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Today I decided to share my thoughts and thoughts of other developers with whom I communicated and put our experience in the article. “Mistakes when working with freelancers”, although this article should have been titled 11 mortal sins or something like that ).

And now to the point! Sometimes working online, I began to think, Why is it easy to work with some clients?, and with others it’s pretty hard in the flesh before, that the client leaves and does not want to continue working together. Considering the issue of working with a client, I decided to look at the problems, which freelancers face in the first place and the mistakes that clients make. So, dear Clients, this is an appeal to you first of all..

Never teach a specialist to work

First mistake, which clients allow is too tight control of the work of a freelancer. You hire specialists not to teach them how to work, but in order to simplify your life and not do extra work, which other specialists in their field can do better and faster than you. For you, the main question should be the choice of a specialist, rather than nuzzling him at the first opportunity. Better talk carefully, ask leading questions about the project. If the conversation did not help decide whether to work with a person or not, then try to work with the studio, who has work experience and a team that has worked for at least a year 4, in the field of IT is not enough. There is one truth here, work with the studio can be once a 4 expensive.

Do not forget, that many specialists left the office precisely because of tight control and in search of free work, which would give them time to work when they need to and in parallel to carry out their projects or raise a child, everyone is different. Freelancers Know Deadlines, in which they need to work and many may not work for a day or two, and then just start working on 15 hours per day, for many, it is more convenient to spend a day solving their problems and then work on your project in full force.

Pettiness of the client

Second mistake “Pettiness” – one of the reasons, when freelancers quit, this is a petty thing in the work of the client.

Freelancer life story:

CLIENT: I need a site here TK
FREELANCER: The cost of your project *****
CLIENT: Oh, and it says what they do for ***
FREELANCER: Why don't you work with them??
CLIENT: Well I don't know how they work, and you well.
FREELANCER: Not good for this amount.
CLIENT: But it's written there
FREELANCER: Gone into a stupor ) …

In order not to offend customers, I will say, that freelancers are insane, to put it mildly.

Client's case:

FREELANCER: I need money to buy a new mobile phone, I won't work anymore, until there is a translation.
CLIENT: But you haven't finished that job yet..
FREELANCER: Well, I can’t buy a phone and go without money until I finish work..

 

In fact, both stories are creepy and set a good example., how not to do!

 

Another example of customer pettiness in 90% cases is the unwillingness to pay extra for improvements. A freelancer physically cannot know everything, what the client needs, too much to know and consider when developing a project, and the field of Internet development is developing faster, how can it be studied. The price often needs to be taken into account., that the freelancer will need to analyze the methods of solving the problem, this is also a waste of time. If someone says what he will do and knows everything, spit in his left eye, And if you don't understand why, then also to the right ). Usually those, who say “I’ll do everything, let’s make money” stays up with work much longer, than those, who spent 2-3 and yours and yours to study the area of ​​work and draw up terms of reference. Well-written TOR (technical task) also the key to success..

ТZ (Technical task)

The preparation of TOR should take place in several stages and only in this way.:

• General conversation about the project.
• Joint detailed analysis of competitors and existing analogues.
• The choice of methods for solving the necessary problems and decomposition into phased development.
• Discussion of cost and general terms of work.
• Drawing up an urgent or non-urgent contract. It is possible for large projects to continuously maintain the resource, since it is simply impossible to determine all the tasks during work.

Sometimes TK is how difficult, that it may take longer to compile, than the development of the project as a whole. Drawing up a complex TOR is paid separately. Payment for technical specifications is most often required on very large projects and sometimes a whole team can work on it. Once I came across a TK as thick as a small book, and even there were some improvements and corrections after compilation.

In general, on the preparation of technical specifications, you can write a separate topic. If you want write, and I'll post it in addition to my freelance course.

Making global edits to the finished project

Making changes to the finished project. Freelancers often refuse to work with those, who constantly refines or redoes work. Remember, it's easier to just sit and describe the work for a long time., than to redo it several times, the developer at the first stage plans the architecture of the project, how it will work and does not know, that you need to change something.

