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Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service News podcast. This month we are joined by Tom Oates, Senior Project Manager with service management software provider Solarvista and we are discussing the importance of getting the implementation of any software right if you are to see the expected efficiency and productivity improvements you are expecting.

You can listen to this edited snippet here for free and if you want to hear the full podcast which includes Tom's advice on how best to implement the software and manage the transition from one system and set of processes to another both in terms of the technology in place as well as from a change management perspective, you can get instant access by simply clicking the link below and completing the brief registration process.

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To download the full podcast just click here and complete the brief registration form!

 

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Workforce optimisation specialists Leadent Solutions have recently launched a new health-check service for companies operating a mobile workforce to ensure they are getting the most out of their existing systems and processes.

To find out more about what this service entails Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland spoke exclusively with Emma Newman, Managing Consultant at Leadent Solutions and we will be bringing you this interview across the next four weeks.

In this first part of this new series the discussion focussed on perhaps the most important part of any organisation, the people.

In part two we discussed why processes are such a key ingredient in the successful mix of a field service organisation and how we can get these right and in part three we looked at assessing the systems you have in place

There is also an accompanying series of articles to this interview which add further insight into the health-check. The first of these of which is available here.  The second feature written by Mark Thompson, Managing Consultant with Leadent Solutions is available here and looks at processes, the third feature written by Kevin Anderson looks at systems is available here and finally the feature which accompanies this instalment is available here

 

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If you think your company could benefit from the Healthcheck you can contact Emma and the team directly by clicking this link

 

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As our exclusive series looking at Leadent Solutions new Healthcheck service draws to an end we Dave Kemp, Managing consultant takes a look at what outcomes can be anticipated when companies go through the process which is designed to help them get the most out of their existing service management systems.... 

If you missed the introduction to this series you can revisit part one here and the second feature, which focussed on the processes in a field service organisation is available here and the third part which focusses on the systems in place is available here

If you think your company could benefit from the Healthcheck you can contact Dave and the team directly by clicking this link

Planning for the journey

In Parts 1,2, and 3 of this series of articles we have explained that to understand the health of field-based operations, and to identify areas for improvement, a holistic view covering People, Process and Systems is required. The initial output of Leadent Solutions Workforce Health Check detailing issues and recommended remedial actions really only represents the start of a journey. This article discusses how to take the next steps in delivering improvements.

Deciding What You Need To Do?

Put in a new scheduling system, re-engineer the mobile application, adopt a new work priority schema, upgrade the contractors’ portal, focus on office / field collaboration in planning decisions, re-train the call agents….

A review or health check will detail issues and recommend remedial actions. What now? Of course there will be budgetary limitations, and a keen expectation regards delivery timeframes, but question around ’what should be done?’, ‘in what order?’, and ‘what can be deferred?’ will remain. To make these decisions we need to understand the business value associated with each of the remedial actions, the costs, and the ease or difficulty of implementation. Other methods are available, but mapping potential changes by business value and implementation difficulty (and cost) usually works well.

This is a start point in deciding what needs to be done, and what is a priority to the business. Input from across the business, including field operations is required, early buy-in being absolutely essential.

Understanding the Bigger Picture

The health check will have focused on looking at issues and opportunities related to field operations. However, before proceeding with remedial actions, an understanding of broader considerations is required.

• Does the company plan to make any structural or organisation changes?
• What IT or change programmes are planned or ‘in flight’?
• Regarding technology, are there planned upgrades?

These questions are examples only, but it is clear that the bigger picture needs to be understood. It will impact what remedial action is done, if there are any dependencies, and when it can be done.

Staying with the car analogy adopted in this series, you may have decided to replace your old Toyota, but now know the new model is due out early next year. Do you buy now, and maybe pick up a bargain, or wait for the very latest model, one of the very few on the road?

By categorising and prioritising remedial actions, by understanding the bigger picture and dependencies, and of course working to money and time constraints, it should be possible to group actions into work packages and establish an order to those work packages.

