15 Best Practices For Managing Freelancers [Shared by Experts]

Freelancers create content for companies while still maintaining their independence and own schedules. They commonly use this freedom to diversify – out of 30 freelancers, over half (57%) currently freelance for five or more companies.

Managers often have plenty of questions and concerns about how best to manage freelancers. How to respect their independence and time, set company standards, and give freelancers enough information about your brand and goals for them to properly complete assignments?

As someone who has both managed freelancers and worked as a freelancer before, I was curious to hear what other freelancer managers think are the best tips for freelancer management. So our marketing team ran a survey to collect some insider info.

Below, we share eye-opening statistics on freelancing (from both managers and freelancers) and cover the top tips shared by 24 freelancer managers.

Statistics from freelancer managers and freelancers

According to our survey of 73 freelancer managers, 25% of managers oversee more than 10 freelancers. The majority 63% oversee at least five.

How long do managers usually spend on tasks related to managing freelancers per week? It varies, but most managers (66%) spend eight hours or less on these tasks. About 36% spend three to five hours on freelance management per week, 25% spend six to eight hours, and only 9% spend 15 hours or more per week.

We were also curious to find out what tasks managers assign out to freelancers – and what tasks freelancers report taking on. Unsurprisingly, article writing is the most commonly assigned task, with 92% of managers (73) assigning articles, and 90% of freelancers (30) taking article writing jobs.

But what other tasks are most commonly assigned?

Editing articles (47%) is the second-most common task managers assign, while writing other long-form content pieces, like ebooks and case studies (44%) is the third-most common assignment from managers.

Finding images is the second-most common assignment from the freelancer perspective (70%), and editing articles is third most common on a freelancer task list (67%).

As for uploading and publishing articles, these tasks are less common. Only 27% of managers have freelancers upload articles, and 33% of managers have freelancers publish articles.

On the freelancer side, 47% report that they upload articles, and 50% report publishing articles (higher percentage than managers report for these tasks, but still less than all other tasks reported on the freelancer side)

15 best practices for managing freelancers (from the managers)

Now, without further ado, here are tips and best practices for managing freelancers, straight from fellow managers.

1. Hire freelancers carefully

“The most important part of managing freelancers is hiring. Due diligence is key. Examine writing samples, check references, and seek out former clients not listed as references. You’ll get a more honest perspective this way.” –Eulises Quintero, Titoma

2. Set clear expectations and goals

“I think establishing a procedure for how you assign projects is critical when it comes to managing freelancers. Coming up with an ‘assignment package checklist’ helps quite a bit since it gives both the freelancer and the manager clear guidelines on what to expect from each other. So miscommunications about requirements should seldom happen.” –Carla Rodriguez, Wiz-Tec Computing Technologies

“Set clear expectations on both sides and don’t make any assumptions. Different people have different styles of work, use different tools, and approach assignments differently. Make sure you’ve taken the time to brief freelance collaborators properly, and communicate regularly to make sharing feedback easy.” –Bogdan Marinescu, Digital Trails

“Freelancers are outside of your organization, so they usually don’t know your clients or goals as well as you do. The onus is on managers to give freelancers the direction they need to create content that meets your standards for quality and relevance.” –Adam Rowan, Twelve Three Media

“Process is important. If you do not have documentation, processes, and metrics, then there is nothing to be accountable to. If you want your freelancers to do great work, you need to show them explicitly what great work looks like. Creating SOPs and videos is time-consuming for a manager to do, but it pays off in the long run.” –Andy Cabasso, Postaga

“I noticed that it is fundamental to be clear about my project requirements. Sometimes I have the ideas in mind but I don’t pass them clearly to the freelancer, and then the final work is not great and needs a lot of revision. So now, I try to be as clear as possible in my requirements, stating exactly what I want, but also what I don’t want.” –Pedro Bailadeira, Water Filter Portal

3. …And make other company standards clear as well

“Ensure freelancers know what’s expected of them beyond deliverables, such as agency protocol, values, and culture. You’ll find the work is better and is completed faster since any arising questions and concerns can be addressed quickly.” –Harriet Chan, Cocofinder

4. Communicating often is worth it

“The number one tip to keep in mind when managing freelancers is if you think you’re overcommunicating, you’re probably hitting the perfect balance of keeping them in the loop. Since they have such full worlds and you’re not their only priority, reiterating details or circling back on deadlines and availability is worth it every time. Bonus tip: Make them feel like part of the team. It will show in their work.” –Amanda Lutz, Clara Agency

“Remember that a freelancer doesn’t have the same knowledge or experience with your company as the in-house team. It’s always a good idea to overshare information with a freelancer so they know everything vital for performing a good job. Also, share any company news and updates. Help them feel part of the team and they will give you their best.” –Joy Corkery, Latana

5. Hold live meetings with freelancers

“Go old school and have at least one face-to-face meeting with them every 15 days, even if it’s on Zoom or Skype. The spoken word has a bit of a magic touch to it. Written communications are unavoidable, but spicing them up with live conversation motivates and encourages people to actually do what your email says you need them to do.

