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The 10 Types of Employees (And How To Manage Them)

Posted on by Scott Hammer

Throughout your professional career, you’ve seen all kinds of organizational strategies. Ornately arranged Post-It’s, hundreds of Chrome tabs, chicken-scratch filled notebooks—you probably have employees that fit into each of these categories. 

When it comes to management, there’s no singular, correct way to get it done. Everyone manages their workload differently. And now that you’ve migrated out of the office and into the living room, that fact is truer than ever. 

Your employees will continue to work differently. That’s exactly how it should be. As a manager, one of your top priorities should be to recognize the subtle—and sometimes not-so-subtle—differences in your employees’ personalities and work habits. In doing this, you’re putting an emphasis on individual growth and success.

But at the end of the day, your job is ultimately to facilitate growth and success for your company. By recognizing the different types of employees that you have, you’ll be able to translate their individual successes into the overall success of your business. Let’s take a look at the different types of employees that make up your organization and how you can best manage them:

The Free Spirit 

Who They Are: The Free Spirit craves professional independence and freedom. They seek to have autonomy in their respective role, and prefer to dictate their own creative direction. Usually equipped with a positive attitude, the Free Spirit often leaves the team feeling refreshed. Being the Free Spirit comes with notable downsides, too—they are generally not fans of bureaucracy and constraints. There’s a good chance you won’t hear from them for a few days. Despite the occasional headaches, they continue to turn in high quality work time and time again.  

How They Work Best: To manage the Free Spirits within your company, it’s best to tread lightly. Make sure that boundaries and parameters are given, but resist the urge to micromanage. The Free Spirits’ strength comes from their ability to autonomously think outside the box. Give them the tools for success, but let them figure out how to use them.

The Grinder

Who They Are: The Grinder is the ultimate team player. Unlike the Free Spirit, they won’t go AWOL for days on end, but they might miss an email or two while neck-deep in a project. As the ultimate workhorse, you know that The Grinder is always ready to take on the lion’s share of the work. They’re the first person you turn to when you need something hefty accomplished. They may lack some charisma and leadership abilities, but they make up for it with talent and effort.

How They Work Best: The Grinder works best when given clear, direct instructions. Structure is a huge component of success for The Grinder. As you’re managing, make sure you spell out exactly what needs to be done. Sometimes you may be looking for someone to bring new ideas to overhaul a project—you may want to turn to someone other than The Grinder for that. But, The Grinder will deliver everything you asked exactly how you asked to have it done, on time with no questions asked. 

The Pathfinder

man hiking

Who They Are: Always searching for the newest and best way forward, The Pathfinder is one of the key innovators in your company. Passionate, engaging, and intelligent, The Pathfinder finds creative solutions to problems and elevates the quality of work for many around them. The Pathfinder is unafraid to take risks—that in itself is a double edged sword. At times, other team members can feel intimidated by them. There is never malicious intent—sometimes the energy and passion exuded by The Pathfinder can unintentionally dominate the conversation and stifle the ideas of others.

How They Work Best: People like this are often the ones who find ways to solve the biggest problems on your agenda. Much like a nuclear reactor, they are extremely powerful but need to be carefully controlled. When in meetings, it’s best that you make sure The Pathfinder is not totally dominating the discussion. Make sure their points are heard, but make sure that ample time is given to others, too. If you really want to motivate The Pathfinder, tell them that they won’t be able to achieve what you’re assigning them. Odds are, they’ll find a solution that few others could have.

The Mediator

Who They Are: Thank goodness for the mediator. You can’t remember any particularly great or awful ideas they’ve come up with on their own, but they’ve sure had an important role to play when it comes to getting your team on the same page. Compromise, structure, and stability make up the core components of The Mediator. Every idea, big or small, good or bad, is equal until proven otherwise. When juxtaposing ideas clash in the office, The Mediator is there to bring a sensible solution to the table.

