When we look at employee tracking software, most decent software offer the same set of features. However, there are still some things that set one field force management software apart from others, right? After all, not all software have the same precision to provide the same performance to all users!
Choosing the right field employee management software is crucial because, without it, your field operations will not be as effective as they have the potential to be.
So, are you wondering what kind of software you should be using and what features you should give preference to? Continue reading this blog to get the information you need!
Managing Field Operations Teams: Difficulties
Managing a consignment fleet is comparable to managing a group of field operations executives. In fact, since managing automobiles doesn’t involve issues with human behaviour, the latter might even be more difficult. You will undoubtedly have the following difficulties if you are in charge of a field operations team:
Managing Time and Place
The majority of field operations managers have trouble locating executives. It becomes challenging to schedule meetings and determines how effective their team is as a result. Managers need to be informed of the whereabouts of their executives when scheduling meetings with clients.
Receiving regular text or phone updates from executives is a requirement of manual field force management. When someone is in charge of a team of more than two or three people, though, this may be too stressful.
Attendance Control
If managers only use biometric attendance, managing attendance can be a huge effort. Executives cannot realistically travel to the workplace every morning and evening just to sign in and out. However, CEOs can find ways to game the system if corporations have digital or remote attendance marking tools.
But there are other problems than marking. It takes time to present leave requests or leave justifications in person.
Project Management
The problem is comparable to managing attendance. Managers should not assign work to field executives in-person at the office. After all, assigning tasks to employees is a waste of time and resources for leaders.
Moreover, with modern managing systems and calculation metrics, manually managing even employees working in offices can be a huge hassle. Now, you can only imagine how difficult managing a team of field employees can be. That kind of management comes with its own set of problems that can only be solved with proper software aid.
Allocating urgent work, monitoring task progress, and gaining a clear understanding of the goal and course of the activity are further task management problems.
Management of Documents
Every time a business hires a new employee, it must submit certain paperwork. Although keeping personnel records is possible, it is not the best practice in the digital age.
Field executives must carry several important, irreplaceable documents. The only other option is to entrust executives with these records, but there are measures to reduce the likelihood that they will lose or misuse them. Additionally, manually managing every document might be a challenging process.
Coordinating Tasks
When management or executive needs to coordinate a task, what do they do? How do they converse while recording the discussion? Naturally, the text and send emails. However, monitoring tasks on various platforms while sending texts might be highly complicated.
Field executives must carry several important, irreplaceable documents. The only other option is to entrust executives with these records, but there are measures to reduce the likelihood that they will lose or misuse them. Additionally, manually managing every document might be a challenging process.
Productivity Control
There is no reliable way to measure an executive’s productivity until everything they do is recorded and examined. Manually managing a field crew means that managers frequently have to deal with complex statistics and numbers. Even yet, some metrics are always inaccessible when operating in offline mode.
How can managers take steps to increase team productivity if they don’t know how productive their teams are?
Field Force Management Software’s Solutions
You should be more ready now that you are aware of the issues that can arise when leading a team of field operations professionals. You can come up with strategies and tactics that best fit the work habits of your staff. However, using software is the first step to improving and simplifying your work. These are the solutions that a field force management software can provide:
Live Monitoring
Consensual real-time tracking is the best tool for managing field forces. Managers are no longer required to request updates from their superiors regularly. Furthermore, they are not required to constantly receive update messages. Managers only need to log onto the dashboard of the field force management software to view the current location of each executive.
Additionally, real-time tracking enables managers to provide clients with precise ETAs. Additionally, being aware of each executive’s location makes emergency work allocations simpler.
Sensible Attendance
How field executives can manipulate the remote attendance system can be examined by developers of field force management software. Then, they can develop impregnable systems that allow executives to morally mark attendance afar, such as geofence-aided and geocoded image-based attendance marking.
Executives can submit leave requests through intelligent attendance systems, and supervisors can reply. Executives may never have to enter the office for attendance-related issues since everything can be done digitally.
Task Monitor
Task management is made simpler by any field force management tool. As a result, the field force management software enables managers, workers, or both, to create and change assignments directly from an app or website. You can be as specific as you need in the task description.
All of an executive’s tasks ought to be accessible to managers and executives alike. Additionally, staff members can modify the task’s status directly from the dashboard.
Employee Directory
Managers are no longer required to keep a sizable file of paperwork with extensive employee information. They can instead upload all the information and supporting materials supplied by executives onto the cloud itself. All documents will remain safe, secure, and organised if you do this.
