It’s been a month since you’ve hired “Dennis,” your new freelance developer. During the job interview, he seemed to be a skilled programmer, verbally articulate, and a real team player. But after he works for a few weeks, there are signs that he might not be successful in his 12-month gig.
Dennis’ lack of focus, tepid teamwork, and faulty communications are taking their toll on project cycle times, your budget, and the goodwill of other team members.
When you take a closer look at Dennis’ behavior, you notice these patterns…
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Low Focus, Low Productivity
You notice that Dennis works slowly and generally lacks focus. His slow pace of work doesn’t fit into Agile and other accelerated workflow methods. And, his sloppy code means he gets stuck doing rework. As a result, his team doesn’t meet their deadlines.
In Dennis’ case, it’s the result of:
1. Getting distracted easily
Dennis is not parked on Facebook all day. On the contrary, he multitasks. But every time someone lobbies for his time and attention for another project, it takes more than the average 38 minutes for him to get back on track.
What’s worse, with each distraction, Dennis risks slower delivery, more stress and frustration, and more bugs in his work.
2. Needs help to get back on track
In addition to his slow recovery, when unexpected obstacles arise, Dennis needs help to get going again.
Sometimes, he nudges a colleague by email or Slack, other times, his manager. So now, he’s slowing down other people’s work as well as his own.
3. Not planning or prioritizing work
The cause of the problem appears in an all-hands meeting or regular dev syncs. When Dennis reports his status, it’s plain that he’s working with the wrong or out-of-date priorities. Conditions and requirements change, but he’s not keeping up.
The problem: Dennis never learned to make and use a personal work plan. That’s a costly problem. In addition to guiding Dennis’ day-to-day efforts, a plan would reduce the cycle time and labor costs that his slow work and rework caused.
Read More: 13 Things Freelance Software Developers HATE Hearing From Clients
The Lone Eagle Developer
Next, Dennis doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as his team members, in terms of company standards and his general outlook on work.
At first, the difference seems to be the result of his working offsite. But then, you notice that he’s out of sync with other remote team members, too.
This hard-to-define situation was the result of:
4. Lack of energy and motivation to do first-rate work
His work is good but uneven — sometimes excellent, other times just average.
Something’s lacking. He seems glad to be a freelance developer, but, there’s no passion or enthusiasm for the work. No persistence, in which 10 percent more effort would elevate his adequate work to something really special.
5. No effort to get to know other team members
This is tough to do when you work offsite. But, like it or not, joining a team is joining a tribe. Whether you’re a freelance or full-time developer, you must share team goals and standards and do good work consistently.
Taking an interest in fellow team members shows interest in the group and the work. And getting to know folks on a human level would be a good way for Dennis to learn who could help him do his best work.
6. No contributions to design discussions
Dennis is fortunate. Even though he’s a freelance developer, you encourage him to contribute to discussions of product designs, programming methods, and new ideas generally. But he never participates in these design sessions.
Why? Dennis never learned how to balance working independently with becoming a team player. By working alone, he lost the opportunity to be a serious contributor and might have damaged his reputation as a freelancer. And your company loses the chance to benefit from his product and process development ideas. He has some good ones, but he never shares them.
Read More: Good Developers Don’t Always Make Good *Freelance* Developers
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Communications Failure
It doesn’t take long for you to notice a distinctly negative vibe whenever Dennis’ name is mentioned. It seems that Dennis occasionally misses important all-hands meetings and seldom works with colleagues in other time zones.
After asking around, you discovered that he:
7. Is reluctant to ask questions
Especially questions that would help avoid misunderstandings in instructions and work schedules.
8. Doesn’t pay attention to the location of other team members
You run a highly distributed operation: 28 members in four time zones. To work with Dennis, his long-distance colleagues always have to contact him. He never takes the initiative to contact them.
As a result, team goodwill — so important to a well-run project — is frayed at the edges.
Evidently, Dennis did well in the interview but hadn’t mastered communications skills such as asking questions and working with fellow team members.
Read More: How to Integrate Freelance Software Developers Into Your Current Team
Avoidable Problems
If you’ve been thinking that Dennis’ problems were preventable, you’re right. You could have avoided the extra time and costs lost to a superficial interview.
Here are three ways to prevent Dennis’ problems early in the hiring process:
Ask Dennis questions to understand his soft skills
You asked questions about the technical side of the job. Dennis had the technical knowledge and experience required. But he lacked the soft skills that would have kept him out of trouble.
Define “cultural fit” before hiring
It was important to know Dennis’ experience with programming and specific tools. But studies show that a shared work ethic and the ability to collaborate do a better job in predicting job success than technical details.
Get help hiring a developer with all the right skills
You could have hired someone carefully chosen from a global network of experienced software engineers.
Keep in mind that technical skills alone don’t make a solid freelance developer. Time management, collaboration, and communication skills are also must-have capabilities in modern development environments.
Working with a freelance developer is a two-way street. To maximize your results, you as the client also need to dedicate time and effort to properly onboard and communicate with any freelance developers that you hire.
If you have a “Dennis” and things haven’t been working out, consider hiring a reliable, carefully vetted freelance developer at Arc or other alternatives.
Have you had not-so-great experiences with freelance developers in the past? If so, were there any telltale signs that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
You can also try Arc, your shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:
⚡️ Access 450,000 top developers, designers, and marketers
⚡️ Vetted and ready to interview
⚡️ Freelance or full-time
