When you work as freelance creative, certain things are a given. Such as setting your own schedule (aka mastering the art of the consolidated, color-coded calendar), preparing for a very eventful tax season, and, of course, working with difficult clients — a particularly delicate situation when you are technically your own boss.

For the most part, there are ways to manage troublesome clients and make sure everyone ends up satisfied. All it takes is patience, transparency, professionalism, more patience, and a strong ability to say no.

Here are my top tips, from experience.

Be Careful Who You Work For

The top way to manage vexing clients is to avoid them altogether. Be sure to vet your clients thoroughly before you agree to work with them and/or sign any contract with them, keeping an eye out for certain red flags:

  • The client doesn’t actually know what they want. If the client is very vague in explaining the work you’ll be doing — whether it’s deliverables, the purpose and goal of a project you are managing, or a seemingly endless timeline — it’s not a good look. You are there to complete a specific task, so entering into a work agreement that does not clearly delineate what that task is will only lead to frustration on both ends.
  • They don’t want to pay you what you’re worth. Negotiating pay is part of the freelance process, and it can start to feel uncomfortable if your clients consistently try to lowball you or get free work out of you. Set your rate and stick to it. If they even begin to utter anything about the project being “great for exposure,” run for the hills.
  • The client has unrealistic asks. Some clients know exactly what they want, which normally is great. But if they are asking for something that seems impossible, like a wild list of deliverables and/or a ridiculous timeline, think twice. Of course, if you are up for a quick turnaround, be sure to tack on that premium rush fee.
  • The client doesn’t do what they say they’re going to do. This red flag goes for friends, bandmates, and group project prospects along with clients. If in early talks your client says they’re going to send you materials, and you do not receive them, even after several reminders, it’s probably a good preview of working with them will be like.

Common Challenges

One of the most common issues you may bump into with clients comes down to them not having a clear picture of what they want in the first place. You know, the kind of client who shuts down your ideas without providing something constructive that would help you get closer to what they want, but somehow expects you to pull the perfect idea out like a magician. Related to this are clients that give you too much freedom to do what you want — what seems like a dream hands-off gig can actually be neglectful as you are not sure what it is you’re meant to do.

Another common issue with clients is them assuming that your time belongs to them. The client may send you emails at all hours of the night or weekend and expect you to respond or turn work around outside your working hours.

There’s also the scope-creeper, the client who starts to incorporate other ideas and deliverables outside of the scope of work you agreed upon, asking to you to squeeze other mini-projects into the timeline or putting something they were responsible for onto your plate.

Hand-in-hand with the scope creeper is the “money-conscious” client who is constantly trying to get as much work out of you for as little money as possible.

The Best Offense Is a Good Defense

In general, the best time to confront these issues is actually at the beginning of your work with them. Talk in depth to get an understanding of what they want, translate that into what exactly you will be delivering, incorporate feedback opportunities, tie payment to the specific deliverables, and codify it into your contract with them. This will help protect you in the future and give you something to point to if your client deviates from the plan.

But if you already signed an unspecific contract, or your clients are still being difficult, it’s time to sit down, get real (professionally), and get on the same page with them.

Working Through It

Sometimes getting back on track is simply a matter of transparency, translation, and taking charge.

In any creative work, your biggest asset is knowing exactly what you need. That goes for the client and you, so come to the conversation prepared with a list of your needs so that the client can understand where you’re coming from. Do you need certain specs? A deadline? Do you need a communication strategy for the team?

From there, listen to the client and acknowledge their frustration. Clients get frustrated because they feel unheard, and it is your job to listen to their needs. Of course, chances are, if you have to revisit expectations, they may not be the best at expressing their needs in the first place, so you may have to do some translating and interpreting to understand what it is they really want. Acknowledging and validating your client works best when you also come to the table prepared with tangible solutions. You may be doing the heavy lifting of coming up with a path forward, but that is part of the gig.

The foundation of being able to do any of this is making sure you have firm boundaries. In fact, firm boundaries can help you come up with even more creative solutions. Is a client’s budget under your typical rate? Do your homework, acknowledge the budget, and let them know what they would get with their budget vs what they would get with your proposed one.

Of course, if a client is becoming extremely disrespectful or you have reached a real impasse, don’t be afraid to call it quits. Ideally, you would do so professionally and leave things on a positive note.

Calling in Backup
When a client gets out of hand, it’s nice to be able to bring in a manager who can back you up and help find a resolution. Of course, when you’re freelance, you often have to stand up for yourself, but freelancers who work with a firm do have the added comfort of having an advocate. Staffing agencies can step in to help navigate tough conversations with difficult clients — and make sure you get paid.

Dealing with difficult clients gracefully and having tough conversations is not fun. But they are part of the reality of being a freelancer, and they are valuable skillsets that will serve you well in your career and beyond.

About the author. 
Sam Mani writes about work, creativity, wellness, and equity — when she’s not cooking, binging television, or annoying her cat. 

All throughout the country, you see the same signs: HELP WANTED. “It’s not a ‘labor shortage,’ says the headline of an apt article in the Washington Post. What is it then? “It’s a great reassessment of work in America.”  

What should employers do?  

Creative Circle knows.  

Two professionals on staff, who have their pulse on this issue, offer their informed views. Britt Waitek, sales manager, and Lauren Kaminky, account executive, answered 10 of the top questions on the minds of employers today. 

Why is it so important to retain employees right now? 

Things have changed. “Where Have All the Workers Gone?” asks the question on the top of employers’ minds today and goes on to answer it too.  

In short, when an employee leaves a job, it’s not a simple backfill. In the best case, the departing employee gives the traditional two weeks’ notice when resigning. Finding and onboarding a qualified replacement in that timeframe is not realistic anymore. Count on that hole to last much longer, because there’s fierce competition for talent everywhere. In this environment, don’t expect to bring someone on in weeks. It takes months.  

