This month I am very glad to share a guest piece on working with external contractors from Nathan Stewart. This is a topic I’ve wanted to get into for a long time and there’s no one better than Nathan to guide us through it.
Nathan is a freelance digital communications expert and organiser who specialises in messaging and narrative building. His background is in climate, but he works across a range of areas that align with his values (from social justice to workers rights). In 2020, he founded his own campaigns agency, working with clients including the International Red Cross and various European trade unions.
He organises Brussels Creative Workers - a collective of creative professionals that come together to inspire and look after one another.
If you’re interested in freelancing, creative communication or just want to discuss this newsletter, I recommend getting in touch!
We could all do with a bit of help from time to time. There’s no shame in it - no one can do everything. If you’re fortunate enough to work somewhere that can afford it, then hiring an external contractor can be super useful.
An injection of new perspectives and expertise can elevate your work beyond what would have been possible in-house. But when not managed well, bringing outsiders in can cause unnecessary headaches. So I wanted to explain how to navigate that risk and get the most out of the experience.
In this piece, I share five questions you should ask yourself before hiring an external contractor. It’s by no means meant to be an exhaustive guide, but answering these questions will get your relationship and your project off to the best start possible. I hope you find it helpful!
So why bother with a contractor?
Big question.
It can be frustrating to go into a meeting with a potential client and realise they haven’t thought through why you’re actually there. Sure, it seems like a good idea to get outside help, but does it actually serve the goals of the project?
Often, there is a sense of path dependency. Someone in the office had the idea to hire an agency or a freelancer. Someone else approved it. Now someone junior has to make it happen and they don’t really know why the choice was made in the first place.
When you’re meeting your external contractor, make sure to tell them:
What you’re trying to achieve.
What they can do that you can’t.
How you want to work together - main points of contact, key deadlines, budget, etc.
The context - what’s the strategic goal of this project.
As a contractor, I am hired to make someone’s life easier and to solve problems for them. If I don’t know why I’m there, in the worst case my presence might end up making the whole exercise more stressful.
What about the money?
A negotiation is a situation with a lot of potential for tension, awkwardness and even personal offence. It’s good to consider each others’ positions.
The client will be responsible for their department’s budget. It’s not their own money but they must still be accountable for how they spend it. This is especially true in the public sector, where they must be accountable for spending taxpayer’s money, and in the nonprofit sector, where they are answerable to donors.
On the other side of the table you have the contractor, who may literally be negotiating their take home pay for the next several months. We all find salary negotiations stressful - now imagine doing that for every project. They are factoring in not only the work, but the years of experience, education and the skills that it takes to do that work, as well as insurance, office rental and equipment. Not to mention the need to respect the market rate and not devalue the service they’re providing.
The best way to approach a negotiation is with openness. You can give an idea of the budget early in the discussion to defuse potential awkwardness or disappointment - as well as whether there is space for negotiation.
The opening budget negotiation should be courteous, respectful and practical. Your budget is your budget, their rates are their rates. Either party being overly aggressive or unaccommodating risks establishing a resentful or cold working relationship - so let’s be transparent and collaborative where we can!
But who should we hire?
Choosing a contractor is like hiring staff, so give it close consideration.
Just as hiring a new staff member is a question of balancing skills, focus areas and potential for delivering particular results, so is hiring a contractor. No one can come in, wave a magic wand and make your problems go away. What they can do is use specialised skills to focus on a particular part of a problem/project that you wouldn’t be able to tackle by yourself.
I am surprised by the number of clients who haven’t reviewed my portfolio and skill set before our first meeting. If you don’t know what I can do, there is a risk you won’t use me in a way that gets the most out of my services.
Word of mouth is always important - people need to know that you are nice to work with, deliver on time and produce quality work. But, at best, relying on word of mouth alone is a bit lazy. At worst, it perpetuates inequalities and an unfair status quo. This is especially true in the freelance world, where biases can lock out some of my more competent female and/or racialised colleagues.
In our earliest discussions, I will want to know why you picked me - and I will be assessing whether I’m the person to bring about the change or create the product that you want.
OK, so what are we going to do together?
It’s vital to define the scope of the project at the start. This means getting specific on what success looks like, how we plan to get there and what we can expect from each other in our relationship (however long or short it lasts).
It’s all about the details. Getting it all in writing will mean no one is taken advantage of - and makes clear what is expected and what is an extra.
A checklist of questions you’ll need the answers to:
What are the concrete deliverables you want out of this project?
How many rounds of feedback are you paying for? What is the process for delivering that feedback?
What does the budget actually cover? What happens if you have to ask for more stuff later?
Who is in charge of the project? Who do we report to? Who signs off on feedback?
How will we communicate during the project? Email? WhatsApp? Can we join your Slack?
Sometimes it’s tempting to leave things vague up front and just work out the details later. This is rarely worth it. Get everyone to sign off on a work plan at the start. This has been one of my most valuable (and hard-learned) lessons from my career as a freelancer so far.
What might seem overly fussy and meticulous early on will make all of our lives easier later.
Right, how do we make sure everyone gets along?
Hiring a contractor is a massive opportunity for both sides. It’s not only a chance to create a quality product or solve a problem, but also a way to establish a productive and lasting professional relationship.
An important part of this is making sure you have a positive working relationship. Rule one: “be nice”. It’s really as simple as that. The relationship should not be competitive or confrontational - it’s a collaboration. Some conflict might arise along the way, but it should be managed as respectfully as possible. I’m stressed, you’re stressed, work is stressful. Let’s not make this any more difficult than it has to be.
My choice to only work with clients that share my values means that all this is rarely an issue. I try to only work with organisations that respect their own staff, that pay their interns, and that care about the world around them. So that usually means they’ll respect me. But, as we know, purpose-driven organisations can also be guilty of the very things they’re fighting against.
Just remember, I’m also at work when I’m working with you. Respect my time, respect my expertise, respect me - and I’ll do the same in return.
A thoughtful and excellent piece. Thank you for sharing, Nathan! (And @Tom for your unbeatable gif game.)
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