Briefing a freelancer: A guide to successful teamwork

Working with freelancers

In today’s digital age, when it comes to recruiting talent, more and more companies are choosing to work with freelancers. As highly-qualified experts, freelance consultants can offer scarce and essential skills in tech, data, marketing, design and beyond. On average, freelance talent even has about the same level of experience as their full-time employee counterparts (as reported in our Malt guide for freelancers and companies on how to collaborate successfully. 

One major difference in teaming up with freelancers versus full-time employees is the onboarding or integration process. In this article, we get into the key to that freelance onboarding process: the freelance brief.

The importance of a proper freelance brief

To ensure a successful collaboration and achievement of your project, properly briefing your freelancer is of the utmost importance. Basically, if you want a freelancer to do their job well, you need to tell them exactly what you want, need and expect from them. So, a detailed brief outlining the specifics of the assignment is the foundation for successful collaboration between a company and a freelancer. That means that before getting started, companies must think practically about their needs and how working with a freelancer could help. And they need to put those thoughts into a written document, AKA the brief.

The brief, or requirements document, serves both to attract the best freelancers and ensure that the working relationship gets off to the best possible start. It helps align both parties and establish a shared understanding of the project expectations. This seems straightforward, but the process of putting together a clear brief is quite complicated. In fact, 44.3% of freelancers say they rarely get a clear brief!

Key steps and best practices for writing the freelance brief

The brief is your bible when it comes to communicating with your freelancer. It’s a single document that wears many hats. As an onboarding, communication and project management tool, it sets up the working relationship, provides context and defines the project that you will be working on together. 

First of all, the brief provides the freelancer with context about your company, your team and the project at hand. It’s an introduction to the company vision and strategy and how the project fits in. Talk about your values, your competition, etc., but remember to keep it concise, or brief (pun intended).

The freelance brief also needs to clarify what it is you are looking for. It defines project objectives including required skills and expected outcomes as well as the scope of the assignment, its deliverables and criteria for success. In other words, what is the specific goal of the project? What are your expectations? What’s the message, or what’s at stake? Who’s your audience? These are key questions that your brief should address in order to set your freelancer up for success. And they need to be addressed with specifics: word count, video length, number and size of assets to produce, etc.

Additionally, when writing a brief for a freelancer, you should cover the “how” of your collaboration. It should establish a schedule and outline communication tools and other resources or processes, including a key contact for your freelancer. The brief should also answer the question: Can the project be conducted via remote work or is the freelancer expected to be on site? 

In terms of freelance project management and organization, the brief may include an action plan and implement regular checkpoints. The freelance brief is also a tool for time and budget management, setting realistic deadlines, and establishing payment details and terms. 

Example of a brief

The best way to demonstrate a clear freelance brief? We’ll show you one. Here’s an example of a Malt brief for a freelance copywriter.

Context: Malt is a community bringing together freelance talent and companies of all sizes. At Malt, we believe in a world where success is powered by the combination of the right people, the right team, and the right projects. We have created a new work order by building the fastest-growing freelancing marketplace, connecting freelancers with over 60,000 companies ready to take their projects to the next level. We make the administrative, legal, and payment processes simple and secure – for both freelancers and companies. 

Project: We’re enhancing the resources section of our website for those who work with or hire freelance talent. So your objective is to write an informative, engaging article about “how to brief a freelancer.” 

Target audience: Managers in all departments, from SMBs to major corporations. This can include managers who already work with freelancers or those who are new to the idea. 

Article length: 1200 - 1500 words

Format: include H1 and H2 titles, and meta description of 150 - 160 characters

Main keyword: freelance brief

Secondary keywords: briefing a freelancer / writing a brief for a freelancer / how to brief a freelancer / working with a freelance / freelance project management

Tone of voice: Please write in UK english.

Resources: Malt guidebook [please link to the guidebook in the article] 

Process: This project is 100% remote. You can work in any type of document file that suits you best. Be sure to follow the brief and reach out with any questions.

Your key contact: Jane Smith, reachable at  [email protected] or via the Malt messaging feature.

Deadline: July 1st, 2023 for a V1, with feedback shared. A final version expected within 2 - 3 working days after we share our comments

Budget and payment: £400 for the article, payment handled via Malt.

Final thoughts on briefing your freelancer

If you’re choosing to work with freelance talent, you’re choosing to work with experienced, skilled experts who can deliver on whatever it is that you need. To set them up for success and to make this collaboration really work, don’t gloss over the brief. Remember that it is a key to communicating efficiently with freelancers and to a successful collaboration.

Ready to get started with freelance talent? Explore Malt’s community of freelancers around the world to find the best freelance talent for your project.