4 Ways to Effectively Work With Other Freelancers
Yesterday I talked about combining skills to provide more effective package for clients. But there are also benefits to be gained from working with other freelancers. Aside from the ability to share a great load among two or more hands, each member of a freelancing group will bring unique ideas and perspectives that will provide the old adage “two heads are better than one” to be true.
But like anything else, there’s also a dark side to working with other freelancers. The potential for conflicts or disagreements between the members is always there, and if they’re not resolved quickly, these may affect the group’s productivity, or may even the cause its breakup altogether.
Yet if freelancer groups keep the following five tips in mind, they will be able to maximize the contribution each member brings to the table.
- Define the roles. To avoid any confusion, the role of each member in a project must be clearly defined. What do they have to do and when do they have to deliver it?
- Use a unified voice to interact with clients. Assign one, and only one, member to talk to the clients. It can be confusing for a client to deal with different statements from the group’s different members.
- Keep open lines of communication. By voicing out individual issues, the group members makes it easier to resolve potential conflicts quickly. Knowing each other’s availability also makes it easier to coordinate any project implementations.
- Remember that it’s business. And be frank when the situation requires. It can be hard to be straightforward with long-time acquaintances and friends, the people most likely to form a freelancing group, but an effective working unit must not take such interactions personally.
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POSTED IN: Productivity Drivers
1 opinion for 4 Ways to Effectively Work With Other Freelancers
Evan Meagher
Mar 1, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Good tips. Number one is especially good, even outside of freelancing. Having everyone involved know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing will increase group productivity, as everyone will be able to actually work instead of fidgeting around trying to figure out what to do.
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