With the advent of remote working and its increasing popularity amongst workers, business owners need to get used to the idea of working with team members who aren’t going to be at hand most of the time. However, here, we’re going to look at tips for managing not just a remote team that’s working from home, but those who are likely to be doing their jobs on the road. This includes things like technicians, electricians, plumbers, and service providers who travel from job to job.
Make time for meetings with them
It’s a good idea to have the team touch base once in a while, to keep on top of the work that they’re doing, while also keeping them up-to-date with any changes to the way the company runs, or any topics you’re thinking about and could use their feedback on. These meetings can be most important before and in the lead-up to any changes that will affect them, to make sure that they don’t feel blindsided. Remote meeting technology like RingCentral MVP is making it a lot easier for people to drop into these huddles regardless of where they are.
Equip them with the tools to track time
The time spent on each job or process is going to be key to the efficiency of your workers. As such, you should make sure that you equip each of them with the time-tracking software that allows them to stay on top of each job. Rather than making it something that your in-office team has to stay on top of, however, you can make it the responsibility of each of your workers to log the time they take, themselves. Then, during that aforementioned meeting or in more one-to-one communications, you can have them report on not just their recent results, but the time taken per job as well. Even if you’re not applying pressure directly, this can foster a sense of accountability in them that makes each worker more aware of the time each job takes.
Use centralized systems to track them
Of course, you shouldn’t leave it entirely up to your team to keep you up to date on where they are and what they are doing. You should equip your in-office team with tools like BuildOps Field Service Management Software that can help them do much the same thing. Most importantly, you want to make sure that scheduling and dispatching are run centrally, with the ability to quickly see who is available, where they are, and what tasks they might be best suited to do next. Of course, leave the lines of communication open for team members to offer feedback if, for instance, they are concerned they might not be able to make it to the next job they have been dispatched to, but you should be running this for them, when possible, to keep things seamless.
Keep track of the parts that you need
It’s not just the human resources that you need to manage centrally, either. A lot of on-the-road jobs will make use of supplies and resources, be it parts for repair or the tools of the trade that your workers need to ensure they can fulfill their job role. To that end, you’re likely going to need tools like Zoho Inventory Management Software. This way, you can keep track of the inventory that’s out on the road, right down to who has what, as well as what you have in the stock room, and what you might need to order more of in the near future.
Making driving safety a top priority
The thing about employees on the road is that they also spend a lot of time on the road. To that end, you should make sure that they’re always driving efficiently but, more importantly, safely. To that end, make sure that your employees are adhering to any regulations on how much time they’re allowed to spend on the road at any given time. You should make frequent road safety training and briefings a key part of your communications with them, too. Stay on top of tracking any incidents, accidents, or necessary maintenance so that you’re able to address those problems that are most likely to affect them and most likely to cost you money at the time time.
Managing a team that’s on the road requires you to maintain a consistent thread to contact, and to connect with them with tools that keep them working in sync with centralized systems. Hopefully, the tips above give you some ideas on how to do just that.
Melissa Stewart is the founder of SheOwnsIt.com. She is a Purveyor of Possibility, Entrepreneur Advocate and Coffee Addict. She believes that behind every successful woman is her story. What’s your story?
