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15 Tips to Create the Ultimate Collaborative Workspace

Posted on by Lauren Prentiss

When it comes to dynamic contemporary productivity, collaboration is the name of the game. 

More and more, emerging professionals are seeking workspaces that stimulate them not just in terms of the tasks assigned to them but also in how they relate to their teammates and coworkers. 

Creating a collaborative workspace both in person and remotely requires thinking outside conventional workspace structures and embracing a more dynamic, free-flowing environment. 

Here are fifteen industry-approved tips for building a collaborative workspace that encourages employees to form more cohesive relationships and professional synergy. 

1. Encourage inter-departmental skill-sharing

When people are allowed the space to share their skills and experiences, it opens up the door for empathy and productive dialogue. 

Encouraging employees from different departments and roles within the organization helps enhance familiarity and positive relationships between groups and encourages everyone to learn new skills.

2. Select team leaders wisely

Employees will always look to their leaders for guidance. Choosing the right people to lead by example is crucial when creating a fresh dynamic in the workplace. 

Select team leaders who understand the value of collaboration and can be trusted to emulate it authentically and positively. Their approach will be adopted by those under their wing and inspire others to embrace a similar attitude of unity within a team context.

3. Create a mentorship program

Mentorship programs have proven time and again that they are hugely beneficial. These programs play a powerful role in fostering a strong company culture and promoting healthy professional relationships within the corporate world. 

The intergenerational relationship between a mentor and a mentee encourages both parties to see the world through a new perspective and learn from one another in practical and emotional ways, thus contributing to the spirit of collaboration. 

4. Provide collaborative working tools

Especially when working remotely, it’s challenging for employees to embrace collaboration if they don’t have the right tools. However, even when working in an office and face to face, tools play a major role in facilitating and encouraging a culture of collaboration.

Collaborative software programs for easy content sharing, communication, and communal brainstorming are a great place to start laying down a foundation for more teamwork. 

5. Host regular educational workshops 

Another great way to create a functional collaborative workspace is to expose teams to new information and education. This can spur team spirit, create spaces for people to share ideas, and impart new skills that can be used to traverse uncharted territories together. 

Educational workshops that teach relevant industry skills can also motivate people to grow in their individual careers and form new partnerships with one another professionally. 

6. Cultivate a culture of community

The culture surrounding workplace dynamics plays a significant role in how employees treat and relate to each other. If you put people first in your business, they’ll do the same with one another.

Fostering a community and collaboration-focused culture makes it easier for people to slip into that lateral mentality and adopt a more synergistic approach to work. 

7. Encourage employees to take water cooler breaks 

Lots of great ideas and connections can happen over the water cooler, even if the water cooler is a virtual channel in an online collaboration tool. 

When people chat casually in the workplace, they enter a more relaxed state of mind, which often helps them bond with the people around them. This small act can work wonders in creating a more foundationally collaborative professional space. 

8. Curate a collaboration-conducive physical workspace 

If the physical environment in which employees operate is designed for collaboration, it will feel more natural for them to engage with it that way. 

Large, round tables, ample comfortable seating, colorful decor, and fresh plants are all ways to subtly yet impactfully curate an environment conducive to shared productivity and conversation. 

9. Organize stimulating team-building activities 

One of the best ways to encourage more collaboration at work is to create fun, stimulating situations in which people must work together to achieve a common goal. Sports events and friendly competition are powerful tools for igniting collaboration between ranks. 

Pub quizzes are a great way to create camaraderie if you’re working remotely.

10. Organize relaxing team-building activities

If everyone is in the office, in addition to stimulating team-building activities, creating situations where employees can collaborate in a more relaxed setting is helpful. This could be a big company meal, a trip somewhere nice, or an end-of-year party with low-stakes games. 

11. Reward collaborative behavior

When employees exhibit collaborative or team-building behavior, reward it to set a clear example for others in the business. When people start to associate collaboration with career advancement and positive recognition, they will be more likely to embrace it. 