“Heck, sometimes even a round of WhatsApp audio messages does wonders. Of course, you don’t want to be chit-chatting with your freelancers all the time. But there’s a balance to be found between seamless, efficient, written communications, and the warmth and human touch of actually talking to people from time to time.” –Alan Furth, Really Simple Guitar

6. View freelancers as business partners

“Treat each freelancer as a peer and a friend. While they do work for you, they are their own bosses and appreciate a certain level of agency as all people do. Plus, they’ll be a lot more accommodating and invested in the success of the company when they know you view them as a business partner.” –Thao Tran, Voltcave

7. Remember that freelancers are not employees (and you aren’t their only client)

“It’s important to remember that a freelancer is not an employee. And employers should not expect to impose the same restrictions on them as they would employees. Freelancers don’t (usually) have set office hours. They perform specific tasks, and they usually perform those tasks for several other companies. This usually makes their time even more valuable because they usually have less of it to spare. Be mindful of those restrictions before forcing them into tight deadlines or last-minute meetings.” –Katie Elzer-Peters, The Garden Of Words

“To work effectively with freelancers, you have to understand you are probably not the only client of theirs. This means they can’t remember all your internal rules, guidelines, and general expectations. Have a template with everything you will be expecting from the delivery in the form of a checklist and include it in every task you assign to a freelancer. Thanks to this, freelancers will save time scrolling through emails/messages and never forget to perform something important you outlined a few days/weeks ago.” –Roman Vasilenko, Rocket Labs

8. Respect a freelancer’s autonomy

“The flexibility of freelancing means you can’t demand constant attention or availability from your writers. Part of the give and take of using freelancers in the first place is that they have less company affiliation and support, but greater autonomy. As a manager, you need to respect your freelancer’s autonomy while still maintaining strict schedules. This lets your freelancers know you respect them as professionals, in addition to demanding professional work.” –Deborah Goldberg, US Insurance Agents

“Give your freelancers the autonomy to do their work (as long as requirements and expectations are met) and show them appreciation for their work for your organization. Although you don’t have the employer-employee relationship, building a culture of support, communication, and praise is so important to retain your talent.” –Melissa Reeves, Fortune Avenue Consulting

“Cultivate a trusting relationship with freelancers based on clearly defined expectations. We allow autonomy but expect accountability. Our freelancers have proved that they can deliver on schedule, so we don’t want to micromanage them by constantly looking over their shoulder.” –Arthur Iinuma, ISBX

9. Care for your freelancers

“Even though they are contractors, freelancers are a part of your team and they should be treated that way. It’s important to really hear and respond to their questions or concerns, give them consistent feedback and advocate for them whenever possible. For example, if I receive a press release or HARO query about a topic that doesn’t fit the niche I’m publishing in, but is a niche my freelancer works in, I take a moment to send it to them. I want them to know I care for them beyond the words they’re writing for me.

“My freelance team knows if they need an extension, they can always ask. Yes, they’re contractors, but they also get sick and experience emergencies. I treat my freelancers how I’d like to be treated. If you want your freelancer team to go above and beyond for you, you should do the same for them. A little empathy goes a long way.” –Laira Martin, Vegamour

10. Keep in mind that freelancers are human

“Always see them as humans, not only a performance stat. This is hard to do if you haven’t been a freelancer yourself, but especially when it comes to creative work, having a good relationship and mutual understanding helps your business (and its systems) grow in terms of productivity. The only drawback here is that you can’t really measure this, which is why it’s somewhat abstract as advice.” –Nikita Chen, LegitGrails

“A freelancer, like any other employee, is a human being. They can have an off day, get sick, and they need to hear good feedback. They are part of our company’s success, so I will give them a bonus for a job well done. While I often never meet them in-person, I try to build a personal relationship. A bit of humor in the communication helps too. But especially recognizing their work is important.” –Nina Neuschuetz, Case Systems

11. Get to know the strengths and weaknesses of your freelancers

“Knowing the writing style of each freelancer and the types of articles they are best equipped to write is essential for any manager. We have specific writers geared toward more data-intensive pieces, as well as writers that focus on emerging industry trends. This same principle can be applied to web developers.” –Teresha Aird, Offices.net

12. Respect the freelancer’s time

“Respect their time and they will respect yours. That includes paying them on time. I always pay freelancers on time and they want to return again and again. Mutual respect is the whole relationship.” –Kristen Bolig, Security Nerd

“Respecting a freelancer’s time involves project management. After all, planning and organizing projects to ensure they’re finished on time and within the original budget and scope is exactly what a project manager does. If you’re not organized, you could over schedule, causing burnout, or under schedule, which affects your freelancer’s bottom line.” – Kevin Wei, Exponent

13. Use a task management platform, but keep all freelancers separate unless necessary

“Based on my experience, I concluded that I have to keep all the freelancers within a single task management platform, like Trello, but I should avoid letting them contact each other when there’s no direct necessity. Writer and editor, coder, and web designer, editor and SEO manager – these are all separate threads and I make them work together without making them interact in person.” –Nicholas Martin, Pest Control Hacks

14. Stay organized

“Stay organized. Know who is working on what and when it is due. Give yourself breathing room by communicating a false deadline of a week prior to your hard deadline. I use Zoho CRM projects to help me keep a bird’s-eye view of where everyone is with their part of the project. And it enables me to track hours for billing. When using Upwork to hire and manage projects, I use their system because it has the screen shots and I’m gonna pay through their platform.” –Shannon Peel, MarketAPeel

15. Be flexible

“It’s better to be flexible and hold onto a good worker than to be rigid and lose them. I’ve extended due dates and made other accommodations for good freelancers because they’re worth their weight in gold.” –Daivat Dholakia, Force By Mojio

Wrapping things up

We hope these insights from freelancer managers inspire you as you continue to lead and support teams of freelancers.

Remember to respect a freelancer’s flexibility, but set detailed, clear standards and expectations so freelancers know exactly what to expect. You can use a time tracking app for freelancers to monitor activity and make sure they are on track without being over the top. It’s all about striking a balance!

If you’re looking for more tips, don’t miss our other roundups on managing freelancers, both from the managers’ perspective and the freelancers’ perspective.