Giving Your Project Some Shape

A project focused on making some minor, short term configuration changes to a forecasting system being delivered to a small central planning team probably needs a different approach to a transformation programme introducing a brand new mobile solution to 8,000 field engineers based across the region. It’s very much horses for courses! Focusing on the transformation end of the scale, the programme will have to consider:

• Requirements confirmation
• Detailed design (process and IT)
• Build and testing (IT)
• Stakeholder management
• Business readiness
• Communications
• Training
• Proof of concept / pilot
• Implementation and support approach
• Benefits realisation and tracking

Of course, this all needs to be underpinned by programme and project management activities, and an appropriate governance approach. Again, horse for courses!

Putting the Team Together

It’s vital that changes made impacting field -based operations involve subject matter experts from support functions and from the operational business. At Leadent Solutions, working with our clients, we have seen this work well when:

• The Project Board has full functional representation
• When team members are seconded from Business As Usual roles on to project positions
• A business network, with representatives from all appropriate functions, is used to inform or validate design or implementation decisions

Business representation on the project team in part ensures the integrity of the final solution, and, to some degree, removes the ‘not designed here’ risk.

Keeping the Business Informed: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

In the first article we focused on ‘People’, their prime role in business performance, and the importance of change management in any improvement activities. It’s not my intention to revisit change management generally in this article, but it is worth re-iterating the importance of communication.

It’s important from the very outset that the business understands:

• What the project / programme will deliver
• How they will deliver it
• What the project expects from the business
• The anticipated timeframes
• What the feedback channels are

And that those messages are:

• Tailored to the audience (a field engineer will not want to see a detailed project plan)
• Repeated on a frequent basis

With the disparate nature of field-based operations, communications are not always straightforward. Team meetings may be infrequent, access to systems or the internet is not always assured. Some creative thinking may be required to make sure the messages are heard!

As an output of the Healthcheck, we work with clients to shape, plan and set-up remedial actions – this can range from simplistic but focused action plans to large transformation projects. This article has highlighted some key considerations in that process.

Next time, the last part of this series covers a Case Study at Anglian Water.   A Leadent Solutions Health Check on the quality of work schedules led to a number of changes in the set-up and configuration of the ClickSchedule application. These changes have driven immediate improvements in field engineer productivity.

There is also a video interview that accompanies this feature with Emma Newman, Managing Consultant Leadent Solutions which is available here

 

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If you think your company could benefit from the Healthcheck you can contact Dave and the team directly by clicking this link

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Oneserve
Title: The metrics that matter: How actionable analytics can transform field service management performance­
Download:Click here to download this white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis:

The top strategic action for two-thirds of service organisations is to develop or improve the metrics or KPIs used to measure field service performance. And yet only 18 percent of companies believe they have the skills necessary to gather and use insights effectively.

These two statistics represent the predicament of many field service organisations today - they know actionable analytics are vital for business success, but fully utilising the information they gather is a daunting and difficult task. This white paper aims to disentangle the vast quantity of data available in the field service management industry by highlighting the metrics that really matter and demonstrating how analytics can be used to improve business performance.  

Overview:

This white paper covers the following areas:

Customer Centric and Servitisation

Many organisations have data at their fingertips but are paralysed by the complexity and number of data sources available to them. They rely on anecdotal evidence or intuition to make decisions rather than informed business intelligence in order to drive competitive advantage.

Research shows that service organisations that fully interrogate data outperform their rivals. A like-for-like comparison between organisations which use advanced analytics and those that don’t, reveals that adopters of analytics are seeing a 60% higher increase in year-on-year revenue.

Analytics for Field Service Management (FSM)

Analytics for FSM should be based around assets in the field, the resources (time, money and people) it takes to install, maintain and repair those assets and the customer experience. Initially an organisation may just want to understand the numbers around these key activities, then in time improve processes. Ultimately the goal should be to deliver forecast and predictive analytics that achieve optimisation across service delivery.

