Set Clear & Reasonable Expectations

Published by CLLCTVE Team

Setting clear and reasonable expectations for freelance gigs is key to maintaining good creator relationships and receiving great deliverables. Making expectations clear should be a priority from the moment you create an opportunity, to the moment the gig has been completed. Let’s dive in to some concrete steps to do so.

Write Out Your Expectations Clearly From the Start

When creating an opportunity, clearly define the expected responsibilities of the role, including time commitment, expected deliverables and required meeting attendance. When listing these responsibilities, ensure that the commitment you request is aligned with the pay for the gig — asking for too much can lead to unfair pay, frustrated creators and less allotted time to actually spend on the project.

If you have a set expectation for what you’d like your deliverable to look like and what knowledge and experience that will require, list any and all relevant required skills in the opportunity post. Failing to do so can lead to you receiving matches that don’t have the necessary skills to complete the gig.

Set Deadlines for Projects

In order to stay on track with a productive timeline for your freelance projects, set deadlines from the beginning, and include those in your opportunity post. This will ensure creators who apply are ready to commit to your timeline, and will hold both you and the freelancer to a specific deadline.

Pro tip: To allow for flexibility in deliverable return dates, move your public timeline up a bit. Giving yourself a few extra days for padding can allow time for edits, delays and changes in direction.

Give Clear, Constructive Feedback

Feedback and edits are a normal and welcome aspect in the freelance hiring and management process. However, many employers of gig workers tend to provide vague, unhelpful feedback on deliverables, leading to frustration for both the employer and the creator.

Make sure your feedback lists specific issues you have with the content and edits you’d like to be made.

Hint: “Ehhh I’m just not feeling it,” won’t do. Instead, try something like, “I have an issue with __________________ because I believe it _______________. To fix this problem, can we change ____________ to _____________?”

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