12. Hire a diverse, inclusive workforce

Collaboration thrives when there is a wide variety of different voices, backgrounds, and perspectives to be heard. A workforce lacking in diversity is at a disadvantage because it relies on similar thought patterns, biases, and experiences to form new ideas. That kind of duplication can hinder truly innovative collaboration.

 Hire people from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs wherever possible. However, don’t just leave it at that. Prioritize diversity and inclusion activities in the same way you do team building.

13. Ask employees for creative input 

If you aren’t sure what more you can do to facilitate a collaborative workspace, why not ask the team members themselves? Inviting employees into the conversation about what collaboration means to them sets a strong tone for the spirit of cooperation. 

14. Create and convey a clear, shared vision

Getting employees to unite in a common goal is another powerful way to imbue more collaborative energy in the workplace. A clear, shared company vision reminds people they are all on the same team, and working together is in their mutual best interest.

15. Track collaborative progress using KPIs

Once you’ve set some collaboration-oriented plans into motion, remember to track them by using data analytics tools and KPIs. You can measure employee happiness, job satisfaction, and how employees feel about company culture through these incredible digital tools. 

Summary

Creating an in-office, remote, or hybrid collaborative workspace means better employee performance, a stronger company culture, and a more energetic, positive experience at work. 

When people are provided with the right tools and context within which to cooperate effectively, ideas and solutions thrive. Regardless of the industry or sector that you work in, collaboration is a quality that enhances productivity and cohesion in every space it graces.

How to Give Performance Appraisals That Motivate Employee Growth

Posted on by Dean Mathews

Many managers know the importance of giving performance appraisals but also find it a challenging task to accomplish. It can be difficult to be objective and constructive when critiquing someone’s position and responsibilities. Not only that: performance reviews have a big impact on motivation, and getting them wrong can be costly. 

Research shows that only 10.4% of employees whose manager’s feedback left them with negative feelings feel engaged at work. Four out of five began looking for a new job as a result. 

The goal of a performance appraisal should always be to help the employee improve as well as acknowledge their value to the company. With that in mind, here are some tips for giving appraisals that inspire employees to grow.

Why are performance appraisals necessary?

First of all—what is a performance appraisal?

Performance appraisals are a formal way of evaluating an employee’s work. They usually take the form of a meeting in which the employee and manager discuss the employee’s strengths and weaknesses and come up with a plan for how the employee can improve.

Performance appraisals are important because they provide feedback that allows employees to understand how they’re doing and where they need to grow in their position. They also help to establish a baseline against which future performance can be measured.

Performance appraisals are also great for boosting motivation because they provide a roadmap for growth in a role. Workers feel motivated when their progress is recognized, and when they feel their role within the organization has growth potential. Nobody likes to feel stuck. Quite often, an employee that seems lazy is just unmotivated—and that’s something you can fix.

employee performance evaluation

How to Give Performance Appraisals That Inspire Employees to Grow

Here are some actionable tips to help you provide feedback that will guide and motivate your employees. 

1. Start by setting the right tone

The way you approach a performance appraisal can make all the difference in terms of how the employee perceives it. If you go into the meeting with a critical attitude, the employee is likely to feel defensive and may not be willing to listen to your feedback and even hesitate to openly communicate.

On the other hand, if you start the meeting by praising the employee’s strengths, they’re more likely to be receptive to what you have to say. Frame the appraisal as an opportunity for growth, rather than a critique, and the employee will likely be more motivated to listen.

A positive reinforcement model can be used to spur employee growth. This means praising the employee for any steps they take towards improvement, even the small achievements.

2. Focus on personal growth over the business goals

While it’s important to discuss the employee’s role in relation to the business goals, remember that this is a personal growth opportunity for them. Help the employee to see how they can improve their skills and contribute more effectively to the team. 

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about the business at all; their personal goals should be given context. Also, help them to see their importance in the bigger picture—while letting the employee know that you are invested in their personal development.

