Hey ADs! So excited: after years working from junior to senior designer, i just got promoted to Art Director. Thank you so much for running this blog and giving out all the good advice over the years. I want to do my best to communicate with my designers, since most of them are freelancers and there are so many 'hey I never heard back from the AD' frustation posts on here. I work for a big, extremely disorganized company so its guaranteed to be a battle. Any sage words for this newly hatched AD?
Oh. Oh boy, DO I. My friend, buckle in.
First of all, congratulations <3.
Okay, advice now. This is all, I should you warn you, in MY experience and observation. Disclaimer: context is king, and this might be zero help to you, so use your brainmeats.
When it comes down to it, it’s about getting paid. After you do your morning getting-yourself-centered routine like writing out lists, or organizing your desk, or getting your coffee, or whatever it is you do to get yourself in the Zone, DO MONEY STUFF FIRST. Freelancers can be flexible with a n00b learning their new role, but they can’t be flexible with their bills. Make sure that ZERO people are waiting on you to do a thing in order for them to be paid. Every morning. First thing. This includes contract stuff, invoice/pay order stuff, and taxes paperwork stuff. It sucks, but make it a habit. Like flossing. Your metaphorical gums will bleed less, and you’ll be less self-concious about your metaphorical breath.
Setting everyone up for success: get the information on what’s needed BEFORE you order work from people. Look through the creative request from whatever department or dev and ask questions and push back if you have to until you have all expectations hammered out in such a way that you can be perfectly clear on that first email immediately after an assignment has been accepted. Specs. Examples of precedent. Reference. Style guides. Templates. Timelines. THE CONTRACT AND ANY NEEDED TAX PAPERWORK.
Formulate how you send out this information, in as visually succinct a way as possible. Template that format so you can do it without having to re-invent the wheel each time, and your people don’t have to decipher a new approach each time.
Seriously, the more work you do before you even solicit freelancers for the job, the better it’s going to go for everyone. It’ll feel pedantic at first, but once you realize, OH nobody actually knows what they want yet, what the hell, this would have been 3 months of hell and burning bridges, the pedantics will become comforting. The lead rope that keeps this particular mountain climbing expedition from falling to its doom, so to speak.
The very first time you contact a freelancer about a job, talk about rate. Always talk about money in that initial email, and be honest about expectations, so people can gauge right off the bat if this is gonna be worth their time. Do NOT make it seem like something is going to be easier than it is. Don’t be dramatic about the workload, be factual. They can decide for themselves. No means no, btw. They get to turn you down, that’s one of the perks of freelancing.
On communicating with freelancers: Figure out a way to keep track of what you’re waiting on from whom. I do this with spreadsheets shared with my boss (Smartsheets is one of my favorite things in the whole world, btw), with statuses of every component ordered, color coded in a drop-down list of pipeline terms, each component associated with who is working on them, and the deadline that person is working under. Through aforementioned status drop-down, I color code this in kind of a perpetual Tennis Match of Responsibility : Waiting On Me, Waiting On Not-Me. You still have to keep an eye on Waiting On Not-Me, but Waiting On Me stuff should feel like burning if it lingers.
Don’t store emails in your inbox. That way lies madness.
Don’t cc all your freelancers on one email. Bcc, if you have to batch email people.
Have a canned “Hey I got the thing you sent, thank you. I’ll get back to you on it as soon as I can.” response email, so you don’t have freelancers chewing up their cuticles over whether you got a file or not. Be consistent with using this response. It’s a good way for people to tell if there WAS a problem sending you something.
Make yourself accessible. IMing has been invaluable in my career, a wonderful way for my people to workshop things with me remotely, and to casually approach me with questions. Phone is good, but beware its lack of record. If you use the phone a lot, consider sending emails after of the salient points of the conversation.
Be fair. Ask questions. Treat your people like intelligent professionals. Remember that people work harder on things that they’re genuinely excited and passionate about.