Beyond the effort and time required to recruit, interview, and select a fitting candidate, there’s another challenge — getting the one at the top of the wish list to accept the offer. During this process, the existing team, likely spread thin already, struggles to get all the work done. That’s the reality of losing just one team member and the critical reason to maintain full staffing.    

How can employers attract and retain candidates? 

In this environment, employers need to convey what’s in it for employees to work in a role and at a firm. It’s no longer money alone. Employees value additional factors, such as growth potential as well as flexible hours and location. 

Employers need to adopt a new mindset about these and related tangibles and intangibles. For the first time in a long while, employers must sell candidates on working at their company. They need to do the same to retain staff. For recruiting, this process starts with the initial interview. That’s when the candidate starts evaluating the job and the place to work. Employers, take heed!  

Recruiting tip

In today’s fight for talent, the best candidates are available for not weeks, but only days. Time is of the essence. Recruit efficiently. Doing so says to candidates that they are a priority. Streamline the interview process by stacking the segments. Schedule the candidate to meet with required stakeholders/touchpoints in one nonstop cycle. During those dialogues, show the candidate you value them and that the company offers value. Dedicate true time at the end for Q&A’s. Probe deeper; listen intently to points the candidate raises. Then move decisively and quickly — if you don’t, your competition will.      

How have candidate/employee preferences evolved over the past 12–18 months? 

Over this time period, something dramatic has occurred. Candidates/employees have come into power. Consequently, employers must get those who work for them excited and then keep them engaged. 

To land candidates, the pace of recruiting must be exponentially faster than before. In case there’s even a minor lag, check in daily with those on the short list. Where else are they interviewing? Have they gotten offers? Who else is reaching out to them? Remember: if your preferences have changed, the same has occurred at other companies. And the competitive sphere has expanded. In today’s world, it can be global. Think out of the box and far and wide as to what candidates want. Then act swiftly.   

What common themes do you see at companies where candidates are most happy to work? 

The top companies make employees feel that they matter. How? By treating people like people, not the resume you hired. Employees provide value — let them know that. Ask them for input. “What are you excited about? What recommendation do you have for us?” 

People who feel they are actively participating and contributing to change are involved. They have a voice and stake in their role, team, and company. Learn more about this issue from the perspective of both employees and employers here. 

In this competitive environment, how do you set expectations with employees and ensure they are meeting them? 

The essence of performance reviews has changed. In today’s world, it no longer should reflect a teacher-student mentality. This exercise is not a report card anymore. Adjust accordingly.  

Open it up and change the focus to what the company can do to help the employee develop. Ask: How do you like your role? What do you want to grow into? What more would you want to do? Where do you see your role in one year from now, in three and five? How can we help you? What can we take off your plate? Is there a way to shift a responsibility or perhaps outsource it? How can we evolve your role to make it what you want? 

This is the gist of the process. As a result, job descriptions are fluid; the imperatives still are integral but some movement is too. Regard the job description as, more or less, a wish list and set expectations for the employee to build on this too.  

Retention tip

Supplement the performance review with spot meetings to take temperature checks. Creative Circle likens this activity to a mock exit interview or an “anti-resignation meeting.” Why take this step? All employees today — not only active job-seekers— are on the market. Companies interested in recruiting staff are reaching out to employees on payrolls everywhere, your company included. With this in mind, ensure your employees are satisfied with their role and their prospects. One idea is to ask employees to keep a diary for two or three days of their tasks and time spent on each. This exercise provides a template for discussion. It also serves as a springboard for the employees to draft their future job description and context for you to help them move toward it.

Aside from compensation, how can employers nurture a culture where staff feel happy and fulfilled?  

Employees today want a true work-life balance, and that’s both valid and important. They also desire purpose. Ideally, let them formulate it themselves. Give them an opportunity to craft their own personal mission statement. Then talk about it. You’re leaving it up to the employee to decide what and how to do this. You’re not saying: “Give me 60 words about it.” You’re asking them to think about why they are working. 

It could be anything, such as just showing up, trying to buy a home, saving for a car or overseas trip, or just wanting to get away from their surroundings. Whatever it is, requesting that they ponder it shows you are valuing them as a team member who’s expected to perform. Plus, it shows that you’re interested AND invested in them as a person.  

Is it viable for employers to insist on in-person work for desk jobs now?     

It’s going to be tough to insist on total in-person work. Employers: be realistic about what this means for your talent pool. Consider building in some flexibility for hybrid arrangements and other features to attract and retain employees. There needs to be ongoing communication across the company with considered thought given to this topic and the decisions surrounding it. 

The simple truth is that today work differs from the way it’s always been. In this New York Times article, a company calls the “Zoomisphere” its “center of gravity.” The article raises serious implications about the present and potential future of work life in the office.   

Are there industries or jobs where its particularly challenging to maintain a full workforce? 

No one industry or group stands out as an exception. Worker shortages are pervasive — they are occurring at businesses of all kinds, sizes and locations. This pattern cuts across North America and then some; it’s global in nature. 

If your company hasn’t experienced this situation yet, don’t get too comfortable. Your time may come. In our experience, a talent hunt is underway everywhere. And, as noted, businesses in need are potentially going after your employees. All said, whether employers are in hiring mode or not, they are participating in this dynamic.    

Tip for being a great place to work 

Take your lead from The Beatles: Come Together. Develop a continuous conversation loop across key functions, such as human resources, finance, and senior leadership. Discuss prevailing market and employment imperatives and set reasonable expectations. Then formulate policies, as needed, around budgets, salaries, interview processes, and skill gaps. Ensure the flow of information is two-way to take into account pain points, priorities, opportunities, and changes. Connect and revisit this agenda often to stay on point, in the now and the know. All hands on deck and in sync is the recipe for success in these difficult conditions.   

