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Have you ever held yourself back from asking a seemingly obvious question about a new project and then later regretted it? Would asking that question given you a better understanding of the project and improved the way you tackled your part in it?

You’re not alone, we’ve all been there.

As the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a dumb question. Whether you want to find out more about a company’s process or you just want to get inside someone’s head, it’s important to put your fears aside and ask questions. Nine times out of ten that question will be both helpful and improve your stature in a project team.

If you’re a freelancer joining a new project, below are some good reasons to ask lots of questions as well as some suggestions on the types of questions to ask.

Questions show you’re keen to learn

There are people who want to do a good job professionally and there are those who just want to turn up and get paid. By asking questions, you’re showing that you’re interested in learning more – whether that’s about the process, the industry or just your boss’ preferences. This will help you make a good impression and do a good job.

This can be a great time-saver for your sanity too. Rather than worrying and guessing about how something should be done, you’ll have the information to hand. This means you can get things done right the first time, saving you time-consuming and frustrating edits later on.

Questions feed your knowledge (and others)

If you’re new to an industry or even just a project, it’s likely that the person who hires you will know a lot more about the topic than you. If you get the feeling that you’re speaking to someone knowledgeable, make sure you take the time to tap their brains. It may be that you’re brought in by someone more senior than you’ll be dealing with on a regular basis, so you may only get one chance to get those insights and leave a positive impression.

There’s also the chance that your dumb question isn’t so dumb after all, and that what you’re wondering hasn’t been considered at the other end. By making them think about the project more solidly, you can earn brownie points for avoiding potential pitfalls.

Also, more often the not, someone in the team is relieved when you ask dumb questions! Maybe it’s their status in the business or the length of time already on the project, but for whatever reason they feel uncomfortable asking the same kinds of questions. You’ve just made their day.

As you ask questions about your shared interests, you’ll begin to build a relationship too. Your employer will likely take note of your interest, and the extended conversation helps to break the ice. As well as delivering great work, having a good relationship is a big part of maintaining an ongoing freelancer deal.

Questions keep you on topic

We’ve all had dealings with people who go on and on, often on extravagant tangents. When time is money, you want to make sure you don’t spend too much of your time on these diversions.

By asking questions, you can help steer the conversation back onto solid ground and keep the discussion focused on the work at hand. Even if the questions seem obvious, simply asking about the project can get someone’s mind back on track.

Questions are easier at the beginning

It’s much easier to ask questions when you start a project than after you’ve been working on it for a year. While there are issues that will crop up as projects develop, asking anything you’re unsure about at the start can give you a clearer picture of what’s expected of you. This can make your job a lot easier and give you a better understanding of what you’re trying to achieve.

You’ll get a better idea of the questions you should be asking as your freelance career develops, and it won’t be long before you have a list of standard questions to run through for every brief.

Dumb questions are better than dumb mistakes

No matter what you’re asking, it’s much better to get an answer from someone who’s paying you than trying to guess and getting it all wrong. At best, stupid mistakes will only cost you time, as you have to fix up what you’ve done wrong. At worst, they could result in getting you fired from a job. In work situations, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and by asking questions you can make sure you’re working in-sync with your employers.

Some thought starters on questions:

• What is the goal of the project?
• What problem is this solving?
• Who is the target audience?
• Why is it being approached like that?
• What is my expected deliverable at the end of this project/phase?
• What format do you want this delivered in?
• Where should I put my work?
• How do you like to work?
• Are there guidelines that I need to follow?
• Where is the research / assets?
• Who is responsible for what?
• What are the critical milestones?
• What are the risks and dependencies?
• Who are the key decision makers?
• Who should I ask about x?
• What are the KPIs / how will my work be measured?

On &FRIENDS, all freelancers are given the chance to converse with companies before a job starts and as a project is underway. This allows you to get a better understanding of what’s required and helps you to make a good impression.

Unlike companies, freelancers aren’t always shackled by the constraints of a Monday to Friday working week. Instead, a large contingent of freelancers prefer to mix up when they work by swapping week days for evenings and weekends.

In an age where there is increasing pressure on companies to deliver more with less time and resource, could this be an under-utilised area of freelancing to help drive up productivity and hit deadlines?

More so than full time employees, freelancers can shape their week by balancing what works best for their personal and professional situation. After all, flexibility and control of time are core drivers for why people choose to freelance. Analysis of our freelance member base confirms this with a third of freelancers open to working in the evening and a fifth open to working weekends.

Periods of the week freelancers are open to work:

Additionally, when some freelancers are not required to work standard business hours, they often choose to get the work done more efficiently by compressing their working week into longer but fewer days. This makes a ton of sense as it gives freelancers more flexibility in how they spend the rest of the week, whether it being for personal time or other jobs.

This flexibility strikes me as an interesting opportunity for companies to leverage. Ultimately a freelancer’s flexibility could easily transfer to increasing a company’s flexibility and productivity.

