How to be a good manager to freelancer writers
Tags: Content Management, Content, Freelancers, Content Creation, Freelance Writing

You may not know it but before my days at Skyscanner (where I do work with freelance writers on a regular basis) I spent almost 10 years in a print media newsroom, first in one of the biggest newspapers in Spain then in a regional one with a small team but a vast team of local correspondents. And 4 more working for a Catalan TV as a reporter (thank goodness that was before Youtube became so popular so there are no embarrassing videos of me out there — not that I know of). There I learnt from some wonderful journalists and editors what it takes to be a good manager and editor when you work with writers. By no means this is an absolute truth, just a few thoughts based on personal experience, but I hope you will find this useful and interesting.

Do your research

During my career I’ve met countless of people complaining about not being able to find “good freelancers” and while I won’t deny the fact that there are some average writers out there, there are also really good ones there. If you’re on the lookout for a good team of writers, look well and you’ll find them. In my case, since I mostly work with people who write about travel, I’ve always found the blogging and travel writing media a really good source of great professionals. I am sure you do know some media and main blogs in your field of work. Approach some of their writers, ask around, ask for recommendations. In fact, some of my writers came to me recommended by other freelancers I knew, and I’ve never looked back. I’m not saying it will be easy but doing your research and outreach will pay off.

Training and onboarding

Great, you’ve found people you want to work for you. Chances are these freelancers may not be familiar with your company’s way of handling content. Be it the CMS you’re using, the way to upload images on pages or how communications are conducted (emails, JIRA, trello, Wrike, whatever other platform is out there), there will be a learning curve. Doesn’t need to be steep but I’ve found that having “how to” guides, brand, style, editorial & tone of voice guidelines helps. Make sure your freelancers have these available and ready. And be there to answer questions, because at the beginning there will be some. And no, telling people to go to Google to find how things work is not the answer. You may think it is saving you time but in the long run you want to build a trusted relationship with your freelancers and keep them for the long run. Treat them like you’d like to be treated.

One thing we did at Skyscanner back in 2015 was bring to our Edinburgh office most of our freelance editors and writers for 2 days of training and workshops ahead of some really big changes. That helped a lot to get everyone on board.

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Be there

This goes without saying. In a workplace environment you’re supposed to be there for your colleagues and employees. Well, when your employees work remotely, and you don’t see them face to face every day this also applies. Be there for them because they need you.

Trust me, freelance writers tend to be pretty independent individuals and are usually not the needy kind (nothing wrong with that, by the way). But they will have questions about the job you’ve commissioned or the way to implement it. Being there to help them out and lend them a hand is key. Even when I worked for a newspaper my editors and managers were always ready to help and had answers for my questions. This is how you build a relationship and how you make them feel valued and cared for. Yes, you’re not their mother and they are adults but it’s nice to be human and relatable and we’ve all needed answers. Again, ignoring them or telling them to ask Google their questions or figure things out for themselves is a fabulous recipe for your freelancers not being invested in the project they are working on.

Respect

This is another big one. Just because you’re an editor or a content manager doesn’t mean you are in absolute possession of the absolute truth (I know I am not). People are entitled to have different opinions and while freelancers may need to follow our tone of voice and style, they will be happier to comply if you respect them and explain the whys.

Same goes for writing. I once had an editor while working in Barcelona who hated one particular word: “unique”. She would go to great lengths to substitute that word by “singular”. Every single time. The whole newsroom knew about this. And while in Spanish those two words can be interchangeable, there was nothing wrong about using “unique” instead of “singular” or using them both in an article. This resulted in great frustration for her and in some sort of a joke for all the writers in house.

Honestly, respect that they may use some words which are synonyms to your favourite ones. Respect the fact that they may choose to go for expressions that you would not have used. But as long as they keep to the tone of voice, there is nothing out of line and do their job, it’s good to let them see you value their skills.

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Trust

We’ve all dealt in work and life with people that have deceived us. It happens to each and every one of us. But try to trust people, just try. If you’re going to micromanage them and not trust anything they do, what’s the point in hiring someone to help you out then?

