Management is difficult enough when you share an office with your staff, but when workers are deployed out of the office, managing field staff becomes a much tougher proposition. Here are some top tips for success:
Tip #1 – know your staff
It’s imperative to get to know every individual worker to get the measure of their strengths and weaknesses. You’ll have to adjust your management style to suit every worker because not everyone will respond to the same approach.
Tip #2 – understand the job
If you were a field worker yourself, your experience of the job helps you understand the mindset of your workers. But not every manager has come up through the ranks and if you have no experience of the field, arrange to spend time shadowing workers to build up your knowledge of their day-to-day challenges.
Tip #3 – be reasonable
It’s impossible to ensure every worker is being as efficient as they can be all the time. The key is to set minimum objectives and deadlines that they can reasonably be expected to meet every day/week/month. This keeps workers on their toes and means you don’t have to harass them around the clock. By tracking these objectives over an extended period of time, it will also be easy to identify which employees require the most attention.
Tip #4 – get comfy
Being out on the road for hours each day can be stressful and physically draining. A good field manager should always make sure his (or her) workers are sufficiently comfortable in their chosen mode of transport. This simple courtesy can boost morale and increase productivity.
Tip #5 – communicate and coordinate
The day-to-day routine of the field worker is always susceptible to rapid change. Clients cancel, jobs run over and unforeseen circumstances occur. The only way to manage these fluctuations efficiently is to encourage clear communication throughout the day. Make regular checks on as many workers as possible and encourage them to check in. If you can instigate two way communication with your works, you’re already on the path to success. A all-in-one field service management software such as Workever, can really help with this side of your business.
About Workever
Workever is a real-time management solution for Field Service & Service Management businesses. Whether you have a small mobile team of five field workers or a large enterprise with hundreds of field staff, Workever field service management software makes your job simple.
Increase productivity, reduce paperwork and save admin time with our easy to use field service software for both the office and your fieldworkers. Why not request a free trial today?