Instead of a company having to plan projects based on constraints of Monday to Friday 9-5, they can start to consider how projects (or parts of projects) can be delivered in different more efficient ways. Projects can in theory be turned around quicker through evening work, while overall weekly productivity could increase by 2 days with freelancers being engaged to work weekends. It also allows for companies to create a continuous flow of work in a similar way to what offshore partners provide.

Yet for many companies and in particular agencies, working with freelancers typically means bringing them into the office having them working alongside their team lead. After 17 years in agencies I know as well as anyone that in many instances this is necessary. But not all…there are plenty of opportunities where you simply need a good brief and open lines of communication. Plus, with the proliferation of amazing online tools that support remote working (e.g. Slack and Asana), it has never been easier to make this happen.

In this day and age companies have to find ways to do more with less time and resources. Overflow work, a tight deadline or a project dropped in the lap can all potentially be supported by bringing in a freelancer who is flexible about when they work. Creating a better end result for both the project and the sanity of your own team.    

Yet, realistically a big piece to overcome is building the trust between the company and freelancer who is working remotely and outside work hours. Because of this we always recommend spending time ahead of a likely urgent freelance needs to handpick, meet and test the freelancers first. We’d also recommend building a pool of trusted freelancers so that you have more than one to turn to.

The good news is that Companies using &FRIENDS can see the periods in the week that a freelancer is typically available to work.

We also recommend posting a gig with these timing requirements to ensure all possible Freelancers can review and apply. Once posted you can easily build a shortlist and either book your preferred freelancer or add them to your talent pool for future access when you need them.

Originally published in 2017

All job titles are marketing. Not figuratively; that is their main purpose. When a company hires for a role, the job title they use is selected to attract the right kind of people. Similarly, when someone is looking for a gig, the title they give themselves reveals how they wish to be seen. As a result, titles also hold leverage in contract negotiations because a title that a company gives you has future marketing potential.

And like all marketing, there can be a bit of a gap between the message and the reality. This can be a big problem when hiring or taking on a new job.

Fortunately being able to look at someone’s body of work gives you a sense of the kind of craftsman they are. A good trick is to make sure that you talk early and openly about what responsibilities a job actually includes. If you’re hiring, put it in the job ad. Don’t assume everyone has the same definition of “UI designer”.

The problem with seniority

But when it comes to the “Senior” or “Junior” in front of those titles, we have a different problem. When looking at a final piece of work it’s hard to know what parts are theirs, what was supplied direction, and what they were pressured to do by a client. So it’s even more crucial for companies and freelancers to be on the same page about this.

The seniority of a job titles (eg, Senior Interface Designer) often signals an expectation of salary or fees while helpfully postponing the dirty business of actually talking numbers. The exact roles might come in and out of favour, but the classical stack of 4 seniority levels persists; junior, midweight, senior, director (or lead). So unlike titles which will change over time, these seniority rankings should have a more consistent meaning.

Here are the definitions I have used when hiring staff in the past, and the definitions we are using in &FRIENDS

Junior – Learning the craft from others

A junior level craftsman has already learnt the basics. They know how to use photoshop, or they’ve studied the elements of style cover to cover, but they’re still in the active learning phase of their career. Companies that hire them should expect to still have to give a lot of direction and possibly training. The craftsman should expect to have their hands held a bit and to be given work that might feel a bit repetitive. It’s not a punishment or a rite of passage; it will actually help them master the craft through practice.

Mid-weight – Practicing their craft

The prefix “mid-weight’ usually goes unspoken, so someone that goes by “designer” or “strategist” alone is usually indicating that they are at this level.

This makes sense because for most people this makes up the bulk of their career. This is the time you’re actively developing your own skills and doing the work you always imagined you would do when you sought this career. It’s the time when people should start making choices for themselves about their own career development, picking specialities and critically examining their own work. They should still expect to be taking direction from others, but no one should be holding their hand any more.

Senior – Mastering the craft, and teaching others

A senior title is often just used to indicate that someone has had many years of experience. his is vital as ability alone does not make up for a wealth of experience.

However, years are not enough to be called a Senior. You must also be ready to pass on your knowledge to others, explaining the why behind work, not just the how. While working on any project they should be able to “set a direction” that others can follow, which is a skill in itself.

Finally, at this point in their career a craftsman should have opinions on the process of work, not just on the work itself.

Director (or Lead) – Guiding craftsmen with the big picture

Once someone is ready to take on a director or lead title, they’re really not working with the tools of their trade any more, but instead they create things though the hands of others. Their main jobs become managing the briefing of people, the process of the work and reviews of work in progress. They’re no longer just pointing out opportunities for improvement like a senior would, instead they’re instilling values and perspectives on a project so that people make the right choices themselves.

Many people seek this role because they wish to have the final say on the work. While it is important that a director level craftsman is able to do that confidently, it is not the main job and it definitely isn’t where most of the time is spent. At this point in their careers, many people start to feel distant from the work itself. Before taking on this mantle you should be honest with yourself about why you want it.