3. Set expectations early on

It’s important to set expectations early on in the appraisal process. This means discussing what is expected of the employee during the meeting, and what you hope they’ll walk away with.

This also gives the employee a chance to prepare for the meeting so they can provide their input regarding how to improve.

4. Offer constructive and actionable feedback

One of the most important aspects of a performance appraisal is giving constructive feedback. This means providing feedback that is specific, actionable, and goal-oriented, rather than general comments like “you need to work harder.”

Make sure your feedback is relevant to the employee’s goals, and help them to see how they can improve their skills in the future.

Hearing critical feedback is always hard—but if you frame it positively and include a path forward for the employee, they’ll come away feeling motivated, rather than disheartened.

Delivering negative feedback can be difficult, but it’s important to do it in a way that inspires employees to grow. Here are a few tips:

  • Before giving any negative feedback, first praise the employee’s strengths
  • Don’t dwell too much on the past
  • Offer a positive to every negative

One of the best ways to give helpful feedback is to make sure that it’s relevant to the employee’s goals. Help them to see how their current skills can help them reach their goals, and provide concrete improvement steps.

When giving feedback, use the SMART framework—an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

smart business model to guide goals infographic

This makes it easier for the employee to get their head around what’s expected of them. It also provides them with a roadmap to get there, which helps to keep them motivated.

Using the SMART framework, you can easily track employee progress and if they are headed towards their goals.

5. Make negative feedback specific

When critiquing someone’s work, it’s important to be specific. Rather than saying “You need to work on your communication skills,” give examples of specific incidents where the employee could have communicated better.

This will help to paint a clear picture so the employee fully understands how to do their job better.

Here are two examples of highly specific feedback

– “This is the first time I’ve noticed you checking your phone during meetings. Is there anything going on in your personal life that requires your attention?”

– “In a team meeting, you addressed only one aspect of what someone said. Could you make sure to cover all sides? Here’s a way to do this that I find helpful…”

6. Work with relevant employee data

Using data can help to back up your feedback and provide the employee with concrete evidence of where they need to improve. Make sure your data is accurate—no one wants to be judged unfairly.

If you have access to relevant employee data, it can be helpful to use it during a performance appraisal. This could include things like their attendance record or how they’ve performed in relation to specific goals. Thankfully, there are tools available that can help to make the process of data collection and analysis easier.

Employee management tools and time-tracking platforms provide invaluable performance data that can be used in appraisals. It can also be used to assign tasks and track metrics—something that’ll come in extra handy the next time appraisal time rolls around.

Giving a performance appraisal does not have to be stressful, for you or your employees. When giving one, keep the above tips in mind to help ensure your performance appraisals are successful and inspire employees to grow.

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Does Your Business Need A Zoho Alternative?

Posted on by Matt Bernot

In the current business management software market, Zoho produces a variety of applications—some bundled into an all-in-one suite—that provide a variety of CRM, accounting, and other business management software solutions. 

Though many businesses benefit from the suite of products that Zoho offers, is your business getting the most possible value that it can from Zoho? Disconnected apps and separate systems can be inefficient and expensive. While Zoho One offers all of these apps under one account, they are still a suite of individual applications rather than a single, all-in-one application.

Business needs vary by industry, size, and a host of other factors. Even businesses within the same industry need different solutions, or solutions custom-tailored to their specific needs.

Zoho and its vast suite of applications work well for businesses that are considerably large in size, and some smaller, growing businesses have found Zoho to be suitable for their needs. But when it comes to your business, do you want a solution that merely checks all the boxes or a solution that is custom-tailored to your business needs in order to thrive?

In this article, we’ll cover the advantages and disadvantages of Zoho and what benefits your business might see from exploring Zoho alternatives that are on the market.

What Is Zoho?

According to Zoho’s profile on Capterra, Zoho is a suite of 40+ applications with complementary mobile apps that allow a business to reach customers, grow sales, manage accounting, and increase workflow efficiency.