For field service this goal can be delivered at both strategic and operational levels, for example a director might want to understand how a shift in approach can create gains for the organisation, whereas a manager might want to understand how exactly that shift can be made.

 

Incorporate the metrics that matter

To ensure analytics are able to deliver valuable insight, the right KPIs must be identified. Every service organisation must identify their own metrics based on what success looks like for them. There are however some common measures in the service industry which should be tracked by any service organisation regardless of which sector they operate within.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for field service management should include:

• Business process
• Service delivery
• Customer service
• Operational efficiency

This is by no means an exhaustive list - each metric should unlock more in-depth measures which require analysis. Clear actionable insights will be revealed as part of the analysis from which the organisation can take evidence based decisions and improve the process associated with that measure.

This should be a constant cyclical review process. 

The analytics journey

Assuming a set of KPIs has been defined, there is a hierarchy of analytics that can be applied, dependent upon the richness of the data and the analytics resource available. The advanced analytics journey demonstrated in chart 1 articulates a staged approach, which starts by examining the data and finishes by optimising the intelligence which has been discovered. Evidently each step in the journey becomes more complicated and arguably more useful as the capability and complexity of the analytics increases.

Additional benefits of analytics

Increased customer retention Research by Aberdeen Group shows organisations that embrace analytics outperform their industry average figures for customer satisfaction, customer retention and service improvement. These organisations use analytics to gain a deep understanding of customer behaviour to preempt customer needs and desires without explicit interaction.

Higher levels of motivation in the workforce The mobile workforce is the shop window of any service organisation. In fact some organisations are even combining the role of technician and salesperson. The technician is highly qualified in product knowledge and often in the customer space; this puts them in a unique position of knowledge and trust to be able to sell to the customer.

Improved bottom line Organisations which reap the greatest rewards from business intelligence see a significantly improved bottom line.

Competitive advantage By continuously analysing in-house performance figures these companies can use this insight to monitor their competitors and ensure they stay at the top of their game. The best performing service organisations are twice as likely as all others to consistently benchmark service performance against peers and top performers in other industries.

Click here to download this white paper

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Whilst it is often the selling point of specialist field service technology, improving productivity can also be achieved through good management. So as part of a new series from Steve Brand, Senior Consultant with field service training specialists SGSA, we look at eight key management concepts that can help you improve the productivity of your mobile workforce.  

The topics included in this series are based around the content of SGSA's 4 and half day, university standard training course for field service managers and Field Service News readers are eligible for a discounted attendance. Further details, a discount code and links to registration are all included at the bottom of the page...

Back in the 1970’s, management best practices were revolutionised by Peter Drucker’s work; it has endured, withstanding the test of time. New books on management best practices are published almost weekly but despite new terminology, they are based on the same fundamental principles. Drucker’s golden rules remain unchanged:

• Define the mission
• Set the vision
• State the goals
• Empower
• Communicate
• Use metrics carefully
• Treat employees as a valued resource

So what else, can Field Service Managers do to ensure their team members are highly motivated and committed to delivering high performance?

In this series we will present eight concepts that have the potential to improve the way Field Service Managers lead and organise their teams. Correctly applied, these concepts will result in improved productivity and employee motivation/satisfaction.

We begin with two less common but very powerful management tips to help Field Service Managers improve their relationships with their engineer and increase productivity.

Concept #1: Close the ‘Knowing-Doing’ Gap

Many organisations suffer from the ‘Knowing-Doing’ gap. Some managers seem to be forever attending meetings and conference calls; the output from which is often talk rather than action.

As managers talk more and more, less and less actually gets done! We see some leaders discussing the metrics incessantly, telling others what is wrong with the business, spouting the latest business-speak or techno-gabble, drawing up plans for projects that never get off the ground and even criticising their peers. These are all forms of Smart Talk.

