A manager is only as effective as the team they’ve built, and ensuring they have the right tools to get the job done is part of being successful. That’s even more critical when those teams are out in the field and responsible for day-to-day tasks without a manager being physically present. If your team members are working solo, outdoors, or in geographically diverse environments, managing effectively becomes exponentially more challenging.
Human error, unpredictable circumstances, and a lack of visibility are a few of the biggest obstacles to effective mobile workforce management. All three can cause downtime, rework, quality issues, unhappy clients, employee injuries, and worse.
That’s why organizations around the world are adopting mobile technology that helps them digitize their processes and transform the way their field teams work. It enables them to not only mitigate those challenges, but it also improves the lives of their employees and gives them a distinct advantage over competitors who still rely on manual workflows.
Mobile workforce management with Fulcrum
Here’s how a mobile data collection and workflow automation platform like Fulcrum makes managing field teams easier.
It puts every member of your workforce on the same page — both figuratively and literally.
Deploying apps with digitized checklists on personal devices standardizes your processes. This ensures everyone, from seasoned employees to new technicians, has the necessary information readily available. These apps include checklists, multimedia fields, and conditional-visibility rules. They constantly update and redeploy, giving all workers access to the latest procedures and standards. This approach avoids overwhelming them with unnecessary details.
It creates more visibility into team performance.
As field workers complete tasks, each record is automatically geotagged and updated on the Fulcrum dashboard. When workers lack WiFi or cellular service, their devices store records. Upon reconnecting, these devices sync automatically, ensuring seamless data transfer. As a result, you achieve real-time or near-real-time insights into job progress, team whereabouts, and work quality. By consolidating data on a single map, you can reallocate resources efficiently. This approach guarantees that neither teams nor customers are overlooked.
It speeds up communication and automates workflows to streamline operations.
With Fulcrum, you can build workflow automation into your mobile apps that eliminate administrative hassles and delays. For example, when an inspection shows equipment needs repair, the Fulcrum platform sends an automatic alert. This message, via text or email, prompts the maintenance team to arrange the repair. Such automation is crucial for solo mobile teams needing fast support to avoid danger. Additionally, the Fulcrum app’s requirement for a signature on work minimizes back-and-forth, streamlining job completion.
If you’re curious about how to implement mobile technology that improves the quality, safety, and efficiency of your field teams, download Modernizing Your Mobile Field Organization today.