How to Work with Freelance Software Developers?
According to a recent study done by the Freelancers Union and freelance worker site Upwork, one in three US workers is a freelancer or an independent contractor. The total count of freelancers in US goes up to 53 million which includes 14.3 million workers who work part time.
Freelancing is on the rise, and why shouldn’t it be; it is one of the best ways of getting work done, quite effectively and efficiently. From the comfort of your office, you can find some of the best people in the field from around the globe and work with them, with the added benefit of cost effectiveness!
Managing freelancers however is an art. In this blog, we are discussing the best ways to find, interview, hire and manage freelance software developers.
Finding the Right Candidate
There are two ways of hiring a freelancer, one is by yourself - by posting jobs on different portals or scourging your contacts for the right person, the other is to find freelancers through a talent acquisition agency or a consultant.
Software development is an expensive and resource hungry process. It takes a lot of time and effort to find the right person for it; there are many nuances involved in the process, read on to know more.
Hiring the Right Candidate
Personality conflict is one of the most common reasons of so many projects getting killed; if you don’t feel comfortable with the freelancer, find someone else. Don’t settle.
It is important that both, you and the freelancer, are on the same page when it comes to understanding the arrangement and the nature of the work. Things you should be clear about before interviewing the freelancer:
- Budget of the Project
- Schedule and project timeline
- Is on-site management required? If yes, how much and at what intervals?
- Security and background check of the freelancer
- Availability of the freelancer and their preferred mode of communication
Checking the References and Reputation of the Freelancer
A good freelancer software developer must have a good online profile/or a blog, good amount of customer testimonials and a Github profile but this is not enough. Online side projects and study assignments indicate enthusiasm but are not the real markers of a professional, set your expectations and price accordingly, and dig deep into the work an individual has done in the past before hiring him/her.
Freelance software developers who know your domain are any day better than the rest. You are not qualified to judge someone on PHP or Ruby unless you yourself know the language. To better assess the knowledge of the person you are hiring and judge whether s/he is the right fit, ask them about the nature of your domain and its finer details. The more they know about it, the better they are suited to work for you. Technical skills alone are not enough to solve business problems!
Setting up Communication and Deadlines
Clear communication is a big part of the quality of work you are going to get as result. Communicating the tasks and deliverable right is perhaps the biggest and most important part of the process. You need to break down your project into sizeable well defined tasks with clear deliverables and deadlines and communicate them to the developer and make sure of the
mutual agreement.
Setting up Some Rules
Establishing some ground rules about communication, deliveries, deadlines and payment will simplify the process for both you and the developer. To create a positive workflow, it is required that proper communication is set up and followed through. Ask your developer to keep you updated about the work progress, similarly, answer promptly the queries and questions raised by the developer.
Follow these steps right and you’ll have a good and productive time working with some of the best people you can find in your domain.
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