What are some creative ways employers are attempting to overcome workforce shortages? 

Employers are trying all means to be fully staffed. They’re covering all the bases to secure workers. They’re reaching out to recruiters and staffing agencies and providing signing bonuses and other extras to entice talent to come onboard. These include nontraditional work arrangements, such as hybrid schedules, freelance, part-time, and flex time. It also encompasses stipends for home offices, child care, meals, and commuter benefits. 

Another aspect of this issue relates to the profile of employees that businesses are seeking. Previously, a potential candidate needed to check all the boxes for a job, come from the same industry, and have directly applicable experience. That’s changed. Employers have broadened their horizons. They realize that a top performer may come from a different background but have skills that transfer well; in the process, that candidate may offer additional perspective. That’s truly being creative.  

If you could give one piece of advice to an employer having trouble finding workers, what would that be? 

Ask for and listen to feedback. If job candidates are dropping out during the interview process, if they’re turning down your offer or if employees are leaving a role, find out why. Have the chat about what was missing, what you could change. Take in all of this information and act on it. If it’s a salary matter, review wages and scales. If candidates are pulling out of the interview process, speed it up. 

 It could be any number of factors. But when you are hearing the same thing from different people, connect the dots and do something constructive about it. The world has changed. To succeed, employers need to acknowledge this trend and strive to get ahead of it.    

Count on Creative Circle for help. We have thousands of fully vetted digital, marketing, and creative candidates available for work in freelance, full-time, and even freelance-to-full-time positions. Contact us to discuss a solution for your business! 

 

About the author. 
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC. 

The rationale for diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruiting is stronger than ever. Research has revealed, again and again, that organizations with diverse workforces perform better financially. As our ideas about work continue to evolve at a rapid clip, companies that are not fashioning more equitable workplaces are being left behind.

Workplace diversity is the idea that your company should reflect the makeup of the society around you — including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, physical ability, and more. Diversity recruiting is the dedicated practice of searching for and hiring candidates using a merit-based process. It is structured to give all applicants an equal opportunity.

Why is a Diversity Recruiting Strategy Important?

Expanding your team’s range of cultural awareness, skills, and experience will positively benefit your business performance and productivity. Organizations that include people of different races, ethnicities, genders, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations produce significantly more innovative, creative, and effective results. According to research conducted by Oracle, businesses with the most diversity outperform those with little diversity by 36%. And CEOs concur, with 85% saying that having a diverse workforce has improved their bottom lines.

As issues around lack of diversity become more evident, job-seekers are doing more research into a company’s culture, diversity, and inclusion, paying particular attention to the makeup of a prospective employer’s existing workforce and leadership team. More than three quarters of job-seekers say diversity is essential when considering companies and job offers. If people feel unwelcome in this tight talent market, they will not opt to work for you.

“Diversity in the workplace is extremely important to candidates, as they want to work for a company that is made up of people with different ideas, backgrounds and life experiences,” says Shannon Robinson, a senior recruiter for Creative Circle. “When candidates see a variety of different types of people in various departments, as well as in middle management and senior management, then they know they’ll have a fair shot at those opportunities as well.”

But diversity does not just *happen* — organizations need to actively pursue, recruit, and engage candidates from distinct backgrounds to foster a more inclusive workforce, which is why having a smart diversity recruiting strategy matters. The first step to building a more diverse team? Craft a recruitment process that generates a robust and varied candidate pipeline. Here are some tips that can help.

Defining Your Diversity Recruitment Goals

The first step in crafting a smart diversity recruiting plan is to lay out what you want to achieve. Every organization needs to assess the right diversity and inclusion strategy based on culture, industry, regional nuances, and more — there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Some key questions to ask include:

  • What are our DEI goals?
  • How do we measure DEI success?
  • How should we measure diversity recruiting metrics?

Discuss and define what diversity in recruiting looks like for your organization. Identify what you want to accomplish. Do you want more women in software development roles? Do you want more ethnic diversity for your branding team? Get specific about your aims.

Planning and Initial Stages for DE&I

If you want to hire a diverse group of people, make sure there is diversity in who is applying to your positions. If your applicant pool is not diverse in the first place, you will have a tough time achieving your diversity aims. One way to do this is to mindfully create more inclusive job descriptions.

Craft inclusive job descriptions

The words you use to create job descriptions have an outsize impact on your ability to attract diverse applicants. Some top tips include:

Using gender-neutral language

Avoid words and phrases that can subconsciously deter diverse candidates. “Ninja,” “rockstar,” “dominate,” and “work hard, play hard” tend to put off female and older candidates.

Nix jargon and “company speak” (aka the internal language of your corporation) because it can make potential candidates feel unqualified, discouraging them from applying at all.

Enhance job ads with encouragement

A single line of encouragement may make a difference and help your job description stand out. Research backs this up—for example, women will often not apply for a position unless they feel 100 percent qualified, whereas men will apply when they feel only 60 percent qualified. A Harvard Business Review study attributes this to women being concerned that not meeting all requirements means they will not be hired, making applying a waste of time. Want to see if your ad passes the gender-neutral test? Drop your job description in here to see what gender-coded language you might inadvertently be using—you may be surprised.

Assemble a diverse hiring team

Want to build a diverse workforce? Start with a diverse hiring team. Different perspectives are offered when distinct backgrounds are represented, helping nix the groupthink mentality that often results in homogenous hiring patterns. Additionally, it is essential to train all hiring and recruitment partners to recognize biases that can lead to unfair hiring decisions.

