How strong is your mobile workforce?
From telecommuting to traveling to meet clients to collaborate with colleagues in another office, a more mobile workforce is becoming the norm for many small businesses looking to stay in touch with mobile consumers.
So just how can you strengthen your mobile workforce and make sure that being more mobile works for your business?
Set Clear Objectives
Make sure that your team members have clear objectives set for them when they are working away from the office.
Whether that means visiting a certain number of customers or reaching a certain point on a project, clear objectives are vital for your mobile workforce.
You can use tracking to make sure objectives are being met.
From project management software to simply asking for a progress report, keeping track of objectives will help you to make sure that your mobile workforce is at its most effective.
Encourage Engagement
Engagement is one of the biggest challenges when building your mobile workforce.
It’s important that your company culture stays strong, even if more of your team members are working outside of the office, or from other office locations in other cities.
As the article “Building a Strong Mobile Workforce Team: Tips You Can Use” points out, setting aside regular times for collaboration will help your team to stay strong.
You might require team members to have regular face-to-face meetings, for example, or set aside regular times for video conferencing.
Use Technology
Technology is a real boon to any small business with a mobile workforce.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications makes it easy for your team to stay in touch no matter where they are, while Cloud-based software makes it easy for colleagues to share important information with each other.
There’s a wealth of technology out there that can help your mobile workforce.
By working out where support is most needed (for example increasing email response time or making it easier to share documents), you can decide how technology can best help you.
Communicate Expectations
Setting clear expectations will help your mobile workforce to understand what you require of them, and what they can expect from you in return.
Put together a document that clearly sets out expectations for your mobile workforce, and make sure they are familiar with it.
Some areas you might want to set expectations in include how often you expect progress reports, the frequency with which colleagues are expected to check into the office or get on a video conference, and how many hours a week is acceptable for mobile working.
Stay Secure
Security is an important consideration for your mobile workforce. After all, your team is going to be taking their work outside of the office, sometimes using their own mobile devices.
Setting security guidelines in place will help your team and their data to stay safe.
From GPS tracking to secure verification, and common sense advice such as making your team aware of whom they allow to access their mobile device, it’s good business sense to have a security plan in place.
Don’t forget to set guidelines in place in case of emergencies such as lost data or a stolen device.
Your mobile workforce can help your small business to succeed.
Team members will be able to carry out core business tasks while out-and-about and stay in touch with colleagues and clients alike.
Taking steps to strengthen your mobile workforce will ensure your small business gets the most out of being mobile.
About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a wide variety of topics, including branding, inbound marketing, mobile communications and social media.