As one of my friends said “Pieces of a cake are always more expensive than a whole cake.“, and in the case of websites, the pie can be worth its weight in gold. Without a detailed TOR, the project can drag on for an indefinite period. If you didn’t plan the task right away, then don't get mad, when the freelancer will issue an additional invoice for improvements. I think that complex improvements for the same money, this is not respect for work, draw conclusions about how much a specialist and your project as a whole are dear to you.

Trying to do everything at once and pay money for it.

On large projects, it is simply impossible to plan everything, do tasks in batches, break them down into subtasks. It’s better to spend more time on the selection of a competent specialist in your field and then consistently set a step-by-step problem solving for him. Development by parts of a large project, this is a guarantee for you, don't waste a lot of money, and the developer won't have to worry about, that he needs to do a lot of work, and the sea of ​​​​tasks emerges in the course of work.

I will do everything myself, What if it doesn't work or needs to be done?, then I'll give it to a freelancer.

This is one of the global problems of understanding freelancing., freelancer came to earn money and do what he likes, instead of constantly solving complex problems for you on which he won’t earn money and just won’t get the buzz from working on the project. More projects, which are just being finalized and cannot be put in the portfolio. Eminent freelancers do not undertake such projects at all, at best you will find a university student.

Students will most often have one thought in their minds:How to earn the first money and spend it with friends in the evening». The situation is familiar, because he started like this until brains began to appear over time ). But we're talking about quality., not how to save.

Source materials can be taken somewhere from the Internet.

Dear Gentlemen, your branding, namely the logo, corporate colors and other corporate identity attributes, it's your face. Would you really be pleased if they look at you in a distorted way?. Provide source materials, don't download them from the internet.. Designer, who did the work for you, should have given you, And if not, then order high-quality rendering and store them in your archives. Pictures on the Internet are usually already distorted., do not distort them even more.

Work with under the stick or remind every hour, to make a report.

I don't think much needs to be explained here., importunity she interferes, and annoying, and distracts from work, and time is your money. If you need a progress report, then this option must be paid separately.

Do not give all the details of the work at once, almost in 100% cases, these are improvements for a fee.

An ordinary story with inattention and how money is lost on it, I think all freelancers, who at least a couple of times worked with clients directly or through the studio, such a story was. This happens especially often with large companies where, in addition to inattention, there is also the effect of a damaged phone., someone did not understand and did not hear something and told another, and there 10 levels of directors are sitting, who have not necessarily followed, which means they will make adjustments.. Very practical advice for large companies, will hire a developer on a permanent basis or pay hourly, so as not to try to invest in the budget when a lot of improvements came up.

I will consult in the office, with my wife, with dog, parrot …

Yes, you went crazy! Yes, yes, this is the thought that jumps in the head of a developer or designer, when he works with a client. After the *** eleventh breakthrough of such a thought, the developer simply abandons the project. What leads to a break in relations with the client.

Do you hire freelancers?, as specialists. People, those who work in your office, and even more so those close to you, are almost always less specialists, than that, who do you hire. Think about it! If your employees in the office or relatives understood more, then you would most likely order work from them.

Seriously speaking, then the price for work with each new appraiser should grow by 2 times, How many people have so many opinions. Especially this principle should be in the development of the design and structure of the site., at the very beginning of the project. Because of the endless rework, freelancers often, do not endure and give up the task, although it could have been done once. Just fully discuss the task and write the TOR.

Conclusion to the above

As a conclusion to this article I will say, that you need to be human in any situation and not shift work to others, and do it together. Developer and freelancer must be partners, not mercenaries. How to developers, and customers benefit from doing quality. A normal project developer will always tell you, how to make it better and easier, just need to have a dialogue.

In dialogue, you, as a client, you can always understand, which specialist communicates with you and whether he suits you or not. He is interested in the quality completion of the project, do TK together or just wants to make money and hit the road. When to choose a specialist, then you can set tasks and not stand over your soul. After compiling a competent technical specification, you will only have to follow, so that the work is done on time and, if necessary, discussing improvements is naturally not free.

If an article is needed on how I compose TK, I, then write and I will try to write it as soon as possible.

To read the entire course on remote work, click here. “Freelance lessons“.

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