Interviewing with DEI in Mind

If you want to see clearly, you may want to cover your eyes—say hello to blind hiring practices. To mitigate bias in the initial applicant selection process, hiring managers can strip away identifiable characteristics from a resume unrelated to the role or experiences needed for success.

Blind Hiring Practices

The origins of blind hiring practices go back to the 1970s, when symphony orchestras were made up mostly of white men. To increase diversity, orchestras began holding auditions behind a curtain so judges could make decisions solely based on performance quality without being swayed by gender or sex. And it worked: as a result, 25% to 45% more women were hired.

Blind Resumes

Blind resumes are an increasingly popular method recruiters and hiring managers use to remove name bias and other forms of unconscious bias from initial candidate screenings. By striking out all personally identifying information on resumes, including names, gender, ethnicity, address, and schools, one can decrease biased assessment of candidates. Even just a name on a resume can undermine the most earnest diversity recruitment efforts.

Blind Interviews

After candidates are invited to move to the next round, blind interviews are a great next step. Before doing face-to-face interviews, hiring managers send candidates questions via email or the recruitment platform of their choice. Candidates answer these questions anonymously, taking care not to divulge personal information. The rationale? Looks, accent, gender, and more can sway an interviewer, whereas a blind interview offers an opportunity to learn more about a candidate while remaining as free of bias as possible.

Creative Circle offers client support with unbiased hiring

We offer a candidate submission process with candidate names removed from resumes if desired. We have also created internal training for our account executives and recruiters to identify implicit biases and biased/gendered language in job descriptions. We support our clients in creating more impactful and neutral job profiles.

This initiative is intended to drive unbiased hiring, provide more opportunities to our candidates from marginalized groups, and support our clients in their diversity hiring improvements. Research shows that neutral job profiles can result in an increase of applicants by 42%.

Re-evaluate current interview practices

Whether in-person or video, face-to-face interviews are a critical part of the recruiting process—but can be rife with bias. Therefore, it is essential to train hiring managers to recognize unconscious bias and conduct standardized interviews. Otherwise, discrimination can seep into the interview process, impacting a candidate’s chance of being chosen for the role. Some things to consider when looking at your current interview practices:

  • Do the interviewers come from diverse backgrounds?
    • To recruit diverse candidates, make sure your interview panel includes diverse team members.
  • Have interviewers undergone training to recognize different types of bias?
    • It is imperative to educate your team on conscious and unconscious biases that may arise during the interview process.
  • Are interview questions structured to mitigate or eliminate bias?
    • Standardize your interview process so that candidates are all asked the same questions and evaluated using the same set of criteria.

Journey to a Stronger DEI Program

If you want to expand diversity and inclusivity at your organization, people need to feel genuinely part of the company culture. While focusing on recruitment is an essential first step, it is not enough on its own.

Devise metrics to monitor diversity recruiting efforts

Transparent, measurable metrics will let you track progress and correct course where necessary. Some key metrics for your recruitment team include:

  • Percentage of diverse candidates at each recruitment stage
  • Percentage of job offers to diverse candidates
  • Percentage of diversity, broken out by type, at different levels of your organization
  • Employee satisfaction scores for DEI measures
  • The retention rate for diverse employee hires
  • Pick policies that pack a punch

To increase diversity, create a company culture that attracts a diverse group of candidates. Some ways to do that include instituting PTO policies with built-in flexibility to accommodate important holidays for different religions, parent-friendly policies like job-protected, equal paid leave for all parents, and LGBTQ+-friendly policies like health insurance for domestic partners.

The bottom line

Diversity and inclusion initiatives need to be more than a program. Want to make meaningful change manifest? Embed your efforts into your company culture and infuse them throughout your organization. Communicate your DEI vision and goals so that everyone in your company is clear on your objectives and why they matter. Set clear aims. Craft innovative recruiting strategies. Track successes and study missteps. Monitor your progress and adjust your process accordingly.

About the author. 

An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist—Karina writes, produces, and edits compelling content across multiple platforms—including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Yahoo News, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties and has spanned insight pieces on psychedelic toad medicine to forecasting the future of work to why sustainability needs to become more sustainable. 

There’s something about kicking off 2022 that has felt a bit different. It may be the fact that vaccines have largely made the bleak winter months more bearable than last year. It could be that we now live in a post-Montero world. But one big thing that I have noticed so far this year is that people seem to be forgoing the tradition of a New Year’s resolution. For a few, resolutions have always felt a bit arbitrary, but for a lot of my own friends, a New Year’s resolution feels weird after all we’ve been through.

With all the hardships of the last two years, we’ve been forced to deal with a lot of failure. Setting any goal comes with a risk of failure, so maybe it makes sense that we avoid the whole situation and go resolution-less this year. But unfortunately, when it comes to life and work, avoiding failure altogether just isn’t realistic. So, it’s important to reexamine our relationship with failure and demystify it, so that we can ultimately improve how we deal with failure and even set goals in the first place.

Our fear of failure

Failure is often seen as the worst possible outcome in any given scenario. It’s total defeat, game over, the end of the road. And when it comes to work, whether a freelance project or a full-time job, the stakes seem that much higher. There often seems to be little room for failure when you answer to others and your work reputation is on the line. This pressure is often even more intense for women, people of color, LGBTQIA people, disabled people, and other marginalized communities, who often face an inherent expectation to go above and beyond to justify their presence in a workplace.

This relationship to failure is unhealthy and unrealistic. We all know that failure is an essential part of improving and growth. It is quite literally impossible to go through life without failure, and often understanding yourself as a person comes down to how you deal with mistakes in your life. Yes, failure can be really serious, but even that is an opportunity to right a wrong or and/or get resourceful.

