How to weave Artificial Intelligence into your freelancer strategy
14 Jun 2023
2023 has seen the launch of a new AI product or integration almost every week. The public launch of tools such as ChatGPT, GPT4, and Google’s Bard have opened the doors to new levels of efficiency and productivity for every industry and sector, which leads us to consider what this means for businesses looking to enhance their freelancer strategy. Leveraging AI to complement and enhance freelancer teams will help enterprises do even more while keeping focused on quality.
Freelancers make up around 40% of the global digital workforce, which means that if you don’t have freelancers as part of your workforce composition, you’re working at a disadvantage to your competitors that do. A recent review within the enterprise context showed freelancer teams to be performing over 60% more productively than their permanent counterparts.
Building and maintaining a scalable and sustainable freelancer strategy isn’t easy. There are lots of elements that businesses need to get right in order to see the full benefits of deploying freelancers at scale to build technology products. This is where new developments in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can play an exciting role. Let’s break down a few roles that AI and ML can play in your freelancer strategy:
Source talent with more precision
Finding the right freelancers for specific projects can be time-consuming and challenging. AI-powered talent acquisition platforms can analyse vast pools of freelance profiles and job requirements to match the most suitable candidates. According to a recent study by Upwork, the number of freelancers worldwide reached 59 million in 2021, highlighting the massive talent pool available for businesses to tap into. At Distributed, our intelligent engine ensures we not only match the best talent for the job to be done, but also makes sure that the team assembled will complement each other and deliver an outsized level of quality greater than the sum of their parts.
Automate your onboarding and workflows
Managing and coordinating remote freelancers across different time zones can be a logistical nightmare. AI-powered workflow automation tools can streamline onboarding processes, automate task assignment, and ensure seamless collaboration.
Gartner reports that 77% of new hires in 2022 saw a long career for themselves at the organisation when they had a positive onboarding experience. This emphasises the potential impact of automation, especially when it comes to integrating freelancers into your core team. With Elastic Teams, we leverage automated workflows to get each Elastic Team member up-to-speed with projects, keeping in mind our clients’ technical needs and branding requirements to ensure a seamless match.
Leverage predictive analytics for performance evaluation
Evaluating the performance of geographically dispersed freelancers can be challenging due to limited visibility. AI and ML algorithms can analyse various performance metrics, such as task completion time, quality of work, and team ratings, to provide objective insights. This data-driven approach enables businesses to make informed decisions regarding freelancer retention and optimisation.
Measure what's important to your business and your customers. If you measure what matters, then what matters moves. Try not to fall into the trap of “measure everything." Remember, you only need the right data to make progress, not every piece of data possible.
Enhance your communication methods with AI
Communication barriers, particularly language differences, can hinder effective collaboration with global freelancers. AI-powered language translation tools can facilitate smooth communication by automatically translating messages in real-time. Such technologies help bridge the language gap and ensure clear and efficient communication across distributed teams. As per a survey by Payoneer, the global freelance workforce is expected to grow to 86.5 million people by 2027, further emphasising the need for effective communication tools.
With Elastic Teams, our Community hub is a space for honing in on communication skills for freelancers around the world. This, in addition to our processes refined over hundreds of enterprise deliveries and powered by our own intelligent software, ensures that communication between teams and customers is seamless and intuitive.
Empower continued learning and development
AI and ML can also contribute to the continuous learning and skill development of freelancers. Platforms can provide personalised recommendations for up-skilling based on freelancer profiles and project requirements. This proactive approach ensures freelancers stay relevant in a rapidly evolving job market. According to a survey by Edelman Intelligence, 89% of freelancers believe that up-skilling is essential for remaining competitive.
Leveraging AI is about integrating its strengths into your freelancer strategy
The global freelancer landscape is expanding rapidly along with technologies and platforms that enable safe, scalable use of freelancers within the enterprise, offering businesses unprecedented access to diverse talent and expertise and a critical competitive advantage over their competition.
However, effectively managing and leveraging geographically dispersed freelancers can be a complex task. By embracing AI and ML technologies, businesses can optimise talent, ensure a great freelancer experience and increase the pace and quality of their digital product delivery. In fact, Artificial Intelligence wrote part of this article—can you guess which part?