Zoho One, the package that includes all of the various Zoho applications, is billed as a way for users to be streamlined and connected by utilizing a single login to connect to all of the different applications. 

In terms of pricing, Zoho offers a variety of plans based on the total revenue and number of employees. In addition, pricing can vary drastically depending on which modules are selected. Some estimates of Zoho’s pricing suggest that smaller businesses can expect to start their plan at around $14/user per month while the highest tier package is $57/user per month.

Advantages of a Zoho Alternative

zoho alternative

While Zoho, Zoho One, Zoho CRM, and the rest of the Zoho suite contain useful tools that help businesses manage their products and assess profitability, they’re not always the right fit for every business. 

Zoho Alternatives are Affordable for SMBs

The cumulative nature of micropayments coupled with the à la carte model indicates that paying for individual apps and functionalities can get expensive over time. Sure, it’s possible to only pay for certain apps, bringing the price down considerably. But when it comes to managing all of the mission-critical segments of a business, just a few apps and functionalities may not cut it.

For growing businesses, getting the most value for their money is more important than ever. Some Zoho alternative platforms shy away from the application/module model in order to give growing businesses all of the tools they need to run their entire business, all in a single connected software platform.

Zoho Alternatives Provide Elite Customer Support

When it comes to features to prioritize in a Zoho alternative, even non-technical features are important to consider. For example, finding a Zoho alternative that maintains an elite standard of customer service (at no or low additional cost) is crucial.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) concept with icons. Production, human resources, inventory, CRM, sales, service, distribution, business process.

No matter the quality of the software, errors always occur. And in reality, users will always have questions about the system they are working in.

Zoho offers several support plans for an additional fee, which can get very expensive for growing businesses. In addition, some Zoho modules—notably Zoho CRM—have below-average customer support rankings while other, all-in-one business management systems have stellar customer support scores. 

Though it may be tempting to opt to go with a large-scale platform, it is often the case that many smaller, all-in-one business management software companies provide better—and 100% U.S.-based—customer support.

Customizations Are A Breeze With A Zoho Alternative

Every business is unique. With large-scale, widely used applications such as Zoho, customizations can be difficult to implement. While not always the case, some Zoho customizations require some level of coding.

For small and growing businesses, having to code (or having to pay for coding services) can skew drastically out of budget. Beyond that, having a single, dedicated, familiar customer champion working with your team can be the difference between successful software adoption and the painful realization that you need to rethink your initial software partner selection.

A Unified Business Management Platform

The post-Pandemic work world has changed and continues to evolve at a fervent pace, and technology has never been more crucial to the success of every business. The importance of having top-shelf, all-in-one business management software has never been greater.

zoho alternative

Running a successful business is challenging enough when your technology stack is running smoothly and efficiently. Speedbumps like erroneous data, complex user interfaces, and technology that simply does not allow for ample, on-time communication only make things tougher.

While the Zoho suite’s individual applications perform very well on their own, it turns out their biggest drawback is that they do exist on their own, not fully integrated with one another. Not only do additional modules require additional investment it also requires more advanced technical support, additional time spent learning how to properly integrate data, and additional time spent ensuring accuracy across multiple systems. 

Having all of your business processes—accounting, inventory, sales, marketing, projects, HR, operations, and more—working seamlessly as a complete, unified software platform will improve your business’s overall performance by increasing efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

Striven – The All-In-One Business Management Software

Out of the numerous Zoho alternatives on the market today, Striven has been recognized as one of the industry leaders in terms of affordability, quality of customer support, and overall ease of use. Check out what everyday users have to say about Striven.

While some large-scale business management software providers like Acumatica may be a good match for large-scale, Fortune 500-sized companies, Striven understands that not every company needs a system that’s quite as technologically bloated—and one that doesn’t require breaking the bank.

The importance of having all of a business’s core processes housed in a single platform has never been greater. Instead of hoping that various software modules can successfully and efficiently interact with one another, it’s important that businesses are able to view everything that they need from a single dashboard. (Hope has rarely been a successful business strategy.)

