If you’ve walked through your office lately and noticed all the empty desks, you’ve started to realize that technology is enabling worker mobility whether it is officially sanctioned it or not. Wi-Fi, instant messaging, social media and mega-collaboration tools on mobile devices are all forcing organizations to catch up with their mobile workforce. If there’s any situation where the ‘herding cats’ metaphor works, this is it. Effective Mobile Workforce Management is difficult for any mobile business to achieve, which is why you should take advantage of any opportunity to get it.
–There’s little sense in waiting for things to get back to normal, because normal is gone forever.–
Mobility is radically beneficial when it’s done correctly. Becoming more mobile can definitely maximize an individual’s potential, but an ill-prepared newbie or a seasoned veteran can both find themselves at a work stand-still with the wrong cord, a missing file, a dead battery, or a hack attack at the airport. As mobility increases in your enterprise, are you thinking about how mobile workers will consistently manage accessibility and connectivity, protecting access to data, and maintaining health, well-being and productivity away from the office? Things like crew scheduling software from ServiceMax can help to coordinate mobile workforces; a crew scheduling app starts by suggesting a best approach to every multi-part task.
Prepared team members keep their work flowing wherever they are
Enterprise-wide adoption of mobility best practices is essential for herding your mobile workforce. It ensures that mobile employees are equipped with essential knowledge, tools and support to work efficiently in a mobile environment. Preparing employees for the many different places, situations, conditions and obstacles they’ll be facing is essential.
As you prepare to launch mobile team members at scale, you’ll need to empower them all to follow the same four essential mobility best practices:
1. Practicing methods for staying connected, organized, efficient and productive
2. Eliminating paper files and mastering digital communication
3. Knowing and practicing information security best practices
4. Learning tips and steps to preventing stress and overwork
The value of enterprise-wide mobility best practices is unmistakable. Engaging in mobility best practices can make a measurable difference in enterprise performance, efficiency, wellness and engagement. When done properly, these best practices will maximize personal accessibility, response time, consistent connectivity, secure access to data, and health & well-being, all essential in today’s changing work environment. Imagine how these benefits could be magnified exponentially if every mobile team member adopted these same practices all at the same time!
So, the next time you walk through the office and notice all those unoccupied desks, it’s not so crazy to imagine that actually being a good thing. Begin making plans right now to further improve efficiency by transforming the workplace to a shared work environment through effective mobility training!
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See the Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series: Technology-enabled workplace change can only be successful if the people change too. The e-work.com Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series modules accelerate workplace change through a deliberate mindshift in individuals, teams and the enterprise to work together in new ways.
Register to see the Adopting Mobility Best Practices course outline.