#5 Important Soft Skills Freelancers Need To Develop
The freelancing industry is all about completing a task successfully and building a long-lasting relationship with your clients.
But, do you have all soft skills needed for success?
You have to compete for your spot on the market. When you are hunting for new clients and trying to build long-lasting relationships with their current clients – that’s when soft skills get into the picture.
Here you have a partial list of the most important soft skills that any freelancer needs to work on:
You have to be comfortable with Skype interviews, don't misunderstand client's requirements and know how to ask for clarification in a non-offensive way
The goal is to maintain the communication on a healthy level.
The competition in this industry is crazy, but not everyone is your competitor.
The least-skilled workers are the losers in globalization. You have to be the best at what you do if you want to work for the best clients. You have to stay competitive with your work, but with your charges as well.
Without proper stress management skills, you’ll soon break under the pressure.
You’ll have to learn how to collaborate. You need to understand your role in the chain and do your best job in a way that fits with everyone else’s contributions.
When you’re not under a direct supervision and you’re free to arrange your schedule however you like, the responsibility for staying organized is even greater. Remember: you still have deadlines to meet.
You can use various tools to improve your organizational skills, personally, I use:
ASANA : To manage team projects and tasks.
TRELLO : As a sticky-note filled whiteboard.
TOGGL : As tracking system.
All these are collaborative tools. I use them in all of my projects, no exceptions.
Problem-solving skills refer to your ability to recognize a problem, analyze and understand it, and come up with a relevant solution. As a freelancer, you’ll have different problems to solve. Sometimes you won’t understand a project. Sometimes you won’t be able to meet deadlines. Sometimes the client won’t pay what you earned. Sometimes you’ll do a really bad job and you’ll have to make revisions.
You have to recognize the challenges and identify the problems before they get too serious. The more flexible you are to search for the solution, the better you’ll deal with all kinds of situations.
But, do you have all soft skills needed for success?
You have to compete for your spot on the market. When you are hunting for new clients and trying to build long-lasting relationships with their current clients – that’s when soft skills get into the picture.
Here you have a partial list of the most important soft skills that any freelancer needs to work on:
Communication Skills
Both written and visual skills are essential!You have to be comfortable with Skype interviews, don't misunderstand client's requirements and know how to ask for clarification in a non-offensive way
The goal is to maintain the communication on a healthy level.
Stress Management Skills
Even when you do your best, you still might be losing clients to freelancers who are willing to charge less for the same type of job.The competition in this industry is crazy, but not everyone is your competitor.
The least-skilled workers are the losers in globalization. You have to be the best at what you do if you want to work for the best clients. You have to stay competitive with your work, but with your charges as well.
Without proper stress management skills, you’ll soon break under the pressure.
Teamwork Skills
All projects you work on will be based on teamwork and every successful project is based on close collaboration.You’ll have to learn how to collaborate. You need to understand your role in the chain and do your best job in a way that fits with everyone else’s contributions.
Organizational Skills
Many people decide to try freelancing because they think they can work whenever they want. That’s now how it happens. If you want to be successful in this job and earn good money with freelancing, you’ll have to get your schedule on track. The more organized you are, the more productive work you’ll cover within a day. The more work you do, the more money you make. Is that motif good enough for you?When you’re not under a direct supervision and you’re free to arrange your schedule however you like, the responsibility for staying organized is even greater. Remember: you still have deadlines to meet.
You can use various tools to improve your organizational skills, personally, I use:
ASANA : To manage team projects and tasks.
TRELLO : As a sticky-note filled whiteboard.
TOGGL : As tracking system.
All these are collaborative tools. I use them in all of my projects, no exceptions.
Problem-Solving Skills
You probably included problem-solving as a skill in your resume, didn’t you? That’s because it’s an important skill that every employer is looking for. But, do you really understand it? Do you really have it?Problem-solving skills refer to your ability to recognize a problem, analyze and understand it, and come up with a relevant solution. As a freelancer, you’ll have different problems to solve. Sometimes you won’t understand a project. Sometimes you won’t be able to meet deadlines. Sometimes the client won’t pay what you earned. Sometimes you’ll do a really bad job and you’ll have to make revisions.
You have to recognize the challenges and identify the problems before they get too serious. The more flexible you are to search for the solution, the better you’ll deal with all kinds of situations.
In Conclusion
No matter how great your soft skills are, remember: there’s always space for growth. Building a freelancing career is a challenging journey that constantly imposes the need for self-improvement. Work on the above-listed soft skills and you’ll definitely see a difference in the way you freelance.
About Daniel Vukasovich
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