How They Work Best: While their originality and technical ability leave a little to be desired, The Mediator sure knows their way around the politics of a company. Fortunately for you, The Mediator does not play office politics for personal gain, they are in it for the good of the whole. As a manager, you would be best served to consult The Mediator on a variety of issues. They may not be the driving force behind the start or completion of any particular project, but they sure know how to bring about a peaceful resolution. 

The Giver

a helping hand on a climb

Who They Are: No, this section is not about the dystopian novel. In your company, The Giver is someone who routinely seeks to contribute in areas where they have a strong sense of the difference they are making. Whether they’re leading the way with charitable endeavors or have joined in on a project that they feel will have a lasting, positive impact on the community, they are up to the task. The problem? Sometimes the work you do won’t align with their preferences.

How They Work Best: To get the most out of The Giver, assign projects to them that are customer-facing. They’ll often jump at the chance to service someone directly. If this isn’t an option, assign them to a role where they’ll be able to substantially contribute. The Giver is always open to collaborating. Give them a chance to address and present ideas to their entire team—maybe some of their altruistic tendencies will rub off. 

The Whiz

silhouette of person and nightime city sky

Who They Are: The Whiz’s technical ability blows you, and everyone else, away. It’s an unspoken acknowledgement among your entire company that they’re clearly the brightest bulb in the box. When it comes to solving a technical issue, there’s no one better. But, there’s some issues. They can be messy, disorganized, and not all that personable. Direction is a huge issue, and their commitment and work ethic have been called into question more than once. You’ve tolerated it because, well, they’re The Whiz. You know they don’t intend to slack off, but they get bored and distracted all too easily. 

How They Work Best: Here is where taking a granular management approach is prudent. The Whiz may scoff at times when given directions, but really, they are well aware they require structure in order to succeed. Pick and choose tasks specifically for The Whiz—work that’s too simple or mundane will ultimately bore them and derail the timeline of your project. You might be thinking to yourself, “It’s not really fair that they get preferential treatment when it comes to assignments.” You’re right, it’s not fair. Unless the rest of your employees can start operating at the peak that The Whiz can (spoiler alert: they won’t), that’s just how it should be. 

The Task Rabbit

person hunched over computer on desk

Who They Are: This person is often very recognizable—they are always asking you for more work and what to do next. The work ethic and organizational skills of The Task Rabbit are second to none, but their level of autonomy leaves a bit to be desired. They complete work quickly and completely. You may not be able to grant them the same level of responsibility given to The Pathfinder and The Grinder, but you know they’ll succeed at any moderately challenging task. 

How They Work Best: People like The Task Rabbit are extremely valuable. They can be utilized to keep other less organizationally skilled team members on track. Shyness and lateness aren’t terms in The Task Rabbit’s vocabulary. Outgoing, alert, and punctual, they can help The Free Spirit and The Whiz meet deadlines they otherwise would have failed to meet. Just make sure The Task Rabbit has their directions in writing—they can be sticklers for following the rules.  

The Confidant

businessmen talking late

Who They Are: While their technical skills don’t blow you away, they always prove to be among your business’s most valuable employees when it comes to fleshing out ideas. You certainly wouldn’t assign them the lead role on most projects, but there aren’t many that you don’t have The Confidant consulting on. Put simply, their input is extremely valuable. More than once, you’ve achieved an “Aha!” moment during a conversation with The Confidant. Your other employees have had similar experiences. The main impact they have on your company is often immeasurable and intangible, making it difficult to define what they’re best at. It’s certainly hard to put a finger on exactly how, but they always find a way to help. 

How They Work Best: The best thing you can do as a leader is not to overthink the role of The Confidant. Bring them in on a lot of different projects, ideas, and visions. Share with them some of the new and upcoming things your company is working on. The Confidant loves productive conversations, so keep their role simple. Shoot ideas back and forth—let your minds wander. Heck, maybe share a happy hour with them. You’ll be amazed at some of the insights you’ll gain from a relaxed, free-flowing conversation.

