As a project manager, you may think freelancing is better than 9 to 5 jobs and choose to become a freelance project manager for various reasons. Perhaps your reason is the working hours' flexibility. Or, it is the fact that you work independently from any boss or company. Since becoming a freelance project manager is a serious decision to make, you should be fully aware of the consequences. This decision can affect many aspects of your personal life and professional career. Here in this post, we have put together the perks of being a freelance project manager. Read them so that you feel more comfortable making the decision.
Why Become a Freelance Project Manager?
More and more companies are beginning to hire freelancers to scale up their everyday projects. According to 2021 statistics, there are currently 57 million freelancers in the US alone. This is indeed thought-provoking. The jobs that companies outsource to freelancers are no longer regular-rank positions. They are also higher-level ones such as project management positions. Therefore, it is wrong to believe that you cannot work as a freelancer due to the nature of the job you are an expert at.
To summarize, here are the reasons why you should consider freelancing:
- More demands from entrepreneurs and managers
- High-level positions can also be taken by freelancers
- More collaborations with international and national clients
- Flexible working hours
- Chance of being more experienced and ethical towards projects
- Chance of earning more
Why There Is a Demand for Freelance Project Managers?
Companies may choose to employ a freelance project manager for different reasons. The most common reason is that the whole team works remotely and the physical presence of a project manager does not matter to the company. This can be due to Covid-19 measurements or that the company is a fresh startup. It is also possible that there is no real headquarter office out there so everyone is working remotely. Whatever the reason, you have a high chance of finding projects to manage as a freelancer.
What Does a Freelance Project Manager Do?
A freelance project manager is a project manager that works on behalf of their clients on projects. These projects can include a financial audit, or creating a WordPress website. They can look for jobs on their own or with the assistance of third parties such as freelance communities. Project managers are required in a wide range of fields. Project-oriented work is popular in the commercial service, IT, oil and gas, finance and insurance, manufacturing, construction, and utility industries all over the world.
There are numerous advantages to being a freelance project manager that we will cover in this post. However, there are also challenges that you should be conscious of when choosing to become a freelance project manager.
What are the Challenges a Freelance Project Manager May Face?
Freelancing comes with its own set of obstacles, in addition to all of its advantages. Make sure you're ready to face certain potentially painful realities before deciding to go freelance:
- When you're between assignments, there is a chance you'll be without pay for some time.
- Freelance health insurance and retirement plans are not provided by the employer.
- In the absence of peers or managers, you are the only one who must motivate yourself.
- Managerial and senior leadership support for full-time staff is unavailable.
How to Manage a Project Successfully as a Freelancer?
Keeping the project members on the same page needs authority, knowledge, and experience. A successful project is one that efficiently meets the deadlines in time. Moreover, your project members and clients are happy with the efforts and outcomes at the end of the day. Putting all these together is no longer difficult if you use a project management tool. Such tools can help you significantly in managing your projects. In addition to facilitating project management, these tools can automate much repetitive work. As a result, you can spend the saved time on tasks that cannot be automated.
Here are the essential features of a good project management tool:
- Making project management a breeze
- Automation of repetitive tasks
- Assigning tasks to relevant team members
- Adding sub-tasks and sub-projects to the main tasks and projects
- Setting deadlines to tasks
- Monitoring team members’ productivity
- Tracking time spent on each task
- Collaborate and communicate with team members
With project management tools, you can use only one platform for all your project management needs and reduce wasting time on switching platforms.
What are the Perks of Being a Freelance Project Manager?
Focusing on the advantages of being a freelance project manager can give you an insight into whether it is worth turning to a freelancer. Remember to also consider the advantages of your current 9 to 5 job and make a rational comparison before finalizing your decision. Here are the perks of being a freelance project manager:
1. Choosing Your Clients Yourself
One of the most appealing aspects of freelancing project management is the freedom to choose your clients. You have complete control over the projects you want to work on and which clients you want to work with.
You don't always get to choose who your clients are when working on a conventional project management job. You can decline to work with a client as a freelance project manager if they are unprofessional or nasty. You can also quit if you don't agree with them in every step of the project. So, if this is what bothers you at your current job, you may probably be mentally better off working as a freelance project manager.
Cold emails can be your most rewarding outreach channel in order to get freelance clients. You can even use tools that can automatically generate subject lines for your outreach emails. This can be your biggest asset.
2. Flexibility of Working Hours
As a freelance project manager, you have the freedom to work wherever and whenever you prefer. You can manage your working hours the way you want as long as you execute the job correctly and on schedule.
As a freelance project manager, you can work while you are drinking your morning coffee in a cafe. You may also work on your bed, in a coworking space, at your friend’s place, or anywhere else. In addition, you can work early in the morning or late at night depending on your productivity rate. And, you don’t have to confine yourself to hanging out with your friends on the weekends only. Plus, you can always be on the go with your laptop if you are a travel addict.
3. Better Work Ethics
When you work as a freelance project manager, it becomes of high importance for you to keep your clients. The reason is you should get forthcoming projects from them. It necessitates you to develop better work ethics toward their projects. This is true while you may not care about the project if you have a full-time position in a company. That is true because you are sure that you will get your monthly salary anyway. However, if you want to earn more as a freelance project manager, you have to be responsible and serious about meeting project deadlines and the demands of your customers.
4. Financial Independence
Working as a freelance project manager gives you complete control over your earnings and allows you to keep all profits. The more projects you get to manage, the higher your income gets. It is sometimes great as you earn a defined amount of payment in a conventional 9 to 5 project management role. You also have the opportunity to choose your clients from any region in the world and find cross-border clients. So, just imagine how your payment can be influenced if you work as a freelancer.
5. More Collaboration Options
Compared to a full-time project management position, a freelance role allows you to broaden your network. It provides you with more prospects for progress. Such an opportunity can both elevate your professional career and personal life. You will be able to meet new people and gain more projects to manage. In addition, you will also improve your interpersonal and communication skills.
Learning a lot about your project management skills and your own personality. The reason is you can work with diverse clients in different niches. The advantage of this is that you can find the best way to successfully manage different projects.
6. More Experience
Since you work for international clients from any industry, you become more experienced which gives you room to progress. Clients trust you easier as they get to know you or simply by reviewing your portfolio. Bosses prefer to employ people who know every ins and outs in order to save more time and increase productivity. Therefore, you have more chances to be offered more projects to manage. This way, they would only talk to you in case of updates or necessary meetings and spend their time on their own responsibilities.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages to everything. The same is true about becoming a freelance project manager. Now you know the perks of becoming a freelance project manager. So, you have a clearer idea about the world of freelance work which makes it easy for you to decide whether to become a freelance project manager. Wish you the best of luck!