In fact, this fear of failure in work often leads to dysfunctional work habits: not communicating smaller setbacks or mistakes for fear of getting in trouble, not asking questions for fear of seeming incompetent, creating timelines that do not allow time for pivoting or changes, and even being unable to accept constructive criticism without taking it personally. Procrastination and its counterpart perfectionism are both rooted in an immobilizing fear of failure.

But what if, instead of fearing failure, we were able to plan for it in our work processes?

What does failure look like?

Spend some time envisioning what failure actually looks like for a given project. When delineating your objectives, it also helps to reflect on what it might actually look like to not reach those objectives: missing deadlines, not including key people, not having the right dimensions, etc. Visualize what failure looks like (but don’t dwell on it!) and even write down the obstacles you imagine, so if your project starts to go down that path, you can recognize it earlier and intervene.

Be realistic

Failure is rooted in a difference in expectations. If you are assigned a project that is beyond your capacity, it’s crucial to know that and communicate that. We often think that being a good employee or freelancer means doing whatever a project takes, but it actually it is more about knowing what you can take. When everyone meets each other where they’re at, they can better preempt setbacks, but it also allows folks to deploy support where it’s needed in case of a setback. Also, if you are realistic about what you can and can’t do, it makes pushing yourself forward and exceeding expectations a smoother process.

Make room for feedback

Of course, clearly communicating expectations doesn’t inoculate a project from failure. Expectations can change, as do circumstances. Incorporating time throughout a project to review and allow for feedback enables you to understand what’s working and what isn’t working. It also allows you time to learn from mistakes, pivot accordingly, and overcome setbacks.

Budget for failure

No matter the size of your budget, it seems like a waste to set aside resources in case of failure. But ensuring you have a budget that adequately addresses revisions, change of scope, and other potential setbacks will help alleviate stress and headaches in the worst-case scenarios.

We all know that failure is a part of life, but for some reason that concept is rejected when it comes to work. It’s unrealistic, unsustainable, and unfair to think that we can get everything perfect all the time because failure, the insight it provides, the experimentation it demands, and the innovation it can lead to, is actually one of the most valuable tools we have.

So whether you’re creating a project timeline for a new client or mulling over a New Year’s resolution, remember that failure is how we grow.

 

About the author. 
Sam Mani writes about work, creativity, wellness, and equity — when she’s not cooking, binging television, or annoying her cat. 

“Eight Days a Week,” sang The Beatles, to express the amount of affection they had for their lady love. Was this a mathematical error? No, the standard seven days simply was “not enough to show I care.”  

Today, there’s a new refrain gaining steam in the business world — but rather than adding days into the week, companies and workers are thinking about removing them. The idea of a four-day workweek is making news today. Regardless of its ultimate trajectory, one thing is for sure — the standard five days is under scrutiny.  

“Is the Four-Day Workweek Finally Within Our Grasp?” The New York Times poses this question in its “latest DealBook special report on trends that will shape the coming decades.” This article likens the concept to the approach to the overall increased flexibility many office workers have gained during the pandemic. First came working from home. Is the four-day workweek far off?  

Some companies have gone this route already. The online retailer Primary adopted this schedule to help protect its staff from COVID-induced burnout. The firm simply lopped off one day, namely Friday, from the usual workweek — no overtime or pay cut required. While employees at many companies have left in droves during this challenging time, most at this business have stayed put. What’s more, some staff members still voluntarily choose to work on Friday at times. In December 2021, six months after this experiment began, Primary locked in the four-day workweek. For how long? “Indefinitely.”  

A Historical Perspective

A radical idea came to fruition in 1938. That’s when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This law laid the groundwork for the minimum wage, overtime, and — ta-da! — the five-day workweek.  

Some years later, the notion of the four-day workweek began surfacing. In 1956, Vice President Nixon gave a speech in which he posited that the four-day workweek would arise in the “not too distant future.” During the oil crisis in 1977, President Jimmy Carter said he “may urge industries to go on a four-day work week” to cut energy use. A year later, The Washington Post featured an article on “Pushing for a Shorter Work Week.” It noted that “Ever since the beginning of the 1970s, the 4-day work week has seemed to be just around the corner, but this time it looks for real.”       

So, what happened? The New York Times offers some reasons why the movement stalled. It puts them into several buckets, leading with the nation’s economic travails for the subsequent 20 years. Corporate priorities is another factors, as are “globalization and the diminishing power of labor.” That’s quite a heavy load. Ergo sticking with the status quo ruled the day.  

Moving to the present time, momentum has returned. So have grassroots activities on the legislative front. In 2021, Representative Mark Takano submitted a bill to decrease the workweek from 40 to 32 hours. It’s backed by 13 colleagues.  

Back to the Future

COVID-19 landed in a big way during the first quarter of 2020. It disrupted life and work as we know it. How could businesses manage through the pandemic? They strategized and acted. Wherever and whenever possible, they designed work-from home-provisions. As the crisis permutated and prolonged, employers focused on a wide range of additional ways to keep going in troubled times. Some eyes pored over pilots of four-day workweeks to draw upon these experiences. The nation of Iceland is a case in point. 

An early adopter, Iceland started down this path in 2015 at the behest of trade union and civil rights organizations. Two trials ultimately involved 2,500 workers; that equated to more than 1% of the workforce. But that was just the beginning. “Going public: Iceland’s journey to a shorter working week” explains the progress of the initiative in full. The intent was manifold. It aimed to help workers without sacrificing pay. At the same time, it sought to benefit businesses. 

The findings?  

  • Success! “Transformative” and “positive” describe the effects on employees and businesses. 
  • Productivity and service levels remained the same OR improved across most workplaces. 
  • Workers’ well-being increased, with many moving from stress and burnout to health and work-life balance. They specifically mentioned experiencing less stress at home and more time for family and friends, oneself, chores, and domestic activities. The advantages extended beyond just people whose workweeks shortened. 

