So you have to deal with a workforce that does not sit in the same room? The first thing to acknowledge here is if they are not sitting with each other, it does not really matter if they are sitting in the same building or are sitting in a different country.
Managing a mobile workforce can be quite a pain if you do not have the right workforce management software. How does everyone keep track of each other along with the work of their own? This can end up being a time consuming process. But, if you are using the right tools, it can be managed efficiently.
Mobile workforce
Scenarios in which employees work flexibly are quite common in today’s world. But flexible working conditions can be quite difficult to manage even for small teams. A manager needs to be able to spend his time productively. That is not going to happen if most of his time is spent managing his mobile workforce. Well, an online dispute is much better than a dispute that is real and captivates everyone in the office!
When working with large workforces, there are a number of tasks which need to be assigned, handled, billed, and closed. Doing this is so much easier when you have a competent software handling everything for you. But this software can prove to be quite useful for small workforce as well. It allows for any manager or employer to get the most out of their employees in an efficient and timely manner.
Poor solutions
There are a few approaches which many companies undertake in order to try and fix this problem. One of the simplest solutions is sending out e-mails with everyone’s whereabouts continuously. A more refined solution would be sharing calendars. Group calendars will need a lot of maintenance, too.
Sensible solution
An integrated solution is not only sensible but also more reliable. What happens here is that whenever someone updates their whereabouts, it appears in a calendar that is visible to everyone. Whenever someone calls in sick, it is marked on the calendar for everyone to see. What’s more, this calendar will also be able to track employees’ holiday allowance, sick days, etc., which makes HR’s job that much easier.
Benefits
There are quite a few benefits of adopting an integrated approach to manage a mobile workforce. Even when employees are not mobile, they will still be able to use the same calendar, which will result in a lot of time saved so that they can concentrate more on their jobs instead of updating their whereabouts.
You will not have to worry about understaffing when using such a software either. You will always know the number of people at work at any given time and that will allow you to make decisions accordingly. You won’t have to worry about being overstaffed at any point either. You see it takes care of everything so you can focus more on growing your business and customer acquisition and satisfaction.
Keeping track of all the work put in by your employees becomes easier. Whether you have just one team or multiple teams working on multiple projects, you will be able to track every second of work that they put in. This is reassuring since they are not actually working in your office where you can just call them or just walk over and see that they are there.
Features
If you are looking to get a workforce management software then there are a few things you will need to ensure it offers. They are:
~ It should have an option to include different types of leave and to track whatever you want. This means that there needs to be more options that simply sick or vacation such as working from home, training, etc.
~ It should have the ability to deal with the allowance rules of your company. Your company may offer a fixed number of personal days from which vacations and sick days are deducted. Maybe there is a separate allowance for leave days. The software needs to have a provision for this.
~ The software should also allow you to create groups for your employees. They should be able to manage groups separately and view a group's whereabouts without necessarily having to see what’s happening with the entire organization. It also has to allow cross functional projects among these groups. This will ensure an employee is connected with everyone they need to be at any time irrespective of whether they are part of the same group or not.
~ And lastly, it needs to offer reports on everything that is happening in the organization at all times.
As long as you can keep these things in mind while choosing a workforce management software product, you will increase your chances of making the right choice and your business will be better for it.
