An unexpected but amusing cameo in a recent live stream with Nick Frank and Harald Wasserman not only brought a welcome moment of levity but also shone a spotlight on an important, but often overlooked aspect of remote working. Kris Oldland, reflects back on the session... 

I'm sure everyone of us at the moment is under a greater level of strain than we have ever felt before.

For me personally, I can confess to having never been under so much pressure. As an independent publisher, we have a tendency to punch well above our weight as it is, with an output that matches and dare I say it, betters that of any of the mainstream publishers I have worked for during my entire career in publishing. This is something I take immense pride in. 

Similarly, as the field service sectors leading global voice, I felt it was simply our duty to react in a proactive and positive manner to the current Covid19 pandemic and so establishing the support channel that we have created to host a series of live sessions to help offer guidance to field service companies during this time was something that I knew in my heart we had to move mountains to do. 

It is at times of crisis that we need both leaders and we need to come together as a community. It is our job as the primary layer of news media in the global field service sector to facilitate that. And we may be winging it a little, as are we all at the moment, but so far, I think we've done a reasonable job of achieving quite a lot in very little time - thanks in the main to the wonderful support from our friends in the industry.

But I'll freely admit, it has been tough, I'm tired and I know there is a long way to go yet. We'll get there, but there is a long, long way to go.

 

An Excellent Moment of Learning from an Unexpected Source: 

So a week or so on from the first Emergency Symposium we hosted on Covid-19 and its impact on field service organisations and I have just a moment to take stock on everything that happened in a whirlwind of anxiety, anticipation, and action.

While there have been countless excellent learnings from our Covid19 sessions, which you can catch up on here, perhaps one of the most important aspects of the current situation was raised by an unexpected cameo on my recent stream with Nick Frank and Harald Wasserman of Si2 Partners. 

 

"It was the follow up cameo that brought a wonderful moment of levity into what have quite understandably been a series of tense sessions across the week..."

 

It was a moment of sheer unexpected levity, and it shone a light on a very important, yet potentially easily overlooked, aspect of the remote working environment we are all currently engaged in. 

Just as Nick was speaking about the importance of strong leadership we saw a blurred flash across the camera as his young daughter entered into the shot. However, it was the follow up cameo that brought a wonderful moment of levity into what have quite understandably been a series of tense sessions across the week. With the wonderful exuberance of youth on her side, Nick's daughter proceeded to torment her Dad, with a pair of bunny ears behind his head and a wry smile to our live audience before treating us to one more wave as her brief, but enjoyable cameo came to an end. 

It was an endearing moment, one that reminded us all of the humanity that lies behind the screen - something that was acknowledged by a number of the audience in the chat room of the live session. 

 

"Actually, you are letting people in to your lives and I think this is quite difficult for some people..."

 

Nick coped with things admirably, and there were shades of Professor Robert Kelly's famous BBC video interview, which went viral, for sure. However, what this intervention brought forward was an important discussion on the importance of levity in these challenging times. 

"The thing about remote working and 'virtual sessions' is that they are very intense," Frank commented during the stream. 

"The meetings are much shorter, they are to the point and rather than having one or two sessions which are much longer these are shorter, more frequent and more intense. The other thing is that you can see the environment. Actually, you are letting people in to your lives and I think this is quite difficult for some people. 

"But now, because of the situation we are in, people are getting used to the seeing the working environment and it actually becomes OK, we're all in the same boat and it is of no surprise. What it brings is an informality to the discussion which completely changes the means of communication.

"I think it is these moments of levity and socialisation that can allow us to understand our teams as people and who they are and that is an important part of leadership, and good leadership is vital at the moment." 

Well said Nick and thanks Katy for bringing a smile to many of our faces at an intense time. It was a lesson many of us needed - i.e. to remember that while we may be working a million miles an hour to get through this crisis, while the rolling news continues to update us on everything that is in front of us, ultimately we must remember that a moment of levity, a reminder of the human behind the screen, can be a wonderful tonic to keep us going. 

 

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Finally, to say a big thank you for everyone who has joined our new Patreon tiers of paid for support of our work. 

We will be arranging for all of our premium content library to be uploaded to a non-sponsored, members only access area in the coming week and will also be setting up the discussion groups and arranging for some additional member only interviews to be conducted so watch this space.  

If you are interested in accessing our additional membership tiers you can do so from as little as £15/month and throughout the duration of the pandemic that costs will give you access to the top tier VIP membership as well. Find out more @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/subscription-tiers

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Kris Oldland, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News announces the publishers's response to Corona Virus... In an open letter to Field Service News subscribers Kris Oldland has announced two key initiatives to bring the global field service community together during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Firstly, Field Service News will be hosting an 'Emergency Symposium' this Friday (20 March) at 16:00 hours GMT. There will be a panel of senior industry leaders brought together to discuss the potential impact of the pandemic as well as best-practices for field service companies at this time. 

