In today’s freelance culture, independent contractors are an integral part of small and medium sized businesses’ success, particularly in the fields of graphic design, web design, multi-media, and video, or simply helping with product and brand definitions. You can research individual contractors if you know and can qualify what you are looking for, or you can work with a marketing agency to provide you with multiple talents. While outsourcing provides you with quick resources and expertise, without long term commitments, it also brings challenges. But contract relationships don’t need to be impersonal simply because they’re temporary or off-site. The most productive relationships develop if you can engage with an agency or contractor over longer periods of time, for several projects, and for meaningful slices of work. This way your investment pays off more easily, while productivity and commitment increases on both sides, because long term understanding of your organization and goals is communicated more easily to kick-off projects.
Outside contracting up-sides include:
- Expertise and knowledge: Access to new information that you need to grow your business; expertise and knowledge about certain functional areas.
- Flexibility: No long term commitment
- Focus and commitment: Focus on projects that would take resources away from regular employees as well as the ability to start on projects that have not been accomplished because responsibility is unclear and crosses various departments.
Cost savings: No employee-related overhead expenses, such as taxes, benefits, workman’s compensation, etc., and payment only during time of need. - Temporary Test for “Fit”: Allows you to experience the quality of a person’s the work and the attitude before you engage with them in long term projects.
Outside contracting downsides include:
- Alignment – Expectations, clear definitions and scope change often and are often hard to define, particularly in marketing, and it is beneficial to remember that outside contractors are not privy to internal conversations.
- Time commitment – Despite someone else doing the project, you still have to commit to the time it takes define and manage it
Lack of continuity: If you work with several contractors or have only very infrequent work, continuity is an issue, and getting contractors up to speed can be challenging. - Higher costs: If the this contractor fills a role that you really needa full-time employee for, you may actually save money by hiring an employee; contractor rates are adjusted upward to compensate for the lack of benefits and downtime between engagements.
- File management – can be cumbersome if no clear process has been defined
Agency vs. Individual Contractors
Many Marketing Directors work with multiple contractors on varied projects, which requires not only expert project management skills, but also extraordinary communication efforts to keep everyone abreast of changes in strategy, new developments, and updates, all the while remembering what has been communicated to whom. So, much of the managers’ responsibility converts into communication rather than strategy. While it is easy to work with one contractor on one project and communicate clearly, if you are engaging in multiple outsourced projects, working with an agency rather than separate individuals may be to your advantage:
- Ability to manage strategy rather than projects, by engaging with your account manager, who handles the communication and facilitates the project.
- Ability to consider various media types and outputs rather than just one particular skill set, so that you have the ability to concentrate on achieving the best results instead of whether you have picked a contractor with the right skill set or needing to integrate different skill sets on one project (e.g. animation and video).
- Assurance that file types can be used across functions, rather than only on one particular application, to maximize your long term investment.
- Ability to agree on one process rather than managing multiple processes, file exchanges, quality assurances and software versions.
- If you work well with one contractor in an agency, and you are happy with the work, it is easy to pull in new talent, once your scope expands, without having to qualify and search for new talent.
- Ability to have one contract instead of multiple contracts.
Am I ready to start the project?
While managers are eager to start projects, they often are not really prepared to hand them over, because the details have not been worked out or strategies have not been defined sufficiently to execute. One of the early decisions is whether you want to engage the contractor in defining the scope. Often this outside view helps define and shape the project, and, if it is a project that crosses multiple departments, functions and idea sets, an outsider can facilitate decisions and project scope more easily, so that internal resources can be more effectively utilized to get the project done.
If the project is not well defined, and the information is not easily available, delays in schedule and changes can lead to frustration and derailment of the entire project. Before you engage, be sure to understand whether you are actually ready to hand over the project, or would prefer help in defining the project, outcomes or strategies to achieve the desired results.
Before you start your search for the contractor – or even put out feelers – you should be able to clearly define what services you need them to provide.
- Create clear goals, expectations, milestones and expected work outcomes.
- Make certain all tools and needed materials are given at the start, rather than delivering them throughout the project.
- Consider what information has to be gathered to get the contractor up to speed or how much you would like their input regarding how the project should reflect new ideas.
- Be prepared to consider how you want communication done and how often; although email and video conferencing is the norm, technology does not replace face to face meetings. Depending on the complexity of the project, make sure you allow for weekly or bi-weekly status meetings.
- Consider costs and budgets up front, and be clear about your expectations. Often, negotiations are quicker and less awkward if costs/budgets are stated up front, with both parties taking responsibility to know market rates.
- Build in “DELIVERED” milestones into the Contract- no less than on per month – and ensure commitment to those milestones by both sides, to ensure progress and swift movement: remember, that’s why you hired out.
During the engagement
- Both marketing manager and contractor create the best results if they are engaged and communicate frequently and respond in a timely fashion, to keep enthusiasm for the project a priority.
- When changes in scope occur, consider whether you want the contractor to finish one phase before you introduce the changes, or whether you should communicate the changes immediately.
- Expect more frequent communication about status than with employees. Communicate what has been working, and what is not working, frequently.
- Inquire as to the existence of any obstacles that might prevent the successful completion of the project.
- Remember that the contractor, although expert in their field, does not have the same background as you do about your company, background and goals. You will not want them to spend days getting up to speed, but you can speed things up by providing them with clear and precise information about what they request and what may be relevant for them to understand.
- Let the contractor complete the “entire” project. Letting go of the project is often hard, but make sure the contractor completes the entire job, so that accountability and responsibility is clear.
Tools to manage projects
Most outside agencies and contractors have tools to manage the project. Whether they give you the project plan up front, and you provide them with the tools, is at your discretion, but make sure you have a plan that both of you can follow.
Additionally, just as with internal employees, your IT department should probably be aware of your new contractor. Be prepared, if you have them working internally, to provide access to printers, computer and file systems with the appropriate authorization. If they work externally, be prepared to consider working with some of their tools to manage the project better. Deposit and exchange files and install technology on your system to create a good workflow. Will the contractor need an internal email address or access to internal files while working offsite.
There are many cloud based online tools that will help you manage projects such as:
http://www.dropbox.com/ to share files effectively and to update files in real-time.
http://basecamphq.com/ and https://manymoon.com/welcome, or Google Docs collaboration, sharing, storing and project management tools.
Google Calendar or http://www.timetomeet.info/ to check meeting times.
Okay, that’s it for today.
All in all use utilize marketing agencies to help flex your muscles when you need it!
The most important thing to remember is to communicate, set goals and expectations and start your project!