Working With a Freelancer? Make Sure Your Project Scope is Solid

Freelancers are a great resource for startups and small businesses. You get the expertise you need without the commitment of a full-time employee.

But you must have the right expectations when working with a freelancer. Freelancers aren’t typically “in the weeds” with the ins and outs of your business. And unless they’re specifically scoped to help you with project strategy, they’re expecting you to provide specifics, usually in the form of a project brief.

If you can’t outline a project for a freelancer, then the project isn’t well-defined - — which won’t end well for anyone. You’ll end up with work that doesn’t meet your goals and the freelancer will be frustrated.

Here are some things to include in a project scope and it’s good to have these in mind before you start looking for a freelance resource.

Have clear objectives and deliverables

From the outset, you need to know what you want.

For example, maybe you’re looking to hire a fractional CMO or fractional HR. Both can fill vital roles for small companies. But you need to clearly define what these roles will do. Saying, “I know I need HR, so I’m going to hire someone on a part-time basis” isn’t enough.

If you know you need help but aren’t sure the best way a freelancer can help you, ask! Many freelancers have a menu of services they can provide.

You also should have specific objectives. I’m a freelance writer for tech companies. A good objective is when a client hires me to help with a specific content strategy, or to write a specific number of case studies. Internally, the client has already outlined their goals; I’m just helping with execution. A bad objective is when a client says, “I need more content.” The client hasn’t identified why they need more content or what audience they’re trying to serve. In that case, even if I deliver work exactly to spec, the client might still be unhappy.

Because there’s no specific goal, it’s hard to achieve ROI.

Outline the timeline and approval process

As you’re scoping the project, make sure you’re getting the check-ins you need with the freelancer.

When I scope projects, I include rounds of revisions, meetings, and whether or not I’ll create an outline. If clients need more, they can ask for it: I want them to be happy with my work. But I’ll factor the additional time into the price accordingly.

The timeline also needs to be clear, for both parties. You should work with the freelancer to establish specific due dates. for each milestone of a project. You should also discuss turnaround times for feedback. In my world, if a client requests a revision, I’ll turn it around within 2–3 business days. The freelancer should not be the holdup during the project.

Similarly, you need to commit to a turnaround time for feedback. Freelancers are often juggling multiple clients, so they need feedback in a timely manner to keep a project moving. If I’m waiting for weeks for a client to review something, it has a negative impact on my other work.

Sometimes, clients can’t commit to a quick review process because it’s a small company and they’re wearing a lot of hats. That’s fine — as long as they understand that I can’t deliver any requests for changes immediately. Give your freelancer the courtesy of additional time if you’re the reason the project has stalled.

Provide business context

Think about all the meetings you have internally to discuss business strategy. The freelance won’t be aware of those discussions and what was decided. You need to coherently distill the information into something digestible.

You can hand a freelancer a deliverable, but you need to explain the “why.” That includes any changes to strategy along the way. The freelancer isn’t aware of everything happening internally, so you need to provide context — especially if the project is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Why this project? Why now?

You’ll also need to provide background about the company, product/service, and any messaging or branding that might be involved. I’ve had clients tell me to just “look at our website” but that doesn’t give me a full picture, especially if anything is being overhauled. If you don’t have any formal materials, schedule some time with the freelancer to verbally give them what they need to understand your business.

You could ask freelancers to join future strategy meetings, but they’ll probably charge you for their time so make sure that their presence is necessary to understand the project before inviting them.

Discuss project management

How will the project be managed? Will you manage the project, or will the freelancer? What tools will be used?

As a freelancer, I have my own project management system for client deliverables. I can create a client-facing view of my system. I’m also happy to use a client’s system, if they have one.

The point is that you and the freelancer need to decide how the project will be managed. If you’re not going to use a collaborative collaboration tool, then discuss how you/the freelancer will provide updates (email? Slack?) and where deliverables will be stored (Google Drive? Notion?).

If you’re not clear, you won’t get the results you expect

Freelancers aren’t mind readers. I’m a very experienced freelancer, so a client could give me an idea and I could run with it. But then I’ll make decisions about the direction of the deliverable — and those decisions may not be aligned with what the client wants.

While freelancers can supplement your business needs with fractional or as-needed support, they can’t exist on an island. It takes time to onboard a freelancer, just like it takes time to onboard a new employee and get them familiar with your business. Granted, it won’t be as much time, but it still takes time.

But if you create a good partnership, you’ll have a freelance resource you can use for a long time. And part of doing that is outlining a scope that’s clear to both parties.

Looking to grow your online presence? Check out my free guide: How to Manage Your Time + Content Across Multiple Platforms.