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HOST: Working with communication experts –
whether it's an outside contractor or one within
your organization or a partner's –
can help your team meet its goals.
In this “Quick Learn” video, Melissa – a contractor,
and Josh – a client,
explain when to use a contractor, how to find the
right one, and how to get the best results.
MELISSA: So a contractor is somebody with a particular
expertise who can serve as a supplement to your team,
to the staff that you have on your team.
They can bring in that additional expertise that
your team may not have as much of, not necessarily
that they lack, and they can
help you accomplish your program goals.
JOSH: And I think one of the things that’s awesome about
working with contractors is they bring in different capabilities
that you may not have that
can really tee up your program for success.
Particularly with everything moving towards digital and
social media, there’s so many ways that your program can
really explode with the right level of expertise.
HOST: So, contractors can help you with tasks
you don’t have the expertise, resources, or time to do.
Here's an example of when Josh needed a contractor.
JOSH: In my role as the marketing subject matter expert
for the National Diabetes Prevention Program,
our specific focus this year is to try to develop
materials and resources for how to best engage with the
Hispanic Latino population.
I actually do speak Spanish, but I don’t
have the network to really access a lot of these folks.
So, we’ve brought in a contractor that does have that
expertise and they’re doing a great job of pulling in
the right people for us.
HOST: Once you've decided you want to bring in a
contractor, how do you find the right one?
MELISSA: There are a number of ways to
go about finding contractors.
I think the key is really to ask around.
Talk to people, other colleagues, supervisors who
may have done or who have taken on this project,
this type of project that you’re working on.
Or you can actually go and look at your own
organization’s list of contractors.
A lot of times there are a list of pre-approved contractors.
That not only will give you a basis for researching and seeing
what they do but also can make your hiring process
a lot easier.
JOSH: I always like to see a contractor that’s
had good experience in social marketing.
That helps me know they’re trained in a certain process
and will think things through, you know, completely.
But you want to make sure they’ve had good experience
doing similar type projects that you’re trying to do
so that you can check those references and see how
the different clients were satisfied or not satisfied
with their work.
MELISSA: When you’re looking for a contractor,
one of the most important things to take into consideration is
how they interact with your team.
This isn’t just a hired person coming
to do a specific job;
this is really a partner.
HOST: Let's say your choice is down to
one or two contractors.
How do you decide which one is right for you?
JOSH: I really want to see that they’re going to take it to
that next level and give me something extra or provide a
specific expert recommendation that I didn’t even think of.
MELISSA: You want to make sure that your contractor has a
good understanding of what you’re trying to do, especially
in cases where you might have a limited budget.
If you have limited resources, you can share that
with your contractor and they can help you
prioritize your needs to give you the best product
for the budget you have.
HOST: Once you've found the perfect contractor,
you need to manage them.
And here's how.
JOSH: Your first step is always going to be
to have a kickoff meeting.
You want to meet up with them, get to know them
a little bit better, and really just nail down what are
the different tasks and assignments that
you want that contractor to do.
You’ll go over timelines; expectations so both of you are
on the same page about what needs to be done and by when.
MELISSA: You know, it’s important to remember that
you’ve hired this contractor because of
the expertise that they have.
So, you really want to make sure that you don’t
micromanage their activities, that you do give them some
leeway to bring new ideas to the table.
I think it’s also important to remember that a contractor
should never just start implementing ideas without
seeking feedback from you.
JOSH: I can guarantee you that if you have a contract to
get a specific job done and you don’t check in,
you’ll have a product at the end of the time,
but it may not be what you want.
So you really need to be involved
and be providing input along the way.
So, in the process of managing the work with the contractor,
it’s really important not only to try to engage regularly
with your contract staff but also to keep your
stakeholders, for my example at CDC,
abreast of what’s happening and have their input
taken into account as well.
HOST: Even with the best contractor,
things can sometimes start to go sideways.
And when they do, communication is key.
MELISSA: So, when things aren’t going exactly as planned
with a contract or a project, it’s usually a result of some
kind of miscommunication or misunderstanding.
When situations like that happen, it’s really important
for the contractor and the client to come together and
review scope, review goals, timelines, budgets,
to see where that problem is and see if they can
correct any misunderstandings.
HOST: The best way to work with a contractor
is to have a clear plan.
And the NDEP Health Communication
and Marketing Toolkit can help you do this.
It gives you what you need to create effective health
communication and marketing plans, and it shows you
how to manage your team and guide them to success! 129 00:06:00,026 --> 00:00:00,000 [MUSIC]