For small- and medium-sized businesses to be as successful as their large-scale counterparts, this level of visibility allows businesses to harness the insights they need to corner a larger share of their respective market. Remember, technology is a strategic competitive advantage for any business regardless of size.

Wrapping Up

Software needs to be flexible and anti-fragile. It’s true in terms of business just as it’s true in terms of technology. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to success—every business and business plan needs a solution to fit their specific needs.

Many small and growing businesses have a tendency to lean towards a product like Zoho based on its global reputation. But, it’s important to recognize that just because this product works at such a large scale doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right fit on a smaller scale.

Striven provides the same high-quality software and customer support as some of the larger ERP names on the market while being more affordable for the average small- and medium-sized business. 

How Partnerships Can Impact Sales

Posted on by Gina M. Tabasso

In the manufacturing sector, we all are reliant on strategic partnerships with our suppliers, dealers, distributors, freight and rail vendors, and customers. Success is dependent on the entire network. If one link in the chain fails, we all fail.

As a distributor in the middle of the funnel, we rely on our international suppliers for their subject-matter expertise, product inventory, training, and marketing materials. They rely on us for our sales and marketing expertise, technical support, and local customer relationships. The customer relies on us to provide an accurate and on-time order to supply their manufacturing process so they can manufacture and deliver to their customer. There are so many interdependencies in a distribution channel. 

crm manufacturing software

How can manufacturers or distributors develop these customer relationships? Well, first we need to generate leads to nurture and, eventually, convert into customer relationships and sales.

7 Ways Manufacturers (Or Almost Any Industry) Can Build Partnerships

1. Phone Calls

Yes, cold calling still is a thing. And as people tend to ignore email messages and social messages, sometimes picking up the phone and having an old-fashioned chat is the best method. In the past year, phone calls often have become video calls via Zoom, Teams, and other digital platforms that allow us to replicate face-to-face meetings à la The Jetsons.

2. In-Person Meetings

One of the best ways to build a partnership is a handshake and sit down. We tend to buy from people we like. If someone can see your body language and hear your tone of voice, he or she is more likely to develop a relationship with you as a person. The email can be the introduction or open the door, but the personality usually closes the sale. The inability to do so in the COVID-era has spawned the advent of video meetings that tend to be more cost- and time-effective, as well as sanitary. No hand gel required. That leads us to…

3. Tradeshows

This tried-and-true method of collecting leads went away in March 2020, and most people in the industry found that virtual tradeshows just weren’t as effective. By now, organizations have returned to in-person tradeshows.

4. Email Marketing

Email and messaging,Email marketing campaign,Working process, New email message

This tried-and-true method of collecting leads went away in March 2020, and most people in the industry found that virtual tradeshows just weren’t as effective. Happily, organizations have since returned to in-person tradeshows.

You can email your existing customers or qualified leads who have opted in from your website or a tradeshow, but don’t purchase lists! These people have not opted in. You can get shut down for spam. So, how do you get new leads? Read on!

5. Social Media

Posting on social media is a good way to develop brand recognition and get to know people who become your advocates. Join groups that are specific to your industry. Then you can use LinkedIn Sales Navigator or paid ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Google and do pay-per-click campaigns to further identify interested leads.

6. Trade Publications

If you have the budget (that you’ve saved from tradeshows and salespeople out on the road), you always can go the route of placing digital and print ads or even a low-cost spend of a listing in directories or guides. A more expensive, but effective, option is to deliver a webinar that the publication promotes. This will give you a list of new leads that you CAN add to your CRM and email marketing campaigns. Another route is contributed content. This means looking at the journal’s editorial calendar and pitching the editor with a thought-leadership article. If accepted, it costs you nothing but the time to write it. It gets your name in front of potential customers and positions you as an industry leader while familiarizing people with your brand. Also, a free listing (yes, FREE) with Thomasnet will drive some traffic to your site.