Smart talk abounds in the work place and leads nowhere.  It occurs at all levels of the organisation and can be seen wherever employees attempt to sound knowledgeable or confident by being critical or negative, or by using overly complex language for simple concepts.  The “that won’t work because…” statements, ridicule of others’ suggestions or using phrases such as the ‘Transformation to a Virtual Organisation Project’ when all we want to do is give mobile devices to staff, are all examples of smart talk.  The impact of smart talk is that it adds confusion, hinders problem solving and prevents knowledge sharing.

 

There are a number of ways to eliminate Smart Talk. Firstly, take time to explain the thinking behind initiatives and changes. Secondly, ensure all company messages, directives and objectives are short and simple; never use a written paragraph when a spoken sentence will do.  And finally, create an environment of trust and respect amongst the staff.

Field service engineers must feel that they can promote their ideas without fear of criticism or ridicule. Focusing on what went wrong, who is to blame or why something won’t work is self-defeating.  The key to success is to put aside what went wrong and focus on what we want or what needs to happen next.

Concept #2. Putting the Team’s Whole Brain to Work

Efficient problem solving requires a group of individuals who see the world differently from each other, to work together in a constructive manner.  The key is to identify these differences and to help individuals with opposing perspectives and styles, to work together.

For example, so called ‘left-brained’ thinkers tend to approach a problem in a logical, analytical way.  ‘Right-brained’ thinkers rely on more non-linear, intuitive approaches.  Some people prefer to work together to solve a problem; while others like to gather and process information by themselves.  Abstract thinkers need to learn about something before they experience it; for experiential people the opposite is true.  It is important to remember that these different approaches are preferences rather than skills.

Two field service engineers with different cognitive preferences, when faced with the same problem, may reach an identical solution at the same time, but use very different thought processes.  Neither approach should be considered superior. The challenge for Field Service Managers is to understand these subtle cognitive differences and that engineers with differing approaches may clash or struggle to work together effectively, without intervention.

 

There are many diagnostic tools available to identify these preferences and report back with various levels of detail.

Field Service Managers who do not understand this concept or know their engineers’ default style, may fail to create an environment where innovative solutions are produced quickly.  In order to take full advantage of these differences, the manager must carefully select which engineers work together on problems.  In most situations, a mixed group will considers more options and the final solution will be better of better quality, than any, one engineer would have produced on their own.

The downside of this approach however, is its potential to create friction.  To ensure success in whole-brain problem solving, the manager must take time to define the goal and the rules of engagement; the conflict should not be personal. It is a common mistake to think that a group of people will work together as an effective team when left to their own devices.

In fact, teamwork only happens when leaders create the opportunities for teamwork and effectively manage the process.

The Field Service Manager program is dynamic and interactive, with students frequently working in small groups, presenting findings and working on the course case study.

The program is four and a half days of course content and university-level instruction and learning that is focused on managing a field service operation.

If you want to see more information or register for the course you can do so by clicking here

PLUS! Field Service News subscribers receive a 10% discount on the course fee when quoting reference FSN0209.

Terms and conditions apply

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Resource Type: White Paper
Provided by: Trimble Field Service Management
Author: Aly Pinder Jr, Senior Research Analyst, Service Management. Aberdeen Group
Title: Emerging workforce in the field: Tech Savvy to Technician

Download: Click here to download this white paper 

By downloading this white paper you agree to the T&C's outlined here

Synopsis:

With Trimble’s ongoing focus on empowering mobile workers Trimble have teamed up with Aberdeen Group to publish a new report looking at the emergence of a new mobile worker in field service. Written by leading field service analyst, Aly Pinder, this paper takes a closer look at how technology is affecting and driving the next generation of field service workers. Are millennials that different from their predecessors?

What are their weaknesses and strengths? And most importantly how do they fit within the evolution of the field service industry itself? With the field service industry facing a rapidly growing issue of an ageing workforce it is even more important than ever to understand how to attract and engage with the next generation of field workers.

Report Highlights:

• 62% of top performers have incorporated some level of BYOD strategy as a result of a more tech-savvy workforce
• The best-in-class are 33% more likely to implement visual collaboration tools to improve communication between technicians and remote experts
• The best-in-class are 70% more likely to provide technicians with access to a knowledge base of recorded training videos and images
• The Best-in-class are 43% more likely to give technicians access to social media and collaborative tools to facilitate knowledge transfer.

