Freelance. See the goal and overcome obstacles
This article is about standard management methods that help improve work efficiency and quickly take a high position even in such a seemingly unrelated area of ​​“management” as freelancing.
It will be about quite prosaic things: strategic and scheduling, accounting and reporting.
Everything that is written in the article, I checked on myself for a year and made sure that the method works.
Before embarking on planning, it is necessary to study the “market environment” and determine your current position on the exchange.
If you are just starting a freelancer, your position is “new”. You are new, regardless of the baggage of knowledge, experience, experience, academic titles and regalia. Of course, all your advantages can (and should) be published in the resume, but in the eyes of most customers you will remain a novice until you confirm your possibilities with examples of work in the portfolio and positive customer reviews.
')
At this stage, the advantage is given to the one who soberly assesses the situation and is ready to work for the future, ignoring the guaranteed low initial return. The main thing for a beginner: learn to work, hone your skills, increase your “human capital” and in the process raise your status on the exchange. An objective sign of improving your market position will be an increase in average monthly income (in fact, this is a collective recall of customers paid by them from their own pocket, and therefore really reflecting the value of your work).
But in order to reduce the time spent in the status of a beginner to a minimum, you need to have clear, clearly defined goals and strive to achieve them, ignoring the unenviable current status and low wages.
The freelancing market is a buyer's market, where the largest and best part of orders goes to the smaller, but better part of the freelancers. The rest are forced to share what is left with the battle and do the work at “waste” prices. Therefore, it is important to identify your potential advantages and focus on them when positioning yourself on the exchange. And if there are no advantages yet, set a goal to achieve such advantages and carry out the assigned tasks. The position “greedy customers are to blame for my troubles” is guaranteed to lead the ranks of the “losers”, because suggests the lack of productive actions on your part (a frog that does not jerk its paws, drowns in sour cream).
But even when you have achieved success, you need to remember that, having won the desired position on the stock exchange, you should not stop. Your rivals are improving, striving to come forward and take your place in the market. Competition is like a locomotive. To be successful, you have to run ahead, but those who stop at the same time, it crushes.
Here is another reason why it is necessary to clearly see the goals and move in the chosen direction, rather than hang out, like, politically correct, some substance in the hole for ice fishing.
From the point of view of management, a freelancer is a full-fledged enterprise with all its attributes: fixed and circulating assets, labor resources, products, customers, income and expenses. And for the work and development of this enterprise to be effective, it is necessary at least to understand what you want to achieve.
Following the canons of management, it is necessary to define your strategy - to build a “goal tree”. We must start with the root, global goal. Determine why, by and large, you do (or are going to do) freelancing. The goal can be “achieve financial well-being”, “create a foundation for career growth”, “have one-time incidental earnings”, “improve your social status” - it all depends on your aspirations and life circumstances. The goal must be reasonable and achievable.
Outlining a global goal, you can go to its decomposition. That is, to determine what intermediate goals and in what time it is necessary to achieve in order for the main goal to be realized. And also establish the criteria by which you will judge the achievement of goals. The main thing is to fulfill two conditions:
For example, your global goal "to work 100 hours and earn 100 thousand per month."
To achieve it you need:
You can make the decomposition more detailed:
Naturally, the approach (especially to its capabilities) must be extremely objective and based on facts. Suppose you learn that someone has received a certain amount for their work and build your calculations, assuming that you will constantly perform the same work and receive the same money. In principle, such an approach is possible, but first you need to make sure that: a) you can perform similar work with the same quality and performance, b) you will be paid the same money for this work - and this is not a fact, c) you will receive the right amount of orders and d) you have enough time and energy to cope with such a flow of orders.
If you fail to create a set of goals that meets two main conditions, this means that either you have not studied the situation enough to find a way to achieve a global goal, or your global goal is too high, and you need to
change, make achievable.
When the intermediate goals are defined, it is necessary to analyze the situation and determine which tasks need to be solved in order to achieve the goals set, and it is necessary to outline the ways and time frames for their solution.
For example, to achieve the goal of “raising the level of their work so that they cost 1000 per hour”, it may be necessary:
These will be the tasks that must be solved to achieve the goal.
Working through the ways and deadlines for solving problems, you need to assess the risks and think about actions in case of failure.
By the way, for the method to work, the “tree of goals” must be written down (the designer can be beautifully drawn), the solution of tasks and the achievement of goals are regularly (once a month) monitored, and adjusted as the situation changes. Flexibility is one of the foundations of competitiveness.
As already mentioned, from the point of view of management, a freelancer is an enterprise.
Moreover, the freelancer - the main and only head of this company - the boss and top manager in one person. Therefore, it is all planning, accounting and reporting (you have to report to yourself, but this is necessary so as not to constantly step on our own, scattered anywhere, rake).
To make your life easier, it is useful to get into the habit of drawing up a detailed schedule for all accepted orders. This will help to avoid overlays in planning subsequent orders and monitor the observance of intermediate deadlines. The second required document is a time sheet indicating the time spent on each job or element of a large job. This will help determine the complexity of performing various types of work and more precisely plan the implementation of orders. (I have
the schedule and time sheet are in one table, and the records of work and payments are in another).
