How to Measure Freelance Success - Freelance Frontiers Episode 2
The rapid growth of the freelance workforce is completely transforming how companies build teams and drive strategic initiatives.
Organizations across every industry are increasingly relying on flexible talent with specialized skills to help them respond quickly to new opportunities and challenges.
But successfully leveraging and measuring these agile external teams requires a very different approach than traditional employee management structures.
Freelancers operate independently and frequently juggle multiple clients, so their work cannot be evaluated in the same way as full-time staff.
Today, we’ll dive deep on proven best practices that both companies and freelancers can employ to set clear expectations, evaluate partnerships, and nurture growth.
Adopting these strategies will enable your business to assemble high-performing blended teams that deliver outsized impact.
Whether you are looking to engage top freelance talent, or are a freelancer looking to do impactful work with the best clients, these tips will help set you up for success.
Set Clear Goals and Success Metrics Upfront
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is failing to communicate expected goals, outcomes and success metrics when onboarding freelancers.
Without understanding what “good” looks like from the outset, freelancers end up operating blindly.
Smart managers make a point to:
Outline core objectives the freelancer needs to drive
Highlight essential KPIs their work will be measured on
Provide context on how the freelance project ladders up to broader business goals
Setting clear expectations upfront ensures alignment and enables freelancers to showcase the direct business impact of their work.
Create a Framework for Consistent Measurement
Obviously, you can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to judging freelancer success, since criteria will vary by project type.
BUT it does help to develop an overarching methodology to evaluate work consistently across freelancers and full-time staff.
The best leaders manage their teams to outcomes, which means finding ways to track contributions of your team that ladder up to successful results.
Having a baseline framework provides structure without sacrificing flexibility.
It also spotlights freelancers who consistently deliver high-quality work that moves key metrics.
You can use this sample framework as a jumping-off point:
Project goal - what is the ideal outcome?
KPIs - how will you know the project is a success?
Reporting tools and frequency - how are you monitoring progress?
Individual contributions - what does your team need to do to give the project its best chance for success? This could look like a deliverable/timeline list or something more comprehensive.
An effective framework removes subjectivity and helps focus team efforts. It also facilitates giving actionable feedback tied to measurable outcomes. Implemented collaboratively, it allows both freelancers and staff to understand expectations and have clarity on what success looks like.
The key is ensuring the framework stays flexible. Metrics and responsibilities can evolve over the project lifecycle. As long as it serves the purpose of providing consistency in how contributions connect to shared objectives, a measurement framework can be a useful project management tool.
Take a Long-Term View of “Value”
Avoid assessing freelancers through a short-term tactical or cost-based lens.
The goal shouldn’t just be getting tasks done quickly and cheaply. Think about it - do YOU want to work “on demand”? Of course not. Top-tier freelance talent is incentivized to contribute value to your organization to win repeat business, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of rushed deadlines or lowballed fees.
For freelance team managers, that means building a system that gives you visibility into what your flex team members contribute to your business over time.
The goal is to be able to identify freelancers who drive outsized business impact relative to cost over time.
This long-term perspective clarifies who to continue investing in - and helps create a healthy and productive working relationship with your flex team.
Close the Feedback Loop - Share Results!
The best way both parties can continue improving is by closing the feedback loop.
Brands should report final performance data and strategic takeaways to freelancers once projects wrap.
Not only does this help freelancers refine skills, but it also motivates them by highlighting their impact.
They can then showcase quantified achievements to future clients.
Closing the loop also enables brands to further align on what success looks like for upcoming collaborations.
Optimize Based on Two-Way Feedback
Freelancers are assessing brand partnerships as much as they are being evaluated themselves. Savvy freelancers look for clients who:
Are adaptable to new ideas and processes
Respect their time and expertise
Collaborate effectively and improve over time
By incorporating feedback from both sides, teams can continuously optimize how they work together.
The result is greater transparency, trust, and performance.
The Takeaway
Set clear goals and success metrics before projects begin
Have consistent methodology to evaluate work across the board
Take long-term view of value versus short-term task focus
Report back final performance data at project end
Incorporate two-way feedback to improve collaboration
The freelance workforce is here to stay, and soon most companies will depend on external talent for critical operations.
Organizations that take the time to nurture transparency and communication in these relationships will assemble high-performing teams that drive disproportionate business impact.
The strategies covered in this article will help you optimize how you evaluate and reward freelance contributions based on clear expectations and data-driven insights, which lead to flexible talent and clients that are invested in each other's success for the long-term.
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