If you have employees working out in the field, you will have various obstacles to overcome. Such barriers include not being able to monitor the productivity of your employees and keeping everybody coordinated when in different locations. These problems can result in low productivity, and this can hurt your bottom line.
The good news is that field automation technology is available that will help you overcome these obstacles. No, this doesn’t mean sending C-3PO out to pick corn for you. However, it does mean using software that improves your ability to monitor employees while also streamlining your processes.
Time Tracking
Time tracking is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to managing field workers. It’s not just that you need to be sure that your employees are actually working. It’s also important to
know that their productivity levels are high. For example, if your field employees are spending wasted time waiting for long periods for confirmations from the office, you know that you should take a look at your procedures to see if you can improve your time management. Alternatively, you could try and arrange for them to do something else while they’re waiting to keep them productive.
Studies have shown that around 80% of an average employee’s working day is spent on low value activities. However, mobile time tracking tools like PK4 TimeTracker give you a much better idea of how your field employees are spending their time. Not only will it help you know that they are pulling their weight, but it will also help you to see how they can optimize their time management.
Mobile time tracking also helps with billing, payroll, and invoicing because systems can be updated automatically, helping to prevent mistakes. Time tracking also helps with billing customers because it’s easier to tell how much time your employees spend on their tasks.
Monitor Equipment Remotely
A time tracker may reveal that your employees spend a lot of time
checking on the condition of equipment in the field. In most cases, the equipment will be just fine, effectively meaning you’ve spent money unnecessarily. But what if you don’t have to travel to the equipment to check its status physically?
Remote monitoring equipment will tell you the status of your field assets without having to spend time and money on checking them in person. If maintenance or repairs are needed, an alert can let people know, ensuring the equipment remains in good condition.
Improved Delegation
When working in an office, you typically know who the best person for a particular task is and, perhaps more to the point, where to find them. However, the same cannot be said for teams working in the field. When it’s difficult to know who is where then it’s challenging to know who is available for the right task, making task management harder.
Mobile time tracking software comes to the rescue. GPS tracking technology and mobile apps will let you know how where your employees are. When combined with other software that helps you improve task management for maximum productivity, it becomes easier for you to make sure the right person is on the right job. Thus, mobile apps will help ensure that jobs are done in good time and done right the first time.
Auto Update Information across Systems
A time tracker might reveal that employees are spending a lot of time updating systems with new data. Your employees will duplicate a lot of this work. For example, somebody working in the field might fill in a particular form and, once they return to the office, they will need to add the same information into yet another form.
However, you can integrate all systems with time automation, and information only needs to be input once. Not only that, but the data can also be updated in real-time, helping to ensure everybody is up to speed with progress.
Summary
Using mobile apps, mobile time tracking, and GPS tracking technology to automate your processes will help your field services operate with more productivity. Such technology can help you track time better, telling you where your employees could spend their time on more practical tasks. Technology can also help with task management and ensure you have the right people on the right jobs. At the same time, automation can also help with billing, payroll, invoicing, and reducing the duplications of tasks and human error. Overall, automation helps make your working day easier while also helping to improve your bottom line.
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