You’ve found the job assignment you’ve been dreaming of, and as a freelancer or consultant you know you’ll have to adapt to a new organization, a new team, and new processes. Of course, autonomy, efficiency, and adaptability are the key words for a successful start, there are some key steps to take into account in order to integrate perfectly into an assignment and to adapt serenely to a new company culture. 

What are the key steps to a successful integration? How can you become an active participant in your new assignment? In this article, we give you our advice on how to get started on your freelance assignment.

Define the terms of your mission ahead of time

Yes, thanks to your experience, you know that to border and frame the mission well before it even starts can be very useful if not essential for the success of your integration and the good progress of a project. 

We are talking about contractual terms and conditions that will help guarantee your security and your remuneration throughout the mission. The budget is often the most sensitive point of the negotiation. As a freelancer, you set your own daily rates, but you can also work on a fixed-price basis, or on a per-assignment basis by setting milestones for the progress of a project… It is up to you to manage. 

The understanding of the client’s context is also very important, you can for example define the terms of face-to-face work, or telecommuting day beforehand. 

At Colever we support each freelancer in this crucial step and are committed to understanding your needs to better define the scope of your assignment with the client. This allows you great flexibility and guarantees you great freedom.

Determine the scope of your mission!
A good scope is an effective brief. It must allow all the actors of a project to work together in the same direction. As a freelancer, make sure that:

• A good correlation between the project objective, the identified needs, and the actions to be taken: the good brief must be coherent, thoughtful, and structured.
• Prepare a summary of the important points to be considered: the good brief must be clear, fluid and easily understandable by anyone, even if they do not know the company. So ask questions to clarify your client’s needs if necessary! 

However, you should also leave yourself some “room for maneuver” to develop and carry out your job-assignment. You must be able to be proactive even if your scope is determined and have the possibility to come up with innovative solutions for the good of the project. You must therefore find the right balance between a complete brief and an ultra-detailed specification that can become a constraint in the long run.

On-boarding: identifying the workings of the organization.

Starting a new job assignment as a freelancer or consultant in a company you don’t know is not something you can improvise. More than that, taking on a new position requires you to really invest yourself before your mission even begins until it is completed. 

Some employers think that this integration phase takes place naturally, almost “on its own”. However, 30% of job seekers leave their job within the first 90 days.

On-boarding is the implementation of an integration system that will allow the new recruit to quickly feel at home and to appreciate each of the functions of his or her mission at its true value, to understand who the interlocutors are, to integrate and to assimilate the culture of this new structure. 

During this on-boarding, you must show curiosity and ask questions. You must make a good impression of course, but you also have the right to expect certain things from the organization that will welcome you

What do I have the right to expect from a client? 

Companies, your clients, have a role to play in the integration and welcoming of a new member within their team and this step should not be improvised! You have the right to expect a client to implement actions to help you take up your position. Here are some examples that can serve as a “to do list” for managers.

The allocation of an office or a space appropriate to the missions of the position.

• Logistics: computer, access code, telephone line, access badge, everything that will allow you to be autonomous within the company from the first day. 
• Pre-boarding the administrative part: drafting the contract, creating profiles in the different management software, creating access to the e-learning platforms, sending the welcome booklet and goodies, etc.
• Anticipate the organization of the first day of your arrival so that managers and other employees are available on the day.

The follow-up of your freelance activity

To validate your skills throughout your mission, and to guarantee the good progress of a project, you must set up follow-up processes to allow the company and the actors of the project to know your progress and to situate themselves in relation to the stakes and final objectives of your mission. 

This may seem very simple, especially if you are fully integrated into the team and are present on the company’s premises. However, despite the meetings, milestones and reports that you can provide regularly (weekly, bi-monthly or quarterly…) you will have to provide monitoring tools adapted to your client, your managers and your team.

COLEVER: A company created by freelancers, for freelancers

You are now ready to take on your new mission! If all this is within your grasp, but you need a little help to feel more secure, know that at Colever your well-being is at the heart of our DNA. We have developed services for you (i.e. finding a mission, commercial portage, wage portage) that allow you to free your mind to give yourself fully to your mission. 

We accompany you in all the processes from the framing and contractual terms, through your integration with your new client, the management of invoicing and collection… Our system is tailor-made and adapts to the needs of your mission. By being present for you from the very beginning of the project, we position ourselves as a facilitator between you and the company and guarantee you security and a unique relationship of trust. If you wish to know more and discover the missions we could offer you, you can contact our team of experts on our website at this address. 

A good start to your mission and see you soon!