Some remote workers (freelancers) often handle important tasks for your project that your full-time employees don’t—making you rely on them to be

by your side. So how can you make them feel like an integral part of your team?

Remote workers now make up a large and growing share of the global workforce. According to 2018 statistics, around 46%

of workers choose to work remotely because it offers flexibility and balance as an alternative to mandatory office-based work.

Of course, entrepreneurs benefit from this trend too: access to talent on demand helps lower labor costs and reduce overhead, thereby

Increase productivity.

However, this type of work also comes with challenges, both for freelancers and for the entrepreneurs who hire them. For example,

some of these groups face psychological struggles, giving up the sense of security that comes with a steady salary and a defined career path, which makes them more

prone to burnout and physical exhaustion.

If your work depends on temporary workers, contractors, freelancers, independent consultants, or others, make a concerted effort to make

your company mutually beneficial, so you can build more relationships, by following these tips to get the most out of freelancers or employees

عن بعد بشركتك:

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1. The give-and-take principle

First, make sure your remote employees genuinely want to be part of your team. Building a strong relationship with them will undoubtedly benefit your company as a whole.

They can continue to receive support from your company while earning income from their freelance work at the same time. They can do their work exceptionally well, and to

the fullest extent—this is truly a huge competitive advantage for your company.

To ensure these people feel like part of your team, you need to create a give-and-take relationship with them: whenever they give their time, they should get something in return, whether that’s

a rewarding financial return or recognition for their work and the value they bring to your company.

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2. Never sideline them

Full-time employees can easily communicate more often than their geographically isolated remote-worker and freelancer counterparts, which means you need to

Be careful not to leave them out, as this can create a particular challenge for these workers and, in turn, reduce productivity.

To avoid this problem, your full-time employees can use a wide range of channels to communicate—not only with one another, but also with freelancers and

remote workers. Work with the managers responsible for your project to identify tools that make it easy for your full-time employees to communicate with temporary

or remote workers.

Once you’ve chosen the tools they’ll use to communicate, establish clear guidelines for how to use them. This is key to maintaining

smooth communication. For example, the communications team might overlook or neglect to email urgent requests to operations workers

on freelancers for your project, which can lead to delays. Instead, have your permanent employees communicate with their remote counterparts, especially about

time-sensitive matters, and ask them to send their feedback by email to keep your internal workflow on track, coordinating with the team responsible

for managing remote workers.

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3. Make strategic use of your remote employees

When it comes to your permanent team members, you’ll carefully place the right people in the right roles to move your company forward. Take the same approach

when selecting and managing remote employees. Using them wisely means knowing how well they align with your company’s overall goals.

To put this into practice, experts recommend tracking remote employees’ work across different departments or business units, while keeping an eye on metrics such as:

average pay rates, operating expenses, average project duration, and more. This will give you the big-picture view you need to determine whether you’re placing contractors like these

in the right roles, just as you do with your full-time employees.

Finally, you can avoid conducting a comprehensive manual assessment of all the above—particularly when determining whether a department needs more support from your workforce

or whether a department is leaving its contractor budget unused. Many work management software solutions can handle this entire process

and provide actionable insights, helping you see whether your efforts are paying off—especially in terms of what you’re trying to achieve with your independent workforce.

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4. Offer benefits beyond salary

To keep working with your remote workers, offer more than just competitive pay. Provide additional benefits, such as health insurance, as Uber

and Instacart did by partnering with Stride Health to act as a health insurance broker for remote workers.

Of course, it’s not just about good pay. You’ll likely still save money by working with freelancers instead of hiring in-house talent to do the

same work. That means paying these workers fairly and promptly, and letting them know about potential future opportunities so they see you as a priority client.

Similarly, giving them opportunities to take on new projects or learn new skills will make your organization a place they want to work with.

Freelance work is no longer a glimpse of the future—it’s a reality today. So make the most of your relationships with freelancers by improving your communication.

الفعال معهم.