Businesses can face the problem of controlling freelancers, especially if there are distance and time differences between them. Some of the most common problems are that the employee is not in the office and doesn’t respond to messages. They also don’t turn on the camera at work meetings or work asynchronously with the general schedule. But if their work is managed by an experienced manager who uses modern remote employee management tools, the need for extra supervision is negated.
Solution: Control the work with freelancers by a manager from the core team of the company. Train them in goal setting, time management, task prioritization, and conflict resolution. Help the manager develop emotional intelligence.
The complexity of distributed teams is that specialists do not know each other well, and conflicts may arise (especially if teammates communicate primarily in chats or email). Employees may misunderstand tasks or misinterpret the tone of a message: sometimes a neutral statement may be perceived negatively. Therefore, the manager’s task is to make communication as simple, transparent and empathic as possible.
Use services that help you effectively manage a distributed team of freelancers:
- Visualization tools: Miro, Figma, FigJam
- Task trackers/planners: Bubbles, Trello, ProofHub. Notion.
- Screenshot tools: Lightshot, Snipping Tool, Screenpresso
- Webinars/screen recordings: Loom, Movavi, ClickMeeting.
To develop emotional intelligence I recommend the following books:
"Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman;
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey;
"Emotional Intelligence 2.0" by Travis Bradberry and Gene Greaves;
"Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Review: top 10 articles."
"Emotional Courage" by P. Bregman.
What I recommend reading about negotiation and conflict resolution skills:
"Everything can be negotiated" by G. .Kennedy;
"The Psychology of Influence" by R. Cialdini;
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.