Register to attend @ https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7852140705125027853

 

Fostering Ongoing Communication within the Field Service Sector

In addition to this, Oldland announced the launch of an ongoing 'Digital Symposium' to host industry presentations that have had to be either postponed or cancelled. Thus facilitating the continued sharing of industry knowledge and learning during this period of wide-scale isolation. Any industry practitioners who have presentations they wish to give to the wider audience at this time will be able to utilise the platform free of charge, whilst commercial solution providers to the field service industry will be able to claim significant discounts from the standard FSN Webinar rate throughout the duration of the pandemic.

Commenting Oldland said: "One of the things that I have always found quite incredible within the field service sector is the commitment to knowledge sharing at large within our community, on a global basis. As the leading voice for field service professionals within the world, I feel it is is simply the right thing to do for Field Service News to help facilitate this communication at a time of crisis and I am happy to bear the brunt of the costs in doing so. Field Service is the community we serve and this is just another we can do in that endeavour. 

"I am hugely proud that we are able to offer this facility to not only our subscriber community but also with those within the sector who have yet to become part of the FSN family. Together, I am sure that we will all be able to cope, adapt and then thrive in the face of adversity." 

Oldland's full email to the Field Service News subscriber base is below: 

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In light of the current situation we are all facing with the global pandemic of Covid-19, I would like to announce that Field Service News will be hosting an 'Emergency Symposium: Coronavirus and its potential impact on field service delivery' this Friday at 16.00 hours GMT.

I have already spoken with a number of key industry leaders who are prepared to give their time for free to join a panel for this session to discuss the potential challenges of the situation, as well as looking at best practice at this current time and also how we can utilise technology to help ensure any disruption to field service delivery is minimised.  

The session will be open and there will be opportunity for wider discussion with all attendees. For those of you who cannot make the live date, a recording of the session will automatically be sent out to all registrants - so please do register to attend on the link below. 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7852140705125027853

In addition to this session on Friday we are also creating an ongoing 'Digital Symposium" which will be hosted on Field Service News. The thinking behind this is that as movement is becoming increasingly restricted whilst the virus is contained, we are acutely aware that many industry events, including customer days, conferences and seminars are unfortunately at risk of being postponed or cancelled entirely.

Whilst, this is the sensible route to follow, I appreciate just how much work and effort will have been put into many, many excellent presentations that can help drive our industry forwards together. Having worked with so many of you myself personally, I know just how valuable your insights can be to the industry at large and in times of crisis like this, it is through a continued sense of global community and support that we will be to help drive our sector forward.

Equally, I feel it is essential that we as an industry remain focused on the journey of continuous improvement that will allow us to achieve our common objective of delivering service excellence.

With this in mind I am pleased to offer completely free access to our 'Digital Symposium' to any field service management practitioners who have presentations that were scheduled to take place at any cancelled industry event, that may now not reach their full intended audience. 

If this could be of use to you, email me directly on kris@fieldservicenews.com

Additionally, I am also pleased to offer considerable discounts to any commercial solution providers who can also benefit from presenting on our 'Digital Symposium' and these discounted rates will be in place for the duration of the current pandemic related travel restrictions. 

If you are a commercial solutions provider looking to access the platform please contact Steve White onsteve@fieldservicenews.com

With regards to our own event, The Field Service Expo 2020...

As it is a Q4 event we currently do not anticipate any disruption to this going ahead, but we will of course be monitoring the situation and will keep both sponsors and attendees updated in an honest and transparent manner, as soon as possible should we see any potential issues. 

Finally, I would just draw your attention to the recent additions to our digital portfolio which include research.fieldservicenews.com, thinktanks.fieldservicenews.com and www.fieldservicenews.com/fsn20

These bring together some of the very best insight and intelligence from the global field service community and in addition to our industry leading news and analysis at fieldservicenews.com can provide a wealth of information for the field service manager and director alike, particularly if you are unable to make it to any industry events currently. 

As always, it is with great pride that we at Field Service News serve this excellent global industry and community and I thank you all for your continued support. 

Regards, 

Kris Oldland, 

Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News

 

 

In the first part of this exclusivefieldservicenews.com  research report we explored how many KPIs field service companies are tracking and how often we should be reviewing these metrics. Now in the concluding part of this report we explore how companies are adapting their KPIs in the face of a series of mega-trends that are  reshaping our very sector... 

In keeping with the 2019 modus operandi of ‘Uberize everything,’ tapping into the gig economy to overcome last-mile service  delivery challenges could be a smart move argues Kris Oldland...

We can only manage what we measure as the old adage goes. But in  dynamically evolving environment such as we find our selves in today the question as to what exactly it is we should be measuring in order to manage our field service operations may be up for some debate.