4 Steps for Keeping Your Remote Freelance Team Happy and Productive

More than ever, work is taking place at home, with freelance jobs becoming increasingly popular every year. If you are managing a business and need freelancers to keep it running, now’s the perfect time to cultivate a happy and productive freelance team. Check out these tips from Blox for keeping your team on track today:

1. Prepare Your Business to Use Freelancers

Employing freelancers has its advantages but, because there are differences, you should take steps to ensure you’re in a good position to hire. Freelancing offers an inherently fluid setup with endless possibilities when it comes to time management, so establish early on what your expectations are in regards to what hours your contractors will keep and how you will track productivity.

In addition to managing a productive team of freelancers, there are a few ways to increase your own productivity as well. For instance, consider optimizing your home office if you'll be working from home. Making updates can even increase your home's value, so be sure to save all the invoices and receipts from the work spent on setting up your office space to quantify the expenses.

Also understand how forming a limited liability company or LLC for your business has many benefits beyond separating the assets of the business from yours, including tax advantages and less paperwork. Skip the lawyer and save some cash by using an online formation service to file. Regulations on LLCs vary between states, so research your local laws before filing.

2. Find Quality Workers

There’s no shortage of workers looking to work from home, so use this to your business’s advantage. Geekflare recommends embracing freelance employees as they offer greater flexibility than traditional hires and can save you money. Online job boards like Guru allow you to hire from countries such as India and Canada regardless of where your business is based.

One benefit of hiring freelancers is that the online job boards they post their services on often require them to allow ratings and reviews from those who hire them. Use these to evaluate how accurately the potential contractor represents themselves in their pitch. Ask for samples of past projects and results to get an idea of the services they will provide. Look around to find the highest quality applicant with the most reasonable rates to get the most for your money.

3. Know How to Pay Them

When your freelancers are working in another country, it’s important to understand how to legally and professionally get their paychecks to them. Regulations may vary from country to country, so research the laws in your country as well as the contractor's to ensure payroll compliance. Using reliable inexpensive money transfer services, such as Remitly, makes it easy to get money into the hands of your freelancers while meeting the tax expectations and other regulations of the countries involved.

4. Have a Clear Line of Communication

When workers are spread out over the globe instead of in an office, RemoteDesk notes that communication is more important than ever. This is vital not only to successful project completion but also the cultivation of a company culture that encourages workers to invest their full potential and stay for the long haul. There are many free services available that your company can use to stay connected.

Freelancers can be a lifesaver to your business, offering exceptional services at prices your company can afford. Keep contractors informed, respected and paid, and your investment in them will help ensure your business's success in today's highly competitive market.

Blox brings the best parts of the world, marketing, life and the web to your door without the hassle, frustration and quite frankly, wasted time dealing with frustrating and annoying ads. Check back for more informative articles so‍

The goal of Blox is to bring the best parts of the web to you in one place. If you’re seeking SEO, marketing or content strategies or would like to collaborate, email us at david@theprofessionallist.com.

Image courtesy of Unsplash