Not all freelancers work in your city, or even your country.
Since communication is the backbone of any collaboration, make the conference call process smooth and effortless for everyone on the team. Nobody likes to be the one who missed the call or has to join at 3:00 am due to timezone differences.
To alleviate any issues and grief, here are 3 tips for setting up successful global conference calls with your team:
Make Your Conference Calls More Effective
Group calls are challenging enough with overlapping conversations, dropped Internet connections and background noise. Ugh! We’ve all been there. It’s time to get your next convo off to a good start.
1. Share Three Potential Call Times
If possible, have the options fall during daytime hours for all parties, in all locations. Then, let the attendees vote on what works best for them.
Setting one time and commanding everyone to attend is rigid and not mindful of everyone’s schedules, especially freelancers who don’t often conform to the 9-to-5 grind.
To streamline the process, use a conference call service, like Zoom or GoToMeeting, that everyone can access from their PC or smartphone.
By going this route, your freelance animator from France will feel like a valued part of your team, as opposed to being left with a final workload and no heads up beforehand.
2. Consider Having Two Calls, Then Sharing
We all know the folly that is group calls.
Sarah: Does anyone have any questions?
Bob: Yes, this is Bob…Can we…
Mark: I do! This is Mark…Oh, go ahead, Bob.
*silence*
Sarah: Bob, do you have a question?
Bob: Sorry guys. My connection went down. Where were we?
Sometimes it’s best to segment a conference call to improve the overall quality of the information and allow for more collaboration. This can be done by department, tasks or location.
Bottom line: The fewer the attendees per call, the better.
Both calls are recorded and shared with the other group so everyone hears the information. Then, allow for follow-up questions on a shared online communication tool, such as Slack.
This keeps the ideation going and time for follow-up concerns despite any time zone limitations or conference call calamity.
3. Offer Post-Call Transcriptions
When setting up the global conference call, let the attendees know transcripts will be provided after the call so they can fully immerse themselves in the conversation and not forfeit any attention trying to take notes.
Transcripts can also easily be translated into other languages to accommodate your worldly team. For some freelancers, the host’s language may not be their first language, causing a bit of confusion. A transcript translated into their preferred language makes the collaboration more effective.
This type of documentation is also handy for growing teams. If you’re thinking of hiring more freelancers in the near future, they can review past transcripts to better understand the scope of your digital asset needs and overall project goals.
Communicate With Your Freelancers Often
In addition to conference calls, you can always stay in touch with Fiverr Pros via the messaging feature on the platform.
The freelancer will receive a notification and get back to you as soon as they are in work mode. In any case, make sure to communicate with your freelancers often and keep everyone in the project loop from start to finish for the best results.
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