A team is only as good as its leader, which is why field service businesses with good managers always have a better chance of success. Good field service managers work with their technicians and support them to promote teamwork and achieve goals together. So, how do they accomplish this? There are simple things they do every day to succeed, and you can follow in their footsteps by adopting their daily habits.
Plan the workday in advance
Before the workday starts, successful field service managers prepare their team’s calendar for the day to keep the business running smoothly. They know their time is limited, so they rely on technology to streamline job scheduling, allocating tasks with Job Management Software. They use the software to assign tasks to available workers, plan their routes efficiently to save time and reduce mileage, and supervise their team throughout the day with mobile and vehicle tracking tools.
Prioritise tasks
Because time is limited, successful field service managers understand the benefits of prioritising tasks, including increased productivity and reduced stress, and know how to do it well. To prioritise effectively, they manage their team’s workload to ensure that urgent jobs are completed first. They create a task list and determine how critical each appointment is. From here, they assign jobs to their team and review and reprioritise the list as the day progresses.
Delegate effectively
Good field service managers delegate because they know micromanagement is an inefficient way to get work done. They know that they can’t be everywhere at once or be in control of every aspect of a project and that if they micromanage their team, they’ll be spread thinly and make unnecessary mistakes. Instead, they rely on their team to help them, assigning equal amounts of work to employees based on their strengths. They trust their team to finish the job, even when they’re not around. While they don’t micromanage them, they support them, connecting with them throughout the day to ensure they’re on track.
Promote communication
Field service teams thrive in environments with good communication, so excellent field service managers do everything they can to promote communication and be good communicators. To do this, they use technology to simplify communication. They adopt an all-in-one platform like Job Management Software, where technicians and managers can stay connected and share information and updates seamlessly so everyone can focus on getting their work done. They share clear, concise messages and ask their team questions to ensure they understand goals, expectations, and feedback.
Listen to their team
While they understand that communication is important, they know there are times when it’s essential to listen to their team. They make themselves available to workers so they know they can come to them if they have a question or an issue they need to raise. They listen so they can address issues before they become bigger problems. Field service managers who want to create a culture of innovation are open to hearing new ideas and exploring new ways of working to improve efficiency.
Show appreciation for good work
The best field service managers take time to praise and reward employees when they’ve done an excellent job because they know how beneficial it is to show appreciation. When workers’ efforts are recognised, they’re more motivated and engaged at work, improving productivity. They also share feedback to show field workers where they went wrong and what they can do to improve their performance in the future. Field service managers invested in mentoring use recognition and feedback to shape employees into successful technicians.