The success of your working relationships on Guru.com depend largely on how effectively you communicate during every stage of every project. Guru.com provides a number of communication tools to assist you throughout the process and keep your correspondence private, centralized and well documented.
- Ask a Question: Directly ask a question or send a message to a Freelancer while searching or viewing profiles.
- Post and Award a Project: Detail your needs in a project for hundreds of Freelancers or just a select invited few.
- Project Messages: Send files and post private messages to Freelancers regarding your project.
- Project Questions: View and answer public questions from Freelancers regarding your project.
- Project Announcements: Send a mass message to Freelancers who have already submitted quotes for your project.
- Direct Contact Information: Privately call or email Freelancers using their direct contact information.
Before the project begins
Even before you post a project to the Guru.com marketplace, you can search through the wide variety of talented Freelancers registered on the site. On every Freelancer's profile, the "Ask a Question" button allows you to send the Freelancer a message.
After you post a project, communicating with all Freelancers who submit a quote for your project is a polite and professional way to maintain a good Employer status. The majority of Freelancers spend a great deal of time searching for positions and composing and submitting quality quotes. For them, a lack of response from the Employer can be a frustrating part of their contract job search.
Project Messages are a useful tool for this kind of follow-up communication and for deciding which Freelancer to hire. You're able to send a confidential message to any Guru.com Freelancer who submits a quote for your project to determine if he or she is truly willing and able to complete the job. Not only will this help you gauge whether or not a Freelancer's skill set is appropriate for the work you have in mind, but you'll also be able to get a sense of his or her general timeliness, dependability, and ability to communicate. If a Freelancer responds quickly and thoroughly to your messages, he or she is likely to carry that attentiveness over to the actual work, and your professional relationship is off to a good start.
Once you've selected a Freelancer, use the Discussions tool in your project's Work Room to communicate about the project's progress.
When you send Project Messages and Discussions to a Freelancer, he or she will be alerted via email, as well as within their Guru.com account. The same is true when a Freelancer responds to your message. Your email address is not revealed to a Freelancer when you send messages through Guru.com.
To send a notification to all Freelancers who have submitted quotes at once, use the Project Announcement tool.
During project work
Messages are sent real-time, so they reach the Freelancer with the speed of email. Unlike email, however, the Project Messages and Discussions have the advantage of being linked to your specific project and grouped with your other Guru.com tools, such as Milestones and Tasks, within your Work Room, so that all of your work can be managed through one platform. There's no need to flip between windows. Organize all of your project correspondence in a central location through Guru.com.
Once a Freelancer begins working on your project, the Discussions keep you both on the same page regarding the job's status. Clear communication is essential for the success of your project, and frequent updates will keep you informed on whether or not your outsourced work is on track.
You may find it helpful, in your initial Project Agreement with a Freelancer, to establish the frequency and method of communication. For instance, you might include a clause like, "The Employer agrees to post feedback and other comments on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, with the expectation that the Freelancer will post updates by the following morning." This way, there's no confusion as to when both parties should check and post messages, and the project should continue to progress smoothly.
After project work is completed
Keeping communications centralized is also a matter of precaution. In the rare case of a dispute, you'll know exactly where to find all of your correspondence to support your side of the case. Additionally, it's nice to have a record of your communication with the Freelancer should you require similar work in the future. |