7. Trade Associations and Online Forums

One organization that can help with resources for small- to mid-sized manufacturers is your local Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). On a larger scale, there’s the National Association for Manufacturers (NAM). Additionally, industry-specific and regional trade associations can get you in front of customers. Think about pitching a technical talk or webinar and presenting to the organization’s membership rather than just attending meetings and handing out cards. This can show your value and expertise. Join some online forums where people are looking for information, for instance, Reddit, Quora, or industry-specific forums. It’s all about positioning the brand as an industry leader.

Next Steps

Some of these methods require content. Content is necessary for marketing. You can take that article you wrote for the trade pub, host it on your website, gate it behind a sign-in, then promote it on social media or with a PPC campaign. This will allow you to capture leads. We’ve all entered our name, company, title, and email in those fields on a website to download some content that we thought would be useful. 

It’s time for manufacturers to ramp up their digital games and jump on technology in order to build partnerships to generate leads that turn into sales. Technology can be your partner.

all in one manufacturing software

The future is here and is only going to get more complex. If you didn’t notice it before, you saw it in 2020 during COVID when in-person meetings ground to a halt and lead generation tapered off or plummeted. We need to embrace it to grow our businesses and remain viable in the digital age. If we don’t, we will go the way of the dinosaurs, or our business will plateau. If you want growth, then things need to change.

Here’s What the Future of Manufacturing Will Demand From You

Posted on by Matt Bernot

In the 21st century, technological and societal change is increasing at an exponential rate. Just as each generation of manufacturers before you faced obstacles unique to their era, you face challenges that are unique to yours.

The future of your manufacturing operation relies on finding the most efficient ways to overcome these challenges. As you face them head on, remember that your success rests on your ability to do the following:

  • Establishing a pipeline of young, motivated, skilled workers that you are able to maintain productive and open communication with—and who can effectively coexist with the senior members of your team.
  • Investing in advanced manufacturing technologies in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Establish Intergenerational Partnerships

“Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”

– Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), Men In Black, 1997

People from different generations see things from different perspectives. They have different areas of expertise, different methods and strategies, and different norms that they subscribe to. This is great for your business. By unifying diverging skill sets, you’ll be able to bridge vital knowledge gaps within your business. Your older workers will become increasingly tech savvy, and your younger workers will gain insight into the value of emotional intelligence and intrapersonal networking.

By implementing the proper systems, you can facilitate this exchange of information and ideas from anywhere. Some easy actions you can take today would be to:

  • Assign projects to generationally-diverse teams.
  • Set quarterly goals for your employees to train in areas where they may be knowledge-deficient.
  • Create an online environment where ideas can flow freely.

As you bridge the gap between your employees’ skill sets, you’ll find solutions for problems that could not have been solved otherwise—or perhaps you didn’t know existed.

58% of field service professionals say their top pressure is competition.  As you know, your business isn’t the only game in town. With the field services industry gaining traction each day, it is your responsibility to separate yourself from your competitors.

Stress the importance of having an open mind and being receptive to alternative perspectives—your team will be more productive and prepared for the future. With each passing day, the foreign will continue to appear less and less so.

Transform Your Tech

Manufacturing plants don’t have the same ideological, creative flair that places like Silicon Valley do, but that doesn’t mean that your business can’t be optimized for the 21st century. With younger generations of workers being drawn to places with shiny veneers, your business—and industry as a whole—needs to keep up.

Advanced robots, wearable devices, and real-time data integration software are not only profit-generating tools, they are vital recruitment tools. Workers that are able to see state-of-the-art technology being used in practice will be drawn in. 

Make sure that your employees know that you’re putting your best foot forward. Advanced manufacturing technology—that is easy to use—will let you keep product planning in scope, distribution and logistics running smoothly, and production scheduling punctual. 

Using the most advanced technology at your disposal is in the best interest of your business. It will also send a message to your employees—and future employees—that you are striving to work at peak efficiency. 