Give planning and accounting just a few minutes a day - and you will save a lot of days and nerves.
Actually, on a large scale - that's all that is required for success (except for hard, focused work).
Perhaps readers will say that everything written here is trite.
And disgusting free spirit of free artists.
Like, they did not leave the office routine for nothing!
But…
When I started to work on freelance, I understood that of the types of activity required there, I can only do texts and translations, that is, the lowest paid jobs. On the other hand, I had potential competitive advantages that allowed me to rely on a high position in this segment: a broad technical outlook, knowledge of technical English, the ability to quickly understand a new subject for me and work 200-250 hours a month without loss of efficiency. In addition, I had a ready workplace and a lot of free time (I am a pensioner).
The global goal that I set myself was: “an interesting job for a stable decent pay”.
Accordingly, the intermediate objectives:
I will not list my tasks - there were a lot of them and for the most part they were solved, and the first two goals were achieved. Articles for magazines and content on a simple (for me) subject go without comment, and new customers themselves offer work, despite the fact that I have a sign “busy” on the exchange for six months already.
But new goals and tasks appear to be replaced by the decided ones.
For example, in May, I retreated from my own rules and "launched" the maintenance of the schedule and timesheet. As a result, I miscalculated and scored so many orders that in July it took almost 300 hours to eliminate the “tails”. And now one of my immediate goals: "to ensure the rhythm of work."
Another important goal is to “consolidate our position”, for which purpose we should improve our technical writer skills.
Actually, this article is dictated by the desire to "improve the skills of a technical writer."
The task that I am trying to solve with this publication in the sandbox is obvious: to be able to publish further articles in thematic hubs, where they will be the subject of discussion and feedback from a large number of qualified readers. When working on the stock exchange this is unattainable: one customer - one review, and even then not always.
It will be about quite prosaic things: strategic and scheduling, accounting and reporting.
Everything that is written in the article, I checked on myself for a year and made sure that the method works.
Before embarking on planning, it is necessary to study the “market environment” and determine your current position on the exchange.
Free lance is a platform where pioneers and retirees start on an equal footing.
If you are just starting a freelancer, your position is “new”. You are new, regardless of the baggage of knowledge, experience, experience, academic titles and regalia. Of course, all your advantages can (and should) be published in the resume, but in the eyes of most customers you will remain a novice until you confirm your possibilities with examples of work in the portfolio and positive customer reviews.
')
At this stage, the advantage is given to the one who soberly assesses the situation and is ready to work for the future, ignoring the guaranteed low initial return. The main thing for a beginner: learn to work, hone your skills, increase your “human capital” and in the process raise your status on the exchange. An objective sign of improving your market position will be an increase in average monthly income (in fact, this is a collective recall of customers paid by them from their own pocket, and therefore really reflecting the value of your work).
But in order to reduce the time spent in the status of a beginner to a minimum, you need to have clear, clearly defined goals and strive to achieve them, ignoring the unenviable current status and low wages.
Competition
The freelancing market is a buyer's market, where the largest and best part of orders goes to the smaller, but better part of the freelancers. The rest are forced to share what is left with the battle and do the work at “waste” prices. Therefore, it is important to identify your potential advantages and focus on them when positioning yourself on the exchange. And if there are no advantages yet, set a goal to achieve such advantages and carry out the assigned tasks. The position “greedy customers are to blame for my troubles” is guaranteed to lead the ranks of the “losers”, because suggests the lack of productive actions on your part (a frog that does not jerk its paws, drowns in sour cream).
But even when you have achieved success, you need to remember that, having won the desired position on the stock exchange, you should not stop. Your rivals are improving, striving to come forward and take your place in the market. Competition is like a locomotive. To be successful, you have to run ahead, but those who stop at the same time, it crushes.
Here is another reason why it is necessary to clearly see the goals and move in the chosen direction, rather than hang out, like, politically correct, some substance in the hole for ice fishing.
Target definition
From the point of view of management, a freelancer is a full-fledged enterprise with all its attributes: fixed and circulating assets, labor resources, products, customers, income and expenses. And for the work and development of this enterprise to be effective, it is necessary at least to understand what you want to achieve.
Following the canons of management, it is necessary to define your strategy - to build a “goal tree”. We must start with the root, global goal. Determine why, by and large, you do (or are going to do) freelancing. The goal can be “achieve financial well-being”, “create a foundation for career growth”, “have one-time incidental earnings”, “improve your social status” - it all depends on your aspirations and life circumstances. The goal must be reasonable and achievable.
Outlining a global goal, you can go to its decomposition. That is, to determine what intermediate goals and in what time it is necessary to achieve in order for the main goal to be realized. And also establish the criteria by which you will judge the achievement of goals. The main thing is to fulfill two conditions:
- intermediate goals should be real (feasible and achievable in the existing conditions) and
- achieving all intermediate goals should be sufficient for the global goal to be achieved.