Yet, challenges cropped up. It became more difficult to program group activities, such as education and training. Handing off information to coworkers was more complex, too. However, the major pluses won out. As such, the abbreviated schedule became permanent and expanded widely. Today, about 86% of the workforce adheres to a compressed workweek.  

The final report by the government analyzes the results. It ends with forward-looking insight. “The Icelandic trials can play a flagship role in showing how working time reduction should be considered a powerful, desirable, and viable policy across contemporary advanced economies.” And that is exactly what is happening. 

A Breakthrough Whose Time Has Come?

News of the four-day workweek started bubbling up during 2021. But from the looks of it — or rather the search of it — 2022 may be the bellwether year. In only a short time, the messaging and tone of posts strengthened. 

A sampling of headlines shows this crescendo effect.  

We start with the last quarter of 2021:  

The tempo accelerated with the dawn of 2022.  

Both Sides Now: Tradeoffs and Points of Interest

Discussion and implementation of the four-day workweek occupies the limelight. But is it a good thing? How far can it go? Let’s peek at the issues being raised.   

“If the same results can be achieved in fewer days, why keep a five-day workweek?” muses Investopedia. Its post on “The Impact of Working a 4-Day Week” notes that Japan has promoted this idea as a national policy. If employees and firms derive value via “increased sales, decreased worker burnout, and lower turnover,” why not endorse it? Those are among the pluses, but there are minuses too.  

One to consider is the long-term effect. The new workweek may yield benefits early on, but they may not be enduring. What are other negatives? Companies that transition to four days of 10 hours may encounter problems; aside from potentially violating wage regulations, this timetable may push workers’ beyond their limit to maintain peak productivity. Also not all workers may favor this change; it may add stress and limit camaraderie and other desirable on-the-job social aspects.    

Indeed gets right to the point in “Four-Day Work Week Pros and Cons.” This post starts on the upside. The positives of a 4-day/10-hour schedule include: 

  • Improved work-life balance 
  • More opportunity to recharge and decompress   
  • Continuous workflow over a longer span, higher concentration, fewer distractions 
  • Higher productivity 
  • Increased team building and less time for disputes 
  • Enhanced innovation and creativity 
  • Greater employee motivation and satisfaction 
  • Less commute time 
  • Lower overhead costs    
  • Ecological advantages, e.g., lower carbon footprint 

On the flip side, disadvantages include: 

  • Decreased customer satisfaction, less opportunity for personalized attention 
  • Lower productivity over a long working timeframe, project delays 
  • Difficulty acclimating, communication gaps 
  • Childcare problems in finding arrangements that accommodate longer workdays 
  • Lack of applicability to all industries, such as health care, human services, real estate, and others where “a four-day workweek is an expensive risk to undertake” 

In light of items on both sides of the four-day workweek balance sheet, this post offers tips on how to move forward in this realm:  

  • Analyze the role of meetings and how to adjust/eliminate them for productivity. 
  • Shield employees from burnout over 10 hours, e.g., brief health breaks. 
  • Apprise customers of this change, address their concerns, and maintain in-person backup. 
  • Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. How are employees faring with the new format? What improvements can be made? What are other companies doing that may serve as a model to deliver more benefits? 
  • Finally, monitor and measure the initiative at various points over time to determine whether it’s a success. If not, perhaps revert to the original. 
  • Ask employees which day they prefer off and design a program around the responses.

 
All Sides Now 

A change like this is sure to evoke considerations and comments. That’s what Creative Circle had in mind when it posted a poll on the four-day workweek on LinkedIn. See how those who voted and what they had to say. Hint: The numbers tilt heavily on the affirmative end.

What is your view? No matter what it is, the four-day workweek is something to be aware of and ponder.

 

About the author. 
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC. 

It comes up a lot in conversation. When I say I’m a freelance writer, the next thing I hear is: “What’s it like?” Most of the time the question is from a person with an interest in writing, someone who writes a lot and has some talent. Okay, that’s one thing. But writing on demand for a living is another. It’s a profession and doing that on a freelance basis is a business and often a tough one.  

So here’s my story. It addresses the major issues, considerations and lines of inquiry entailed in this career path. 

Why did you decide to be a freelancer vs. take a full-time job?

Some people are born to be freelance writers. That’s what they want to do and they’re off and writing. I’m not one of them. 

I aspired to be a full-time corporate writer and set out on that path with jobs that I (mostly) loved. I did, however, augment that work with occasional side jobs as a freelance writer, which proved to my advantage. That’s because, as life would have it, through various crises, such as downsizings, mergers and acquisitions, reorgs, economic downturns and performance, some of those around me would be out not on their own accord. For a long run, I held on and kept producing. That is, until I didn’t. I exited the sanctified office front doors with boxes filled but then unpacked them somewhere else and started all over again. 

However, at some point, I didn’t seek to bounce back that way. Enough! I needed and wanted to do this role on my own. So after many years of solid experience, a huge mortgage and then teenage son to support, I entered the land of freelance writing.  

 What are the hardest parts of being a freelancer?

The big three are: finding suitable work, managing your time, and getting paid. 

By far the most challenging upfront issue is securing assignments. And if you’re intent on making it as a freelancer, that’s more than getting one-offs. It’s building a pipeline of projects, ideally repetitive ones, to develop a freelance practice. 

That immediately leads to another potential difficulty, which is: how do you do it all masterfully? This is a be-careful-what-you-ask-for situation playing out in real time and real stress with ideally some proper rest incorporated in your schedule. Often clients’ timelines collide — they want deliverables on the same date or close. You need to juggle responsibilities, set expectations, learn to stop and start and be flexible. Sometimes — and I still shudder at this thought— you need to say “no.” That means establishing your own terms or turning down work. 

