Since your IT department is crucial to the operation of your business, you already know you need to have enough IT people on hand to make sure the jobs get done. This is where the help of a team of IT Contractors can really come in useful.

If you have to hire additional staff for short-term needs or you simply prefer working with contractors, there are companies that will help you find the right IT contractors so that your next project runs smoothly without a hitch.

If you’ve never worked with contractors before, there’s no need to panic. In many ways, contract employment is easier to manage than regular permanent employees, as long as both sides know just what to expect each day. If you ever find yourself managing a group of IT contractors, here are a few things to remember.

Most people do better with regular office hours, and IT contractors are no different.

Setting regular business hours helps both sides be more efficient and organised, and it’ll help the contractors learn they can’t just come and go as they please.

Regular business hours also help your IT contractors work better with your full-time IT department, allowing for a smoother operation of each project they are charged with completing.

No one likes to be micromanaged, but this is especially true with any type of contract employee.

After all, IT professionals always have a lot to do and never have any time to waste being micromanaged.

That’s what micromanaging does – it wastes time and causes your contractors to spend time being hounded by your staff and feeling like they don’t have time to do the jobs they were hired to do.

Skipping the micromanaging allows for a more productive staff and a lot less hostility in the workplace.

IT contractors are not like regular employees, so you won’t be giving them regular performance reviews or any type of formal feedback.

Because of this, it’s a good idea to give them regular feedback so that they know if they’re on the right track when it comes to the job they were hired to do.

Contractors often are unsure if they’re going in the right direction when it comes to the job you need for them to do.

Regular feedback, whether formal or informal, verbal or in writing, helps steer them in the right direction so they always know where they stand with the job.

Just because you hire an IT professional on a contract basis doesn’t mean they’re not going to stick around for a while.

Treating them like you would a regular employee, therefore, is always a good idea.

Ask them about their families and their hobbies.

Get to know them as a person and not just as an IT specialist.

This is not only a courteous thing to do, but it can also increase their motivation to do a good job because they’ll feel like a valued member of the company.

On that same note, if you make them feel like part of the team, you’ll get both a better attitude and a lot more work out of them.

Include them in meetings and company events just like you do your regular employees.

Make sure they get important company memos so they always know what’s going on, and include them in everything you do with your regular employees so they truly feel like they are a part of the group.

This one is obvious, yet it’s amazing how many companies don’t pay attention to this one simple rule.

An IT contractor will obviously do more and be happier in the job if you are regularly communicating with all of the contractors.

Just like regular employees, you have to keep the lines of communication open and make contractors feel like they can come to you when there’s a question or concern.

Without doing that, both you and the contractors will lose touch with one another and will feel like you don’t know what’s going on with the other party.

You should never hire a contract worker haphazardly.

Just because contractors are not permanent employees doesn’t mean you can be lax and not write up an official employment contract.

In the contract, make sure you spell everything out clearly so there are no misunderstandings later on.

This includes a complete job description, salary, time off, and so on because this is what the contractor will abide by until the project is complete.

IT contractors are usually hired for a specific project that is set to last a certain amount of time, so naturally, you’ll have specific goals for each of those projects.

Make sure the contractors themselves know what those goals are, which of course is much easier when you put everything in writing.

Each project should be spelled out in terms of exactly what the project goals are and how long you expect it to last.

You’ll usually have a list of goals, but make sure each one of them is spelled out in great detail so there are no misunderstandings at any time.

This isn’t stated to sound harsh, but contractors are sometimes unsure of every task they’re being assigned to do.

Before they are hired, make sure they understand the project completely and know exactly what they’re supposed to do every step of the way.

Make contingency plans as well so that if something unexpected occurs, the contractors will know how to handle the situation and proceed for the project to be completed efficiently and on time.

Once again, regular IT employees and IT contractors are not the same things.

Keep in mind that contractors are under a different set of rules than employees are, so you’ll have to be flexible when it comes to them taking time off and other things as well.

While you certainly have the right to expect your contractors to work a certain number of hours and months to get the project completed properly, you’ll have to learn to be flexible with some parts of their employment details.

If you prepare for this, it won’t cause you as many headaches in the end.

Written by Lucid Support