Executives can submit leave requests through intelligent attendance systems, and supervisors can reply. Executives may never have to enter the office for attendance-related issues since everything can be done digitally.
Built-in chat boxes
Good field force management software has chat boxes right in the programme. Executives can communicate with their bosses and coworkers in one location by using these chat rooms. These conversations can all be monitored and recorded. Additionally, this eliminates the trouble of switching between multiple programmes to complete simple tasks.
All of an executive’s tasks ought to be accessible to managers and executives alike. Additionally, staff members can modify the task’s status directly from the dashboard.
Personal Forms
The greatest field force management software is the only one that provides the unique solution of custom forms. Managers can share forms created with unique entries and formats for various clients and projects thanks to this capability. Employees won’t have to waste time with each client’s questions by gathering more information than is necessary.
Executives can submit leave requests through intelligent attendance systems, and supervisors can reply. Executives may never have to enter the office for attendance-related issues since everything can be done digitally.
Detailed and Well-Ordered Reports
Data analysis is made easier when all task, location, and time information is captured in one area. The software may produce detailed task and staff reports using machine learning and basic statistical methods. Managers can see how productive their staff is with these reports.
Managers can view productivity reports using software in a variety of measures and formats. For simplicity of understanding, they can use conventional charts, graphs, and even statistical analytical reports.
5 Features Good Field Employee Management Software Have
When you go about looking for workforce management software to make your field operations better, make sure that these five features are present!
Insane Location Accuracy
Location tracking is most probably the biggest reason why people end up using field employee tracking software, to begin with. Therefore, it is only logical to use software that comes with insane locational accuracy.
The GPS tracking system should be so responsive that managers can see executives move john the field in real-time instead of seeing them as buffering dots on a map.
Ease of Task Allocation
Task allocation is in itself a very complicated process. From checking executives’ strengths and locations to matching them with the right tasks, there is a lot that goes into it. However, for basic field force management software, that is not what we need. We need the software to be built in a way that assigning tasks is simple.
Assigning tasks can be made simple and manageable when the process can be done in bulk and offline and is easily editable by both managers and executives.
Measurable Expense Management
It is inevitable for executives to incur some expenses in the field. However, they shouldn’t be incurring them out of their pocket. Keeping a track of all these expenses can be very difficult. Therefore, executives must be able to add expenses somewhere the amount can be easily reimbursed.
Fool-proof Attendance Management
Fraudulent activities are the most probable in attendance management because of the many ways remote employees can jump into the system. Therefore, the field force management software you use should have foolproof attendance management systems such as auto attendance, task-attendance linking, and geo-verified logging in.
Simplified Document Management
At the basic level, any field force management software should be able to store documents online. Document organization should be such that anybody can look for the documents they might need within seconds. Offering custom fields and forms is an added benefit that you should be on the lookout for.
Benefits of Using Workforce Management Systems in the Real World
Particularly if they do not fall within the sphere of the practical, solutions are an all-encompassing affair. On paper, something could look amazing, but it might not be the finest in practice. Field force management strategies, however, do not fit this description. Here are a few useful advantages of controlling your field force activities digitally:
Successful Management
Their workload is reduced by half when software handles duties like executive,m attendance, and task status reports. They now need to focus more on tasks requiring their practical experience and less time on manual labour. Additionally, the software lessens the chance of human error in routine procedures.
Improved Operations
Humans are prone to eros, which can result in hastily written reports and disorganised activities. Software, however, is always created to allow for the clear and ordered storing of information.
Operations run more smoothly and efficiently when managers and executives both have a clear understanding of the job that needs to be done.
Complete Functionality
The purpose of field force management software is to centrally manage tasks, documents, location, time, and attendance. This effectively collects and stores all the data on a single platform. Additionally, managers and executives do not need to continuously switch between several apps, which streamlines workflow.
Rise in Productivity
All of the manual labour that managers formerly had to perform themselves is now handled by field force management software. Field force management is a surefire approach to raising field production when coupled with the useful insights it produces.
Managers may now concentrate on more vital responsibilities, and executives can spend all of their time working on their tasks rather than wasting it on confusion and pointless commutes. Additionally, executives are more likely to create superior results when they are being watched than when they are not.
Manage Your Executives With TrackoField
Through this article, you must have understood how challenging managing a field operations team can be. You also have learned the benefits of software-aided workforce management and have a clear idea of the features that should be there in field force management software. After all, it is the power, efficiency, potency, and features that build field force management software!
So, are you looking for an efficient field force management software packed with all the features explained in this article and more? Try TrackoField! Get a demo and step into the world of field operations automation now!