Price Out The Competition

Young people want excitement in their professional lives, and are often willing to sacrifice more than previous generations have in order to achieve that. But don’t misconstrue this—they still want to get paid.

The average salary of manufacturing workers in the United States is $63,295. With an above-average payscale compared to other American industries, this is something that you can use to your advantage. Money is not the end-all-be-all factor that it used to be, but it goes without saying how beneficial offering above-average salaries can be when attempting to attract the best talent around. 

Benefits of continued optimization and development of technology will only allow you to increase the wages you offer. Investing in technology to streamline your supply chains from start to finish allows you to invest in what really matters—American manufacturing jobs. 

Don’t Stop Innovating

Stagnation is not a tried and true method of success. As humans, we have a tendency to stick with what works. It’s a natural survival skill. But as time continues its march onward, it’s up to you to make the necessary operational changes to avoid being left behind.

The future arrives one day at a time. As you strive for a more collaborative, high-tech, and competitively compensated work environment, ask yourself what you can do today to make that  a reality. Infrastructure doesn’t appear out of thin air—the first step is finding systems that will work for you.

The world keeps turning and technology keeps evolving—your business needs to be fluid, mobile, and responsive. Investing in systems that put your business in a position for long-term success is the first step in preparing for whatever flavor of change comes next. Your products, systems, and technology will continue to change. Your staff will change. Your business model may even change. Change is as inevitable as the sun rising each day—make sure your business treats it as such.  

Building and Maintaining a Trusted Team of Technicians

Posted on by Matt Bernot

Right now, many businesses in the American economy are taking a page from the field services playbook. Employees are scattered across county lines, customers require an inflexible degree of personalized—and safe—service, and remote technology has become a requirement. As field service businesses continue to adapt to these trends, one thing becomes clear: it’s more important than ever to find and retain trusted technicians.

No matter what type of service you provide, your business relies on trust. Your technicians are an extension of your business—you’re trusting them to execute the goals you’ve set out to achieve. Their professionalism—or lack there of—will represent your business in the eyes of your customers. In fact, for your customers, your technicians are your business. As customers are increasingly diligent about who enters their personal space, your technicians need to be more reliable than ever.

Professionalism is a controlled variable. It’s a practice that your employees have the ability to engage in at all times. But even for the most professional workers, uncontrollable errors and discrepancies always find a way to seep their seedy fingers into your plans. No business, industry, or human being is immune to that. What you can control, however, is how well you prepare your technicians for the task at hand and how in tune you are with the progress of each job so that errors and discrepancies can be kept to a minimum.

By using the best tools at your disposal, you can be sure that you’re doing everything in your power to plan for success while preparing for the inevitable hurdles that pop up alothe way. With the proper field services management software, you can: 

  • Dispatch the right employee to the right location at the right time.
  • Track the status of each job.
  • Improve your hiring process.
  • Get new employees up to speed without sacrificing additional resources.

By knowing how each of your employees work best and by clearly defining their roles, you can confidently manage from a distance knowing customers are being optimally serviced.

Your Technicians Are Your Ambassadors

Your primary focus as a business owner is to generate revenue by means of continued customer satisfaction. The most prominent impression that your business will leave on customers derives from the experience provided by the field technicians who provide services in homes and workplaces every single day. It’s not just where satisfied customers come from—trustworthy service leads directly to referrals.

So what is the best way to facilitate the web of trust between you, your field techs, and the customer? It starts with adapting a mindset of personal responsibility. As a business owner, show your employees that trust and transparency is a two way street. They may be hesitant about being monitored on a granular scale out of fear of being micromanaged—avoiding micromanagement is very important—so allow them to gain insight into your workflow, too.

