The best tools for collaborating with freelancers

Planning to collaborate with a freelancer? Here are the best resources for an effective collaboration: tools and platforms that will help you work with freelancers.

We’ll cover each tool’s features, including paid tiers where relevant. From Google Keep to Trello via Todoist, this article covers everything you need to find the ideal storage service and the simple task tracking that suits your company.

What do freelancers actually need?

Freelancers have specific needs and must find tools that let them manage their projects well, save time and stay profitable. But how do you pick the right tool among the multitude of options? The main needs include:

• Task management
• Time tracking
• Finance management and invoicing
• File sharing and collaboration
• Online data storage
• Dashboards
• Calendars, planning and notifications.

The essential collaboration tools for working with freelancers

Here are some of the best collaboration tools for working with freelancers:

Tools for communicating with freelancers

1. Slack: a communication platform offering instant messaging, audio and video calls, and themed channels to organise discussions. You can add a freelancer to a specific channel rather than your whole Slack workspace.
2. Google Meet: our favourite video-conferencing platform, ideal for online meetings, workshops and project discussions.
3. Zoom: the alternative to Google Meet — a video-conferencing platform that makes online meetings with freelancers easy.

Tools for project management

1. Notion: the number one project management tool (in our humble opinion), Notion is an all-in-one note-taking and project management tool that centralises all the information and tasks in one place. It offers incredible flexibility with editable content blocks, databases, Kanban boards, calendars and much more. A seriously powerful tool.
2. Trello: a visual project management tool for creating boards, lists and cards to track task progress. Freelancers can easily collaborate with clients by adding comments, uploading files and moving cards across lists.
3. Asana: another project management platform for assigning tasks, setting deadlines and tracking progress through task lists, Kanban boards and calendars. Asana also integrates with other tools such as Slack, Google Drive and Zoom, which eases collaboration even further.
4. Miro: an online whiteboard platform that lets teams collaborate visually. Very useful for brainstorming sessions, mind maps, project planning and more.

Tools for storing and sharing files

1. Google Drive: does Google Drive really need an introduction? An online storage service for sharing and collaborating on files in real time.
2. WeTransfer: a simple, fast file-transfer service, ideal for sending large files — no account needed, up to 2 GB.

Managing projects with freelancers effectively

Managing your project with freelancers takes a dose of organisation and structure. A few tips to run projects with freelancers effectively:

1. Use one of the project management tools above to track task progress, assign responsibilities and manage deadlines.
2. Set a clear calendar with specific deadlines for each project stage.
3. Hold regular meetings to discuss progress, answer their questions and resolve any issues.
4. Give regular feedback on their work. It keeps communication open and makes sure the project stays on track.

If you’re proactive and use the right project management tools, the collaboration can only go well. The only remaining component is the freelancer themself — and for that, our matching process finds you the right profile.

Conclusion and advice for a successful collaboration with freelancers

Working with freelancers can be extremely beneficial for companies, and by following the advice and best practices in this article, you can maximise the benefits of the collaboration and build solid, lasting working relationships.

Don’t forget to look for freelancers with the key skills you need, communicate clearly and precisely, set realistic expectations and manage the projects effectively.

If you’re looking for freelancers to support your digital projects, we can help! At digitags, we work with 1,600+ freelance experts, as well as collectives for your biggest projects. We’re bound to have the right person for you — let’s talk!