The Statistician

man thinking over chess board

Who They Are: They aren’t the loudest or most frequent contributors in meetings, but when they speak, the information they provide is valuable, informative, and backed by cold hard logic. They form a foundational piece of any of your major projects, and may be brighter than everyone besides The Whiz. Some may consider The Statistician a pessimist, but they will dispute this by asserting they are simply a “realist.” Never missing an opportunity to deliver hard-to-swallow yet valid truths about someone’s work, they provide more constructive feedback than one often wants. 

How They Work Best: Obviously, having someone whose work is dictated almost entirely by math and logic is important. It’s also important to have people that think the exact opposite way. Pair The Statistician with employees like The Giver and The Mediator in order to strike a productive balance between logic and emotional intelligence.

The Contrarian

Who They Are: Yes, we all know this person. When you do a Google search for “Devil’s Advocate” their picture will be the first to populate your screen. At this point, you aren’t entirely sure what their stance on anything is. But either way, when there’s a debate to be had, you know who you’ll find right in the middle of it. While The Contrarian may irritate some, including you, having this person around is valuable in the right context. 

How They Work Best: They work hard, they’re smart, and they’ve come up with solid contributions across the board. But they are who they are—a contrarian to the bitter end. People feel most comfortable in an echo-chamber. But when it comes to formulating the best possible or idea or plan, it would be a disservice to everyone involved if you don’t consult someone who is going to tear apart your idea bit by bit. Sure, The Contrarian often does this simply for argument’s sake. Around the kitchen table, they probably aren’t so pleasant. But in the (virtual) conference room, their knack for arguing the antithetical position comes in handy for everyone. 

Knowing Your People

Managing your employees is never a one-size-fits-all approach. All of your employees are unique in the way that they work—no different than the uniqueness of how they look, dress, and live their lives.

Most of your employees will probably fit one or more of the personas above. That being said, there will always be some that won’t. That’s one of the great challenges of leading a business—smoothly blending together people of all walks of life in pursuit of a common goal. 

Some employees will take the ball and run with it, some will need some training wheels. Some will pull brilliant ideas out of thin air, some will find ways to improve ideas already in motion. Some will thrive right away, some will take longer to acclimate. Stay in tune with your people and however they may operate. Being able to distribute work appropriately and efficiently will make you successful this year, next year, and every year after that. 

How to Throw a Virtual Work Holiday Party (That’s Actually Fun)

Posted on by Scott Hammer

Boosting and maintaining employee morale is always a top priority for businesses. In 2020, this has been no easy task—to say the least. The sudden, drastic shift of converting living rooms into offices has gone much better than expected. But will the same be true of all of the less professional, camaraderie-building, one-too-many-glasses-of-punch moments that take place at an old fashioned company holiday party?

This year you won’t be drinking from the same punch bowl as the accounting department. You won’t have the thrill of sharing a high five after a successful karaoke rendition, and you won’t have the pleasure of witnessing all of your smiling employees gathered together. 

This year has repeatedly reminded all of us of the things we don’t have, but the holiday season isn’t a time for negativity. At the end of the day, you still have a whole lot—a group of individuals dedicated to shared success, the internet, and (possibly) a personal bowl of that special holiday punch. In a year defined by social distancing, here’s some tips on how you can make your company’s 2020 holiday season one to remember.

Virtual Game Night

Working from home has resulted in increased amounts of employee productivity and satisfaction. Who’s to say this success can’t be replicated when it comes to recreation? After all, video games have had a major leg up on board/party games for a while now.

Setting up an online game night for your employees to take part in is something that everyone can enjoy. Whether it’s a simple trivia game or an entire virtual platform with a variety of minigames, you’ll be able to bring your employees a unique experience. 

Whether you’re personally fond of corporate holiday festivities or not, many of your more introverted employees have probably shied away from them in the past. They could be turned off by the oft-chaotic mixture of large crowds and alcohol, or maybe they just really didn’t want to drive out on a blustery cold night. Whatever their reasons were, hosting virtual festivities will allow people that otherwise would not have participated to join in on the fun. 

Virtual Secret Santa

Yes, even in 2020, there will still be presents. To be fair, most of us have been putting our Amazon Prime memberships to good use recently, but presents are always better when the gift is a surprise. Even though you won’t be able to excitedly hand off your gift to an equally excited coworker this year, you can still facilitate a Secret Santa exchange between you and your employees. 

