What You Should Know After You Start Your Project

Employer, you are happy as a lark, all your ducks are finally in a row: you have hired your freelancer and you are sure that she/he will do a good job; their communication skills are excellent, demeanor professional, experience and skills superior, they are all that you could have hoped for. But wait a minute, maybe you can take it down a notch, why so happy? Is your project completed as requested? Has your project finished on time and within budget? Did I hear you say, “It has not?” That is what I thought, stop smiling so much and get to work. “There is more work to be done?”, is your response. “Yes, there is, glad you asked”.

You have found a professional freelancer whose qualifications makes you go weak in the knees. Smart, articulate, knowledgeable, rearing and ready to go, but why so glum employer? You and the professional once talked practically everyday, but now they are mum. What is going on with your project? Is the work being completed as desired? Is everything going as planned? You don’t know because communication has come to a standstill, but how do you get it moving again?

“What we have here ladies and gentleman is a failure to communicate.” Employer, all communication between you and the professional freelancer should not cease once the project bid has been awarded and accepted. It is up to you and the pro to build upon and maintain communication throughout the project’s time-frame. Doing so might mean, like a married couple who have to make time together, arranging specific days and times to talk. There are seven days within a week, and 24 hours within a day, somewhere during that time-frame, is a time you both can agree upon.

Now the two of have set up a day(s) and time(s) in which you can talk but the conversation has lost some of its zest. Employer, you talk and the freelancer listens, or seems to, freelancer talks and employer, you listen, or seem to. Wait a minute, whats going on? A good rule of thumb when you don’t know what to say, is to ask questions. Has the freelancer encountered any problems since working on the project? Do they need further clarification on certain points? Does the professional expect to complete the project within the agreed upon time-frame? In addition, employer, don’t just ask questions, but invite the freelancer to respond in kind.

You and your professional freelancer are now chatting up a storm. You talk effortlessly about the project but employer, you have grown curious. The freelancer has told you how it is going, but how does the project look. A good technique for making sure the project is going as planned is to review it at regular intervals. It is a guaranteed and sure fire way of making sure that you ’see’ the project is progressing appropriately. It also guarantees that any small problems you catch won’t evolve into bigger ones.

Employer, write these two words down and remember them, “Project Agreement”. What is it? You are walking down the street and someone, probably from out of town, approaches you. They ask you for directions. You take out a piece of paper and a pen and draw them a map. Essentially, a Project Agreement is a detailed document between employer and professional, foretelling how the project is to be completed - project due dates, copyright ownership, payment options, confidentiality and termination clauses and expenses incurred.

Professional freelancers and employers sometimes choose to use Escrow, one of the safest ways of conducting business. Employers release funds only after the job is completed to their satisfaction.

One note: Escrow should be used in conjunction with a Project Agreement.

Employer, you have completed “after you start a project checklist”, take a moment and smile.