Speaking of work, a mega issue for freelancers is receiving remuneration, especially when it’s due. People have written volumes about this for all facets of freelancing, not limited to writing, including me. For details, see my “Show Me the Money! The Problem of Nonpayment for Freelancers.”  

What are the best parts of being a freelancer?

The top items on my short list are: ownership, mobility and variety. 

As a freelancer, YOU are in charge. You’re the boss. Of course, you work for your clients and succeed by meeting or, better yet, exceeding their expectations. So, it’s not as if you operate without guardrails. You must please those who fuel your fire in a multiplicity of ways. Laissez faire this is not, but it’s your operation to mold according to your vision. 

And that vision may take you to outposts beyond your usual setting. With the proper protocols, you can work most anywhere, most any time as long as you offer access and produce the promised goods. For instance, one freelance designer with a case of wanderlust set up shop in city after city in Europe and then in Iceland. It worked! I haven’t gone as far afield, but handled assignments outside my office environs. It’s a liberating experience. 

So is the opportunity to explore vistas, subject areas, and clients through your own practice. It’s always something new or, if you prefer, not so. It’s your choice and that’s a good feeling. Other freelance writers agree. See “5 Amazing Reasons to Start Freelance Writing in 2021” and “9 Benefits of Freelance Writers as Told by Top Content Writers.” 

Does freelancing allow you to pursue projects that you care about more?

In principle, the answer is yes. Because you’re in charge of your freelance fate, you can vie for work that is meaningful to you. That, in turn, may position you as a subject matter expert in an issue or format in which you have special interest. 

When I started, I felt it was advantageous to take in a broad base of industries, focus areas and writing styles; that established me as a generalist. My thinking: that would equip me to pursue many opportunities; it also enhanced my capacity to provide tangible samples to strengthen the chances of landing projects. In taking this wide path, I built a diverse portfolio. I then found myself going from generalist to specialist in several areas, which I could pursue skillfully with different clients.  

Do you ever miss the security and predictability that comes with a full-time job?

Yes, I have at times. A full-time job is more than a paycheck, which is itself a mega factor. Right up there also are employee benefits, namely group health insurance. However, that’s become easier with options from Freelancers Union as well as with the Affordable Care Act. 

In addition to the financial aspects of freelancing, emotional ones come into play. I enjoyed being part of organizations, working alongside colleagues and participating in the corporate culture. Yet, with that come countless political, interpersonal, and business issues over which you have no control. But here’s the flip side. As a freelancer, you can develop camaraderie with clients and function as an extension of their team. That’s something to cherish; even though you’re not a member of the official inner core of a company, you serve as a valued resource and can forge rewarding relationships. And you do so without messy and ongoing uncomfortable and sometimes impossible situations.  

 What types of assignments do you seek? Why? 

It is clear that my roots are in the full-time corporate sphere. For that reason, I tend to gravitate to looking for repetitive assignments and arrangements. I like being the go-to person for a client, learning the business, and then building on that knowledge to provide value-added contributions and content. Over the years, I’ve developed such contacts, complete with signed contracts for set time periods and renewals. Often, that opens the door to getting deeper into the organization to serve several departments, functions, or publications. 

Note that I initially wrote “I tend to gravitate.” There are exceptions. One-off projects are appealing as well, especially if they are in a hot button area or something new and fascinating. At this point, with all of my experience, I can make a case for tackling such assignments. Getting an offer, completing it, and then moving onto something else is a feeling of accomplishment and freedom.    

What common qualities do you find in the best assignments? What are those in the worst? 

I’ve quoted this song title frequently: “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want).” Joe Jackson may be singing about love, but I apply this concept to many aspects of life, including freelance assignments. 

The best projects present a clear upfront understanding of the landscape, to do’s, and objectives. What’s the purpose? What do they want to achieve? The answers are forthcoming and to the point. The persons issuing the assignment thought it out carefully and describe it as such. They may even anticipate issues and offer examples and resources to explain what they seek in a deliverable(s) and when. That’s the basic recipe for a dream assignment. 

Pull the tablecloth out from underneath this beautiful place setting and you have the assignment from hell. These nightmares have open areas and issues, no plan or vision. Those doling it out don’t have a cohesive sense of the desired end product. They may think giving a freelancer complete free reign is a good thing — they’ll know if it’s right on when they receive the goods. But it’s hard for the freelancer to navigate the path forward through the fog. Expect revisits and rewrites. Pass on it.   

How do you find assignments, and what search tips can you give other freelancers? 

Here’s another song, one that fits this theme: “Here, There and Everywhere” by the Beatles. That’s my motto. I’ve looked for work in all the right places and wrong ones too (well, not exactly). The point is that, when starting out and during dry spells, I have barely left a stone unturned. I talked my skills up in just about every situation: at the gym, with neighbors, family, friends, acquaintances, social gatherings, athletic activities, dates, and even with clients for the purpose of getting other clients. Then there’s also formal networking. I looked for and joined industry and special interest groups, including those for business and general writers, public relations. I attended meetings galore. As an active member of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Westfair Chapter, I wrote a monthly jobs newsletter for members on a volunteer basis for seven years. I also set up job alerts through online job boards, LinkedIn and organizations, which come to my email inbox. Here again, I wrote on this topic for Creative Circle in a post entitled: “Virtual Networking: For Before, During, and After COVID.” It contains a lot of handy tips. 

Does being a freelancer make it harder to plan and handle finances? 

In general, yes. It takes some getting used to, but there are ways to strengthen your cycle of payments. Imperative: calculate your monthly fixed costs. I knew my set recurring expenses and estimates of others. Yes, emergencies arise, but so do extra freelance projects. It’s a balancing act. Go ahead and establish a budget. Then start a slush fund. Put money left over at the end of a period to the best possible use — save it. Get an income tax refund? Resist temptation to spend and instead sock at least some of it away. It’s a cushion to help you get through difficult times. 