Establish the idea that transparency is in everyone’s best interest. It won’t happen overnight, and it certainly won’t happen without investing in the proper resources. By investing in technology that will empower your employees to work their best, they’ll reciprocate by investing themselves in their work. While the process of establishing trust starts with you as a human being, here are some ways that technology can be a means to that end:

Outgrow Your Old Organizational Habits

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Though Ben Franklin specialized more in politics than field service management, he had his hand in creating Philadelphia’s first fire company—talk about the importance of prompt and successful service in the field.

People don’t prepare and plan in the same ways. Some of your employees are apt in seeing your business’s larger picture and are able to efficiently plan their days—or weeks, or months—accordingly. Others need to take a much more gradual approach, hour by hour. As their boss, you should know as much about their work habits.

With the right field services assistant app, your technicians can have a schedule optimized for them. Assign tasks tailored to each employee based on their certifications, performance history, and—often most importantly—their current geography. Prompt service leads to pleased customers. 

With the right field services assistant app, your technicians can have a schedule optimized for them. Assign tasks tailored to each employee based on their certifications, performance history, and—often most importantly—their current geography. Prompt service leads to pleased customers. 

Sometimes organization will come in the form of mapping out quarterly goals; other times it will take the shape of breaking down days hour by hour. Regardless of the timeline, give your employees performance reviews and feedback. Beyond putting your employees in direct position for success, you’ll be able to maintain a flexible, universal calendar that you can adjust on the fly. This level of maneuverability that you’ll have at your disposal ensures that nothing slips through the cracks. 

Planning For Growth and Turnover

While your goal is certainly to spend more time onboarding employees than offboarding them, cloud technology will give you the tool kit to prepare you for both inevitabilities. More likely than not, the methods and systems you use to hire your personnel is not integrated into the rest of your business’s technology. Considering the importance of hiring the right people, shouldn’t this process be in sync with the rest of your operations? With proper field service management software, it is.

58% of field service professionals say their top pressure is competition.  As you know, your business isn’t the only game in town. With the field services industry gaining traction each day, it is your responsibility to separate yourself from your competitors.

As your business grows, make sure that your hiring technology has a leg up on the competition. Offer your candidates unique skill assessments tailored to your business’s real day-to-day needs, not just cookie cutter interview questions. Once you make the right hire, streamline their training within the same system so that they aren’t overwhelmed on day one. The premise is simple: a better hiring process makes your business stand out amongst the competition. 

At the end of the day, if you do right by your employees—past, present, and future—they will do right by you and your business. The more you invest in these processes, the more your business will gain.

Ask About Their Needs

Take the time to ask your employees questions. Ask them what they think they need to have a more productive workday, what they like and dislike about their current role, and—the most difficult of all—ask them what changes they want to see from you, their boss. It’s nearly impossible to build trust without having the truly tough conversations. 

Tough and awkward conversations are best handled delicately. It might behoove you to use the technology at your disposal to send personalized questions and surveys to your employees digitally as opposed to asking them from across a desk. Odds are both of you will feel more comfortable this way—you may even receive more honest feedback.

By being empathic and open with your employees, they will feel better about the work that they do. If you made a decision that didn’t pan out, own up to it. Show your employees that when things go south, the best path forward is to learn from the mistake and move on. Walking the walk of vulnerability and personal responsibility will trickle down to the way your employees handle themselves, ultimately fueling the fire of productivity. 

Dispatch With Confidence

Each job that you tackle will come with its own unique challenges. Sometimes jobs will go smoothly, and sometimes they will be a bit hectic—Murphy’s Law bets on the latter scenario. When trouble arises, count on your software to be there for you. When you’re able to have a uniform system that your employees can lean on 24 hours a day, they will be empowered to do their best in their respective roles. And while no one employee will determine the outcome of your business, the collective effort of your empowered and trusted employees will allow your business to adapt to all of the challenges that lie ahead. 

Trust is fragile—it takes time to build, but it can break down almost instantaneously. Utilizing the technologies at your disposal to lay the groundwork of success is necessary, but lasting success ultimately lies with you and your employees putting trust in each other. Stay diligent in your efforts and true to your process—help your employees be the best they can be.