Particularly at the beginning of any professional relationship it may take a bit to get to know someone and to learn how they prefer to work. If you’ve hired them it’s for a reason. Trust them. They may make a mistake. But instead of losing trust on them right then and there, give them a second chance (unless the mistake was super major, that is) and use that as an opportunity to show them how you prefer things done. If after that they keep making the same mistake, feel free to let them go… But give people a chance first.

The importance of a good brief

First and foremost, brief your freelancers well if you want them to deliver what you’re expecting. We can talk another day about the power of a good brief or how to create one but let me tell you that investing some time on crafting a good brief will save you from a big headache. Yes, it takes time but consider it an investment.

When I used to be a reporter and newspaper journalist my editor would always make it clear what was expected of me to deliver once I was back in the newsroom, what needed to go on the news or be printed on the newspaper. Clear things like:

We need this piece of content to inspire our travellers to want to go on a foodie adventure in Singapore.

The article needs to include lots of examples of different dishes and flavours

Add some personal touches and experience.

Use sensorial language, make them almost smell and taste it

How much space/time you have.

And a structure. Any decent writer will know the basic structure of an article: an introduction that catches attention, development, end paragraph wrapping things up. Simple as it is, if you have a clear structure that want followed, tell them. It is way easier fixing typos and changing basic bits of content than having to redo an article structure from scratch.

With the clear importance of optimising anything for SEO, a good brief is the best tool so that your freelancers know what you want. Let them know if you have a clear URL in mind and which keywords to use. Tell them when and where to use them. But also let them weave them within the text so that the narration flows and this doesn’t feel like some sort of collection of keywords stuffed together. Most likely Google won’t like that and nor will your readers.

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Collaboration & Team spirit

Despite your team of freelancers working remotely, when everybody feels part of the team, valued, respected and loved they will work better. Send emails to the whole team every now and then celebrating milestones or articles that are doing well, praising them for their skills or their collaboration. Involve them in the conversation and, if you can, try to make some time for them in person. One of my favourite things when visiting Madrid or Barcelona (where most of my writers were based at some point) I always made a point to set aside a few hours for some food and casual drinks with them. This brought us all closer and really helped creating a lovely team spirit.

Feedback

Giving and receiving feedback is a tough one. To be honest, when you start working with a new team or new people things won’t be smooth from the beginning. You may have to give a lot of feedback… and your freelancers will need to be able to take it, implement it and learn from it.

If there’s something I’ve learnt in my career is that feedback is best when given with sincerity and honesty and when it comes from a good place, with plenty of hints on how to improve and an offer to help along the way.

And of course, good feedback should be shared too. I still remember fondly the time the head of photography at La Vanguardia (a newspaper founded in Barcelona in 1881) told me I had very good eye for images. Or the time the editor at a newspaper I worked at said he was amazed by how I could write fast and with good quality under very tight deadlines. Stuff like that is what keeps you going when you’re having a bit of an imposter syndrome. Plus, if you only tell freelancers what they do wrong and you don’t give them any praise chances are all the feedback they will hear from you regards not being good enough or needing improvement. So yeah, balance it out and be nice.

Patience

Managing freelancers will involve a lot of time and effort, but it’s also deeply rewarding if you like dealing with human being as much as I do. If you have the patience to help them through their struggles, help them grow and improve, listen to their questions and are there for them when they need you… then you’ll get yourself some wonderfully enriching friendships and professional relationships that will last you a lifetime.

And when you’re running out of patience, take a break, make yourself a nice cup of tea and find a way to get back to that person from a better place.

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I am sure I must have missed a lot… But wanted to share some snippets of what I’ve learned after more than 20 years as a journalist and around a decade managing freelancers and writers. So far, it’s the best job in the world and I don’t think my days in the office would be half as fun and interesting if I didn’t get to share them with such an amazing team (remote or not).

What’s your take on this? Please feel free to share your tips to being a good manager and I’ll make sure to add them.

Note: A big thank you to all those who taught me all I know. You know who you are and I will be forever grateful. Not only you were amazing professionals, you were incredible people.