There’s something just so viscerally thrilling about tearing some wrapping paper apart at the seams. Despite being limited to the confines of their homes, your employees won’t want to miss out on the little sensations that make this time of the year so special—the crackling of tissue paper, the surge of adrenaline as you start to deduce the contents of your gift, and (if you’re lucky) the popping of bubble wrap. As an alternative or addition, consider sending themed eCards to your employees wishing them a happy holiday season.

Regardless of the types of gifts exchanged, people love gifts. Giving employee gratitude gifts boosts the motivation and dedication of employees. Your employees will appreciate the extra thought that went into making a gift exchange happen this year.

Virtual Bake Off

It wouldn’t really be the holiday season without some delicious treats. We all miss the surprise cookies and donuts during a day at the office. This year, the treat-sharing will be a little different. Whether it’s cookies, cakes, chocolate-covered pretzels, or anything in between, your employees can show off their culinary skills.  

Having a friendly baking competition is a great way to facilitate involvement from employees’ families. After all, the reason your employees are so dedicated to what they do is because of the great family they have behind them. So don’t nibble too much cookie dough or lick too much icing just yet—save some for the great bonding moments that come along with holiday baking.

Virtual Ugly Sweater Party

It wouldn’t really be the holiday season without some ugly sweaters. In lieu of flaunting dizzying arrays of contrasting colors around the office, your employees can have the chance to show their style in a virtual setting. 

If there’s one thing workers can agree on, there’s nothing quite like getting a laugh in at the bosses expense. So if you host an ugly sweater contest this year, you would be best served showing up in the ugliest, most unsightly get-up your employees have ever laid eyes on. Give them something to smile about—you’ll be smiling right along with them, too

Virtual Movie Night

While some may argue that Die Hard isn’t a true Christmas movie (it is), people love nothing more during the cold winter months than to curl up with a blanket with a glass of hot chocolate while watching a good movie. 

Movies are a great way to share and talk about a common experience, and you can stream holiday classics to all of your employees while they’re nestled up at home. For those that may want a more laid back, passive holiday party experience, this is the way to go.

In the wild world of streaming services, it seems like everyone indulges in their own personal flavor of television. Hollywood’s inclination to deliver plentiful amounts of niche content specifically targeted to certain audiences has limited people’s ability to bond over common media. Sure, this isn’t always the case, but the direction is clear. This year, you have the ability to buck that trend. Your employees have been deprived of “water cooler chats” about their favorite shows all year long. Give them a movie night that they can reminisce about and enjoy. 

It’s All About Spreading Holiday Cheer

No matter what kind of virtual festivities you choose to indulge in, don’t forget why you’re doing it in the first place—to spread good tidings and cheer to all of your hardworking employees. They deserve a night to forget about the struggles, hardships, and abrupt changes that this year has brought about. 

We’re all navigating through uncharted territory. The notion of “uncharted territory” brings to mind simultaneous yet conflicting emotions—the anxiety and fear of the unknown, and the limitless potential of hope over the horizon. 

It’s a brave new world out there. But you know what? That brave new world will still be there to greet you tomorrow. Tonight, take time to commiserate, celebrate, and be thankful. Give everyone a chance to drown out the outside world—even if it’s just for a fleeting, beautiful, precious moment.  

Why (and What) Construction Companies Need to Automate

Posted on by Reesa David

It always seems like there’s just never enough hours in the day. It’s funny—you set deadlines and goals for months or even years down the road, yet you always find yourself competing against the clock in crunch time. “Man, if I could just get caught up, there’s so much I could do.”

The truth is that it’s never been about not having enough time. You, I, and every other inhabitant of planet earth gets 24 hours a day to live, work, and make decisions. So the issue isn’t exactly a lack of time, it’s a lack of direction. Don’t misconstrue that as meaning there’s been a lack of hard work—that’s the farthest thing from the truth.

