Letter #88: This tip will help you instantly manage freelancers better

“Feedback is a gift,” a client told me when she asked for my thoughts on her SaaS tool.

It’s been 2 years since we worked together. But her words have stuck with me.

The only problem: we often treat feedback sourcing as a backbencher.

When, in reality, feedback can help you:

• Understand how helpful, in-depth, or micro-management-y your creative briefs are

• Identify bottlenecks in your content operations (think: your workflow, communication, and documentation)

So what are you getting at here, M?

A simple, actionable tip:

Put together an anonymous survey and send it to your internal and external content team ✨

The questions you ask will depend on your role and who you’re asking for feedback (the in-house team or the freelancers/contractors you work with).

Some thought starters:

✅ Does the content brief provide enough information or does it overload info — holding you back?

✅ How easy to read and follow is our documentation (the style guide, brand voice guidelines, briefs, and so on)?

✅ How proactive is our team/your colleagues in answering your questions related to the brief, content strategy, or product-related questions?

✅ Is there something we can do to help you better understand our business, brand narrative, or SaaS tool?

✅ If you weren’t working with us, would you still read and recommend our content (blog, emails, or social content)? If so, why? If not, tell us why not?

✅ How easy to use is our toolkit? Is there a tool you think we need to try? Is there a tool that you think doesn’t contribute enough value to our content process?

✅ Do you have any suggestions for improving our processes or workflow?

Bonus tips:

✅ Shake up the survey questions every quarter or biannually. This way, you can source feedback on the workflow changes you introduce or new tools you use

✅ Remember to keep the survey short. Mix in both open-ended and rating scale questions so the form is easy to complete.

✅ Regularly share the feedback form with your in-house folks and retainer team of freelancers every quarter. Send it to new freelancers right after you complete your first (or one-off) project with them.

And before I bid farewell, here are more resources to work smoothly with freelancers:

• 3 expert tips for hiring best-fit freelancers

• 4 mistakes to avoid when working with freelancers 

• 5 must-use docs for working with freelancers

• Template to improve long-term relationships with your freelance team

That’s all, peeple. 

Cheers, 

Masooma 

P.S. Andy Crestodina is looking for respondents for his annual blogger survey. Share your experiences here to help shape the results.