For example, your global goal "to work 100 hours and earn 100 thousand per month."
To achieve it you need:
- “Learn how to earn 1000 per hour” and
- "To attract the flow of orders for 100 thousand per month at a price of 1000 per hour"
You can make the decomposition more detailed:
- "To raise the level of their work so that they cost 1000 per hour",
- “Strengthen your position on the exchange so that customers agree to pay you 1000 per hour”,
- "To attract a stream of orders for 100 thousand per month at a price of 1000 per hour" and
- "Learn to moderate their greed, so as not to collect orders for 200 hours."
Naturally, the approach (especially to its capabilities) must be extremely objective and based on facts. Suppose you learn that someone has received a certain amount for their work and build your calculations, assuming that you will constantly perform the same work and receive the same money. In principle, such an approach is possible, but first you need to make sure that: a) you can perform similar work with the same quality and performance, b) you will be paid the same money for this work - and this is not a fact, c) you will receive the right amount of orders and d) you have enough time and energy to cope with such a flow of orders.
If you fail to create a set of goals that meets two main conditions, this means that either you have not studied the situation enough to find a way to achieve a global goal, or your global goal is too high, and you need to
change, make achievable.
Setting goals
When the intermediate goals are defined, it is necessary to analyze the situation and determine which tasks need to be solved in order to achieve the goals set, and it is necessary to outline the ways and time frames for their solution.
For example, to achieve the goal of “raising the level of their work so that they cost 1000 per hour”, it may be necessary:
- upgrade the workplace by spending part of the money set aside for summer vacation;
- get trained by spending the remaining funds;
- to be staged on a strong team (to work a “black man” with a strong freelancer) - such offers on the exchange are not uncommon.
These will be the tasks that must be solved to achieve the goal.
Working through the ways and deadlines for solving problems, you need to assess the risks and think about actions in case of failure.
By the way, for the method to work, the “tree of goals” must be written down (the designer can be beautifully drawn), the solution of tasks and the achievement of goals are regularly (once a month) monitored, and adjusted as the situation changes. Flexibility is one of the foundations of competitiveness.
Planning and Management
As already mentioned, from the point of view of management, a freelancer is an enterprise.
Moreover, the freelancer - the main and only head of this company - the boss and top manager in one person. Therefore, it is all planning, accounting and reporting (you have to report to yourself, but this is necessary so as not to constantly step on our own, scattered anywhere, rake).
To make your life easier, it is useful to get into the habit of drawing up a detailed schedule for all accepted orders. This will help to avoid overlays in planning subsequent orders and monitor the observance of intermediate deadlines. The second required document is a time sheet indicating the time spent on each job or element of a large job. This will help determine the complexity of performing various types of work and more precisely plan the implementation of orders. (I have
the schedule and time sheet are in one table, and the records of work and payments are in another).
Give planning and accounting just a few minutes a day - and you will save a lot of days and nerves.
Actually, on a large scale - that's all that is required for success (except for hard, focused work).
Perhaps readers will say that everything written here is trite.
And disgusting free spirit of free artists.
Like, they did not leave the office routine for nothing!
But…
It works!
When I started to work on freelance, I understood that of the types of activity required there, I can only do texts and translations, that is, the lowest paid jobs. On the other hand, I had potential competitive advantages that allowed me to rely on a high position in this segment: a broad technical outlook, knowledge of technical English, the ability to quickly understand a new subject for me and work 200-250 hours a month without loss of efficiency. In addition, I had a ready workplace and a lot of free time (I am a pensioner).
The global goal that I set myself was: “an interesting job for a stable decent pay”.
Accordingly, the intermediate objectives:
- “To master copywriting in 3 months”, the criterion of achievement - the majority of model texts are accepted by customers without comment,
- “For the year to raise the flow of orders to the level of 200 hours per month at a price not lower than 300 rubles. at one o'clock",
- "For three years to reach the level of income of one million rubles a year."
I will not list my tasks - there were a lot of them and for the most part they were solved, and the first two goals were achieved. Articles for magazines and content on a simple (for me) subject go without comment, and new customers themselves offer work, despite the fact that I have a sign “busy” on the exchange for six months already.
But new goals and tasks appear to be replaced by the decided ones.
For example, in May, I retreated from my own rules and "launched" the maintenance of the schedule and timesheet. As a result, I miscalculated and scored so many orders that in July it took almost 300 hours to eliminate the “tails”. And now one of my immediate goals: "to ensure the rhythm of work."
Another important goal is to “consolidate our position”, for which purpose we should improve our technical writer skills.
Why do I need this article?
Actually, this article is dictated by the desire to "improve the skills of a technical writer."
The task that I am trying to solve with this publication in the sandbox is obvious: to be able to publish further articles in thematic hubs, where they will be the subject of discussion and feedback from a large number of qualified readers. When working on the stock exchange this is unattainable: one customer - one review, and even then not always.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/151412/
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