As lead designer at inMotionNow, I’m responsible for hiring and managing our freelancers and outside vendors. I rely on a number of freelancers on a regular basis and as I look at our initiatives for the next year, I don’t see that trend slowing down. I’m not alone. According to the 2014 In-House Creative Services Industry Report by The Boss Group, Cella Consulting and InSource, “9 out of 10 creative leaders are able to use freelancers.” Creative leaders also indicated plans to increase their total spend on freelancers by 33% in 2014 alone.
As more companies grow their creative teams with freelancers, they face challenges as they try to incorporate them into their workflow. Creative leaders want freelancers to feel like part of the design team, but struggle with sharing information about specific projects they’re working on without giving them access to projects they’re not a part of. In-house teams, especially those without an online approval tool, struggle with providing clear feedback and approval on work created by freelancers. This often results in miscommunication, lost time keeping track of freelancers separately from the in-house team, and a long approval process.
With inMotion, freelancers and vendors have always had an easy way to post their work for review, but in our most recent Project Organizer update, the ability to manage freelancers was greatly expanded and I must confess that I love the results!
I can add freelancers to projects
While this seems like a small change, it’s had the biggest impact for me. When I update a project or send a notification to the team, inMotion includes freelancers so they automatically get notified along with the in-house team. I no longer have to send a separate email. I can also see which freelancer is assigned to this project so I don’t have to keep separate notes on who is working on what.
I can assign specific tasks to freelancers
Now that freelancers can be added to projects, I can assign them tasks along with the in-house team members. They get automatic task notifications and I no longer have to send a separate email, or keep separate notes on what items are due, and when.
Freelancers now upload content into projects
When freelancers upload content for approval, they now choose a project to place it in. Since inMotion knows which projects they’re working on, they only see their projects in the list. I no longer have to go in and move the content later, which keeps my Workspace clean and I don’t have to play the “what project does this content belong to?” game.
I can add freelancers to project templates
This feature helps automate project set-up. I have a couple of projects that happen on a regular basis, and I use the same freelancers each time. Now, when I create a project using a template, my freelancers are automatically included as a team member, notified when the project begins, with their tasks and deadlines already assigned.
If your team relies on freelancers, get in touch with one of our workflow experts to learn how inMotion can help you integrate them into your workflow. They can show you how the application can flex to fit your team’s workflow.