Managing a mobile workforce is very difficult and problems may arise since you cannot keep an eye on them all of the time. If you really want to maintain the productivity levels of your workforce up and keep your customers satisfied, you need to make sure that you have consistent communication with your field staff so that you know what their needs is and the demands of your customers as well. This is the reason why you need to find a solution for that.
The Importance of Management Systems
One of the factors that make field staff complicated is the fact that you cannot assign a single manager for them. This means whenever your staff is outside the office to make deliveries, they have to be their own personal managers. In my opinion, this lack of supervision is one of the major problems that companies are trying to deal with. Fortunately, there are developments in technology will enable you to keep a constant communication with your field staff. Through workforce management systems, you can monitor your workers, assign a work or sign off a work based on the situation even if your workers are still in the field.
As far as I know, there are various ways that you can do to ensure that you will get the best from your field staff. These pointers will also help you decide what kind of management system you need to have in order to increase the efficiency of your workforce.
How to Manage Your Field Staff
- You should always make sure that you have provided accurate job lists for your staff. In order to make successful deliveries, your field staff should know exactly what they need to do. This is the reason why I suggest that you provide all the information that is needed by your staff to complete the delivery.
- I think that knowing the current location of your staff will give you an advantage. You can make reasonable decisions in case there are problems that arise during the delivery. This will also allow you to send help faster in case your field staff cannot make the delivery because of certain reasons such as getting an engine failure at the remote areas where services of a mechanic is not available. If you know their location it will be easier for you to send a mechanic immediately since you know where your staff is. One of the most effective ways of knowing your field staff location is through a vehicle tracking system that is run by GPS.
- Providing a job list for your staff will enable them to know what they need to accomplish throughout the day. Your job list should be detailed and arranged in an organized way so that your field staff will know where to go next after making a delivery.
Although the use of pen and paper is the traditional way of issuing job list to your workers, it is considered to be inefficient. However, due to the advancements in technology, you can issue job lists in a much quicker and efficient way and this can be done through workforce management software which can be run through mobile devices such as Smartphones, iPhones, and iPads. This software will allow you to communicate with your field staff throughout the day.
These are some of the ways that you can do to improve the efficiency of your field staff. By following these steps you can maintain the productivity levels of your mobile workforce.
In case you are trying to find Salvus risk management software and workforce optimisation system that can help you in managing your field staff, please feel free to contact us by visiting our official website.