Overview:

Replacing good workers is never an easy task and unfortunately the majority of companies wait until it is too late to address what is a lurking problem. In fact, Aberdeen’s Talent Acquisition 2014: Reverse the Regressive Curse report, highlighted that 60% of companies were reactionary in regard to talent acquisition and only recruited when they had an opening, instead of actively recruiting prior to an open vacancy becoming available.

The problem then faced is not only finding the next great field service engineer as a reaction to a departure but also understanding their needs and motivations as much as possible in order to retain their services for the long term. What makes this challenge even more complex currently is that we are in a position of flux when it comes to our workforces.

 

The fact is that the available pool of workers is changing swiftly. Currently the average age of a field service technician is 32 years old, with approximately one-fifth of the current workforce under 30 (as reported in the recent Aberdeen research on Mobile Field Service). So as field service companies bring in new workers from this next generation, dubbed millennials or generation y they need to consider how these workers will begin their journey with the team and manage the way in which this new breed of engineers will use, process and engage with technology.

Finally, to further compound these challenges there is the spectre of an ageing field service workforce to contend with. So, not only is there a need to make the transition from one generation of worker as seamless as possible, there is also a pressing timeframe to contend with as well. To get this transition right, first time around, field service organisations must consider at east three questions as they try to continue delivering exceptional field service with the next generation of field service workers.

• What do your customers want?
• How can you attract the next generation of great field service engineers?
• How does the next generation of field worker help the evolution of mobility in the field?

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In many respects the next generation fits perfectly with the way field service is evolving. So whilst there are some fairly negative connotations associated with the millennial/gen y age group – sharp attention span, sense of entitlement, “I will be CEO in less than two years’ etc. these misconceptions of the industries youngest workforce are not where our attention should lie. Whilst this generation of field workers may be different from their forbearers, they aren’t necessarily worse.

They may have some drawbacks, but when it comes to the evolution of excellent service, they may be just what is needed to wow future customers.

The emerging field service workforce embodies a number of characteristics that will help transform service and the relationship with the customer. These workers are young (30 and under) technology savvy, (they grew up with computers) and collaborative (social networks are a way of life.)

 

These traits and preferences help these workers attain and evaluate data faster than ever. But the integral part is how quickly that data is turned into answers and insight. To find out more about how companies overcome the challenge of an ageing workforce and take advantage of the next generation of great field engineers,

Trimble Field Service Management are offering this white paper for download now

Click here to download this white paper

 

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: mplsystems
Title: Meeting Customer Demand: Evaluation of the Top Three Customer Self-Service Technologies for Field Service
About: This white paper will explore the transitioning role of the customer in field service and how the proliferation and popularity of smartphone devices has created a demand for self-service technology in both B2B and B2C markets. It will discuss the different self-service technologies available and suggest how best to implement these solutions to ensure businesses are achieving a true end-to-end field service management solution.
Download: Download the white paper by clicking here   

Privacy policy: by registering to downloading this white paper you agree to the terms and conditions as outlined here

Overview:

Within the field service industry there is a growing focus on improving communication between the service desk and field engineer teams.

However, businesses are slowly realising that this type of technology can also be used to improve communications with clients, offering a low effort experience that not only increases visibility and loyalty but generates cost savings

Current use of self-service technology

The customer’s ability to arrange service calls or get status updates with a company is an important element of how a service organisation is viewed by its customers.

Given that the role of the consumer has largely changed over recent years due to the consumerisation of technology, customers are now expecting to be able to have more visibility and control when it comes to interacting with a business, especially with online self-service.

Taking Customer Self-Service Portals to the next level

As customers are given more visibility and control in other areas of business through online channels, they are expecting this control in all areas of life. Research carried out by US based consultancy, Software Advice, reported that whilst access to an online portal for self-service tasks such as scheduling and bill paying had the second-strongest positive impact on respondents’ likelihood to hire a field service company the data also indicated that an online portal could have the most negative impact in customers eyes.

