Managing a team of diverse employees can be a challenge in any environment. However, the task becomes increasingly difficult when you’re responsible for watching over a team of people who are frequently moving around the country or working in different locations. The world is full of mobile employees, from technicians working on customer issues on the field, to retail staff who travel to sell their products to different clients around the country. Unfortunately, though mobile work has been around for some time, many companies still struggle to ensure they’re optimizing their operations for success. If you’re looking for ways to boost your mobile staff performance, the following tips could be just the guidance you need.
Communicate Constantly
Just because your employees are out of sight, doesn’t mean they should be out of mind. When dealing with remote and mobile workers, it’s important to keep the lines of conversation open at all times. Depending on your business structure, the communication methods you use could range all the way from instant messaging and chat tools, to conversing with employees through regular video conferencing meetings on a daily or weekly basis.
Find out what kind of communication tools your employees are most comfortable using when out on the field. For instance, messaging could be an ideal solution when engineers need to communicate about customer issues discretely, without being overheard. This type of remote communication should not be completely foreign to you since there are likely aspects of your business where you have already been performing this task such as communicating with suppliers, clients, and new business leads.
Implement the Right Tracking Technology
Without technology, it would be impossible to keep an eye on what your employees are doing in any given moment. Fortunately for today’s business leaders, there are a host of tracking solutions available to help, from GPS fleet tracking system for fleet management, to employee engagement tools. The right tracking system will help you to keep track of important information for your compliance, efficiency, and safety requirements. Proper tracking and measurement strategies are often essential for maintaining a high quality of customer service and satisfaction levels too. Make sure you know which metrics you’re going to track when you implement your new technology and make it clear to your employees how you’ll be evaluating their performance.
Empower Team Members
Finally, make sure your mobile workers have access to the right tools and systems to make them more efficient when they’re on the job. Providing your employees with a convenient mobile knowledgebase they can access from their smartphone when they have a question means they’re less likely to need to reach out to management whenever they need help. Enabling collaboration between team members through things like quick file sharing and messaging tools also means employees can work together to tackle common customer problems. This simultaneously reduces the strain on management employees, while boosting the chances that customers get the excellent experiences they’re looking for when interacting with your team. Managing mobile employees can be difficult, particularly if you’re used to working with staff, you can see and connect with in person. Fortunately, the right tools and strategies should be enough to create an efficient workforce in no time.
