software, outsourcingI am running a start up software development company. For now developing the projects I hire freelancers. But sometimes they are unable to complete the project and sometimes the leave they project in the middle.
How to manage freelancers?
Do I have to create a policy or something else?
You may assimilate freelancers to employees or to suppliers.
If you think they are closer to employees… then you should keep in mind that in order to develop software you need engineers/software developers. Either they are freelancers, consultants, interns or employees, you need to manage them as software developers. You can use agile or any other methodology, but you should keep control of your resources. Plan accordingly, monitor the progress and make your adjustments. So just remember freelancers are like employees, who are not fully assigned to you. And the only difference is in how you will pay them.
Exceptional freelancers have the professional maturity to understand they are suppliers. They will commit to a result (work-package, product, part of a product) and expect to be paid only if they deliver. I expect if you work with one of those they will not drop in the middle of the project. Also they will need little to no management. You don’t need to create a policy. You need a clear agreement of what needs to be done. Agreement should eventually be formalized in a contract with penalties.
You should use agile process to manage your project. Your software should delivered weekly. Notice, you must validate the freelancers very careful. Most of reason the project fail come from their skills. It is not come from your requirement.
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