It is clear that out of all the customer self-service technologies available, online portals are currently the most used within the industry, however the functionality of these portals is still quite limited and often do not provide the customer with the control they require.

 

One of the main problems that is limiting self-service portals providing the tools the customer needs is the lack of integration with existing business technology such as scheduling systems and field service engineer’s mobile device technology. This means that whilst the portal may provide the customer with basic information such as billing, service requests or appointment booking, they are often unable to make payments through the app, amend or cancel appointments or have real-time updates of their service delivery without human interaction.

Web Chat and Messaging

In a recent interview, Nicola Millard, BT’s Head of Customer Insight and Futures, references how web chat is set to become the dominant customer contact channel of the future. She comments, “Firstly, web chat is an immediate channel, like the phone, you can have a conversation. Secondly, the ability to manage multiple chat sessions means that the economics of chat is positive, assuming the volume is there. Thirdly, chat can be blended with other channels for example email and social media.”

However, whilst this channel is already being successfully implemented across many industry sectors, the field service industry has been somewhat slower in the uptake of web chat. Field service organisations have traditionally struggled to unite two key elements – the technical expertise of their field-based engineers with the availability of their service desks. Not surprisingly, engineers are always busy – either travelling to a customer location or already engaged onsite.

However, as the traditional browser based web chat extends to messaging on mobile devices, it becomes possible to bring field engineers, the service desk and customers together in a virtual world, despite location or device.

Business Clients Mobile Apps

Whilst mobile apps are helping transform operational efficiency for field workers, the extension of this technology to customers is still very limited.

 

Only 5% of organisations currently offer their customers mobile apps as a communication channel into the service desk. However, it is reported that over 50% of smartphone users chose apps over phoning a contact centre and this will continue to rise as the influence of generation Y and the proliferation and innovation of mobile devices continues. Mobile apps are a key technology in field service, but this mostly focuses around apps for engineers who are out in the field and need access to information from the service desk. But if we are able to provide engineers with integrated apps and scheduling capabilities, then why not offer this to business clients as a simple, quick way to check service requests, book appointments or access billing capabilities?

Integration and Interaction

There has been much talk around integration of field service management solutions to create a true end-to-end approach to the customer life cycle allowing full visibility across different areas of the company. However, when adding new technologies, such as customer self-service, businesses often overlook the importance of fully integrating this new technology with existing business systems.

On many occasions, businesses will introduce a third party supplier and then face multiple problems when trying to get each system to speak to each other. In the 2014 Field Service Software research report, it was confirmed that over a fifth of businesses were working with five or more providers to implement their field service technology.

Download the white paper by clicking here    

 

 

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Understanding and extracting the value of the knowledge within your field service engineers is not just beneficial but essential for field service organisations writes Derek Korte, Editor of thesmartvan.com…

For service leaders, knowledge sharing is a top — and urgent — priority One reason? Older technicians are nearing retirement, and executives need to capture every morsel of those seasoned technicians’ know-how before it’s too late. Another reason is that companies increasingly recognize how powerful the collective knowledge of their workforce could be, if only every employee could access it.

Investing in new technology alone isn’t enough, though. Company culture is the primary driver of knowledge management success. And service leaders set the culture, says John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research at the Technology Services Industry Association. We spoke with Ragsdale about how service leaders can develop a culture of knowledge sharing, and some common mistakes they make along the way.

WHY DOES KNOWLEDGE SHARING MATTER FOR FIELD SERVICE ORGANISATIONS?

Ragsdale: Companies continue to invest in this year after year because they perceive enormous value. In our2014 knowledge management survey, 40 percent of respondents said that great knowledge sharing would improve their team’s productivity by 20 to 30 percent, while a third said they would see a 40 or even 50 percent boost. People really perceive knowledge management as a missing link in their operations.