I find getting freelance gigs through Creative Circle an avenue to plan and handle finances. You fill out a timecard for project(s) you’re on and the firm pays you on a weekly basis and takes out taxes. So you’re receiving remuneration as you work, which is similar to having a full-time job. If you’re actively engaged with Creative Circle, you also have the opportunity to apply for a range of benefits, including a 401(k) with company match. For more, see “How to Manage Your Money as a Freelancer” and “How These Two Freelancers Built Financial Security and Started Saving for Retirement.”  

Would you ever give up being a freelancer writer to take a full-time job?

Some years ago, I became friendly with a colleague at the firm we were at, who left to form her own specialty consulting practice. She had a successful go at working on her own but then took an offer to return to the full-time job world. But she learned she was a go-it-on-her-own person and ended up leaving that position to build back her own thing. She was outstanding in her field, highly regarded globally, and an astute business person. How smart was she? She engaged me as a freelancer to provide her content marketing needs. Then there was an uncomfortable silent spell. When she emerged, she told me she had accepted an offer to merge her practice into a large organization. She was going back into the full-time corporate world. Surprise! 

I haven’t taken that zigzag path but, in my 12+ years of being at the helm of Write Results LLC, NY, I would have signed on as employee with a large organization where I served as a freelance writing contractor. Interestingly, many of those I worked with there are elsewhere now for reasons not of their own. Some landed corporate jobs and others are freelancing. As for me, I’m holding steady and delighted to address this issue and many others as a freelance writer.  

About the author. 
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC. 

Welcome to 2022! A new year means taking some time to reflect on aspects of our lives we would like to change, improve, leave behind, or keep as is. It’s also a great opportunity to give your digital strategy the same treatment! The way people interact on various platforms has changed immensely in light of the pandemic and will continue to do so in the oft-invoked (and kind of ominous) “new normal.” That makes it all the more important to make sure that your digital strategy is up to date, in shape, and ready to meet audiences and goals in 2022.  

Year in Review 

Analyzing performance and implementing changes accordingly is the backbone of good digital strategy any time of the year. So take a look at what goals you set last year and what your analytics looked like. Are there any audience behaviors or preferences that you can capitalize on and incorporate into your strategy moving forward? What KPIs did you hit? How long did users spend on your website? What is your newsletter open rate? What didn’t work, and why?  

This can also mean revisiting mission statements, “About” sections, values, and the general “why” of your brand to really hone in on what makes you unique. It’s crucial to understand your past in order to guide your future in the direction you want. 

Understand your audience 

The most crucial part of any digital strategy — or any marketing strategy, really — is the audience. And no, your audience can’t be “everyone.” Knowing your audience means choosing them, because the more specific you are about the consumers you want to reach out to, the better you can target them.  

Take your audience data and create consumer personas. Get to know them (or, you know, a fictionalized version of them) so you can understand how to reach them. 

Understand your lane 

Brands don’t exist in a vacuum (except Hoover, maybe). Get to know your terrain and do research on your competitors — big and small. Understand where the overlap is in the Venn diagram between you and other brands like you, and definitely understand the parts that don’t overlap. What are you offering that other brands do not or cannot? Stay up to date on the trends of both your industry and your consumers.  

Set goals 

Now that you know what’s working, what’s not, who you’re trying to reach, and who you’re competing with, you can start to put together a vision for your path forward. Where do you need to grow? What new platforms do you want to incorporate? How can you better engage with your audience? 

Setting goals can be overwhelming because there are endless directions and potentials for growth. So don’t forget to keep it SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and timely. 

Time to strategize  

Strategizing how you will meet your goals includes setting KPIs (key performance indicators) and benchmarks, breaking down which platforms you’ll be using (and how much time/money will be devoted to each one), brainstorming or at least plotting out campaigns, and budgeting.  

Strategizing does not mean going full blast with every option possible. It’s selectively deploying campaigns on specific platforms at specific times to best meet your audience where they’re at. If you have way more followers on Instagram than on Twitter, exert your effort and budget accordingly.  

Break it down 

As with any project, breaking things up into small attainable benchmarks is key. The GSOT approach — Goals, Strategy, Objective, Tactic — is a great approach to creating small, easy steps in service of your overarching vision. In the same way that strategy helps you understand how to attain your goal, objectives are the even more tangible and specific aspects of a strategy, whether it’s a certain growth percentage or a specific number of followers desired by the end of the year. From there, you can devise your tactics, which are the actual tasks that help you reach your goal.  

Content strategy 

Now we get to the fun part: content! Once again, research is the most valuable part of the process. Check out what kind of visuals are en vogue, watch what’s going viral, and learn how people respond to competitors’ content.  

Create a striking and unique brand voice (both visual and text-based) that can guide your content. If your brand was a person, what would they be like? What is this persona’s relationship to your consumer? Their favorite funny teacher? Their cool aunt?  

As you’re creating content, the content calendar Is your best friend. A microcosm of the broader digital strategy timeline, the content calendar helps keep posts intentional, allows for planning for holiday content, and of course keeps the team on the same page.  

Enact!  

So you’ve got your tactics, objectives, and content strategy ready to go according to your timeline. It’s time to jump in and enact the plan. Schedule the posts. Send the email blasts. Host the Zoom panels. Deploy the sponsored ads.  

Digital strategy will vary depending on your industry and brand, but the basics are the same across the board. Know your goals. Know your audience. Look at the data. Adjust accordingly. And, of course, make sure that you’re in open communication with your team. Here’s to an effective strategy in 2022!  

 About the author. 
Sam Mani writes about work, creativity, wellness, and equity — when she’s not cooking, binging television, or annoying her cat.