in a much lesser price. The pay-per-project factor is what encourages the businesses as well.
When you hire freelancers, managing them can be a little difficult, as they work from remote places and face-to-face meeting them is not possible.
Therefore, while managing the team, some tools are needed to ensure hassle-free and smooth work. This article will talk about the tools that have taken upon themselves in managing freelancers but before that let’s talk about the challenges that are faced during the management of freelancers.
“We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us.”
— John Culkin
Challenges Faced While Managing Freelancers
Tools That Helps In Managing Freelancers
FAQ
Challenges Faced While Managing Freelancers
There exist numerous benefits of working with freelancers, but the obstacles are there as well. Some of the most common of them are:
Communication
Communication is a big factor; a project's success huge depends on the communication process between the client and the freelancer. Sometimes miscommunication while video conferencing or non-verbal ways can lead to a severe conclusion. Tools like Google Docs can be a little trickier while using, to provide detail of the project to the freelancer.
Time Management
Time Management is another issue, if deadlines are not met by the workers, it can rig the entire working system which can even lead to the cancellation of the project.
Management of the project
Management of the project can be a little tricky; the employer needs to be cautious. They need to update the freelancers if there are any changes in the project and cater to the needs of the freelancers as soon as possible so that they can deliver the best result possible.
Managing the independent contractors
Managing the independent contractors can also be an issue, if that person is not giving their best or creating problems for the required project, it may cause a hindrance for the company.
Tools to Manage Freelancers
These entire problems can be resolved if one just uses the tools then the collaboration between the client and the freelancer can be a success. All the below tools help in managing the freelances as if they are working on-site instead of remote.
Trello
This tool helps the client in tracking the progress of the work done by the freelancer. The tools help in organizing all the work in a single board that shows who is working on what and what the progress of that work is. It is called a visual collaboration tool, where comments can be given, attachments can be uploaded that are needed for the project.
Apart from that, due dates can also be assigned. The projects details are visible to those people who are invited by the employer, so leaking sensitive information can be avoided.
Trello Pricing
Alternative Apps- Asana, Wrike, ClickUp, Jira
Slack
Communication is important in any kind of job, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is the key to managing the freelancers as well. Communicating through email, text messages can take a lot of time and may result in delayed work.
So, Slack here solves that problem. It is an all-in-one communication app; it allows text messages, voice calling, and video calling as well. Through this, communication becomes easier between freelance employers and the independent project workers.
Slack Pricing
Alternative Apps- RocketChat, Discord, Mattermost, Flock, Ryver, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat
ResourceGuru
People are mostly interested to work as a freelancer because it provides the flexibility of time. One can work when one wants to. Sometimes this can create a struggle for the employer to keep the workers on time.
ResourceGuru makes the job of employer a lot easier; it provides the employer with the availability list of the freelancers. They provide calendar features and helps in scheduling the work of the freelancers according to their time eliminating the struggle of time-consuming.
ResourceGuru Pricing
Alternative Apps- Tempus Resource, Mavenlink, Forecast, Journyx, LiquidPlanner
15Five
The dispute often arises, when queries are not solved through proper communication. Feedback from the workers is needed for the betterment of the project.
15Five is an app that helps in getting feedback from employees. This also provides the company to answer the queries that arise in the feedback provided by the employees. Therefore, it solves any issues that can create a problem because of not communicating properly, for the project.
15five Pricing
Alternative Apps- Leapsome, Betterworks, Kazoo, Kudos, Motivosity, Culture Amp
Dropbox
Sharing files with freelancers can be an issue if the file is big and there isn’t enough space. Thanks to Dropbox, this problem can easily be solved as it provides enough space and can help in sharing the files with the employees.
The best thing is, employees can only get access to the files that employers provide them with. The employees also have the option to share large files.
Dropbox Pricing
Alternative Apps- Google Drive, OneDrive, pCloud, Tresorit, NextCloud, SpideOak
TechSmith Capture (Foremerly Jing)
Although freelancers are hired because they excel in their domain, there are some things that need to be taught to the employees before they begin with their work. While training freelancers is not easy as they work from remote areas.
TechSmith Capture makes this work a lot easier by allowing the employers to create training videos of how the tasks should be done, for the employees. Whenever a new freelancer joined the company, the employer can just share the video that can train them.
Alternative App- ShareX, Greenshot, LightShot, SimpleScreenRecorder, FastStone Capture
Conclusion
With more and more people turning to freelancers for employment, it has become a great market for businesses to choose from. The tool just helps the businesses to collaborate with the freelancers properly that will in return provide the business with top-notch services.
FAQ
What is a Freelancer Job?
A freelancer’s job is of an independent contractor instead of a permanent employee in a company that paid them on a per-task basis.
Which Skill is Best For Freelancing?
Social Media Management, Data Entry, Web Designing, Graphic Designing, Accounting, Content Writing are some of the top skills for freelancing.
What are some of the tools you can use to manage freelancers?
Trello, Dropbox, 15five and ResourceGuru are some of the top tools you can use to manage freelancers.
Must have tools for startups - Recommended by StartupTalky
- Convert Visitors into Leads- SeizeLead
- Manage your business smoothly- Google Workspace
- International Money transfer- XE Money Transfer