The survey asked how respondents would rate their company’s culture regarding knowledge sharing on a 10-point scale, from one being share any knowledge and others will take credit to 10 being leaders set the example and reward knowledge sharing. A high “5” was the average, but field service had the highest culture score of any group we surveyed.

 

I spoke with a lot of companies about this finding that said sharing is a part of the culture of field service organizations. Technicians walk into a location to fix something and may see a piece of equipment they didn’t know existed. Collaboration is key. It’s natural for field service people to ask their peers for help, whether through Chatter, email or a phone call.

WHAT’S THE LINK BETWEEN COMPANY CULTURE AND SUCCESSFUL KNOWLEDGE SHARING?  

A lot of service leaders I spoke with at Technology Services World 2014 wanted to talk about culture, specifically how culture is a top-down initiative. If the company doesn’t have a sharing culture, or if there isn’t executive support for the movement, how can managers change the culture of their departments?

Others were curious about the differences between older and younger workers. It’s never safe to make generalizations, but the older workers (baby boomers, like me) tend to hoard knowledge. We’ve spent our entire careers being rewarded for knowing something no one else did. Younger workers, meanwhile, grew up in a very collaborative age, and they don’t think they should have to learn anything someone else knows. They want to share all their knowledge and post it out there for the world to see.

 

We’re seeing a culture shift occurring within companies and even departments. It’s great for knowledge management because the new folks are much more willing to share. They don’t want to hoard their knowledge. They want to post it out there for everyone to see.

HOW DO COMPANIES ENCOURAGE MORE SHARING? 

When I talk to companies that are on their third, fourth or fifth knowledge implementation, culture is very often at stake. If executives don’t value knowledge sharing, they won’t give the service leaders the necessary budget or staff to build or maintain the knowledge base. If the executive team isn’t setting a good example, managers will have to work harder than ever to overcome that challenge.

I’ve spoken with companies who admit to rewarding people for hoarding their knowledge, but they’re trying to change that culture. One step is to hire people who want to share knowledge and to stress its importance during orientation — and to reinforce that. If the only way people will get a raise or a promotion is to become an incredible knowledge sharer, they’ll likely do it — even if executives don’t send a warm, fuzzy message about sharing knowledge.

 

 

ANY BIG SURPRISES ABOUT HOW COMPANIES HANDLE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?

In the survey, I asked respondents about mobility. Interesting, we found that 50 percent of companies haven’t made updates to their knowledge management system to support mobile. That stat is very telling because you know how horrible it is to consume an old-fashioned webpage on a smartphone. There are helpful knowledge management features, such as index trees and dynamic FAQ lists. But these features often don’t work on a mobile device. I was surprised that so few companies have created an app or rewritten a site in HTML5 to optimise for mobile browsing.

 

We’ve put a lot of emphasis on field service tools and technology, but we haven’t gone back and looked at the knowledge base and other content repositories that technicians access in the field. Some of those are barely accessible on a mobile device. The industry clearly needs more investment in the actual infrastructure to make knowledge more accessible.

This feature first appeared on Smartvan.com and is republished here with kind permission

 

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Workforce optimisation specialists Leadent Solutions have recently launched a new health-check service for companies operating a mobile workforce to ensure they are getting the most out of their existing systems and processes.

To find out more about what this service entails Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland spoke exclusively with Emma Newman, Managing Consultant at Leadent Solutions and we will be bringing you this interview across the next four weeks.

In this first part of this new series the discussion focussed on perhaps the most important part of any organisation, the people.

In part two we discussed why processes are such a key ingredient in the successful mix of a field service organisation and how we can get these right.

There is also an accompanying series of articles to this interview which add further insight into the health-check. The first of these of which is available here.  The second feature written by Mark Thompson, Managing Consultant with Leadent Solutions is available here and looks at processes and finally the third feature written by Kevin Anderson and like this video looks at systems is available here 

If you think your company could benefit from the Healthcheck you can contact Emma and the team directly by clicking this link