The main issue plaguing you and other construction managers is that tedious and tiresome tasks eat up far too much of your day. Given their vitality, it can almost seem irresponsible not to dedicate an overwhelming amount of time to them. Instead of completing tasks with the goal of moving in a productive direction, you find yourself completing tasks just to stay afloat. 

Crunching numbers, tallying spreadsheets, and certifying OSHA regulations don’t have to drain the hours from your day. Yes, these things need to get done, but that doesn’t mean that you have to do them. Construction management software that provides automated operation of simple yet voluminous tasks is something that your business should take advantage of—and you won’t have to break the bank to make it happen. 

Business is Booming: Get Your Backlog In Order

When it comes to construction project management, you’ll face problems of all shapes and sizes. Right now, there’s one problem that you’d be fortunate enough to recognize as your worst professional malady—business is booming. 

“While most of the economy remains under pressure, housing continues to be an exception. Solid demand as well as low mortgage rates are driving growth in home sales,” Rubeela Farooqi, Chief U.S. Economist at High Frequency Economics

(Source: MarketWatch)

The housing sector has continued to succeed while other divisions of the economy have faltered, with housing starts rising 11% compared to 2019. In the Northeast, the pace of new housing growth has unquestionably outshined all other areas of the country with a 67% jump in new housing starts.

So, how exactly is “too much work” a problem in today’s world? Given that the coronavirus pandemic essentially hit the pause button on the construction industry (and life) for several months, having your backlog under control is more important than ever. 

The truth is, having a hefty backlog can do severe damage to your business and its reputation. If work is severely delayed—or worse yet, faulty or incomplete—this will be reflected in online customer reviews. Even if your explanation for delayed work is something truthful and understandable along the lines of “we had other jobs to finish first”, that simply isn’t good enough. If your customer does not feel as though they are being personally catered to, you haven’t done well enough. 

Despite the possibility of skating by with minimal customer resistance during a delay, you still have OSHA reviews to be concerned about. Though you prioritize safety and compliance at every one of your job sites, disorganization never helped a business in its efforts to stay compliant. 

Real Time Budget Adjustments

Having a steady cash flow is good. Having accurate, exhaustive reports of your business’s finances is great. Having accurate, exhaustive reports of your business’s finances that are easy to view, share, and adjust in real time is what will take your business to the next level.

When was the last time one of your jobs followed its original schedule? Or the last time a project came in under-budget? Expenses on the job change every day, perhaps even every hour—the cost of construction materials has steadily risen this year. If your estimating software is rigid and inflexible, you’ll have a hard time accommodating the necessary needs of the project. 

Real time budgeting transparency doesn’t just exist so that you can keep a close watch over the job. It also helps your customers stay in the loop about what’s happening—and what isn’t. As you know all too well, customers and vendors often have a selective memory of sorts when it comes to what they want, don’t want, and are willing to allow. If you’re able to clearly answer all of the five W’s, chances are disputes will be much less frequent and shorter in length. On top of that, you’ll save yourself time by having your entire construction management software system just a click away. 

Keep Your Subcontractors Close

You and your customers aren’t the only people who would benefit from clear, transparent automated processes. There’s a lot of people from outside of your business that you need to keep in the loop—various subcontractors, electricians, material suppliers, plumbers…the list goes on and on. 

Having an unreliable subcontractor can torpedo an entire job. You probably have a horror story or two to share. Unfortunately, there are going to be people who are simply unreliable and/or negligent. It comes with the territory of being a professional in the construction industry. However, most disputes and disagreements don’t actually stem from malice, they stem from a lack of communication.

So what can you do to avoid these situations? The best bet for you and your business is to stay involved and informed. Set the parameters for workplace communication. Have a centralized database where you can keep tabs on your subcontractor’s certifications, insurance coverage, and most importantly, the status of the job.

When it comes to insurance coverage, both contractors and subcontractors have a lot to keep organized. Different requirements for different states (let alone countries), legal expenses, medical claims, etc. For these reasons and many more, it’s important to make sure your business can keep track of it all—without having to do it all manually.

There is no fool-proof, fanciful tactic to fully prevent a subcontractor from lapsing on his or her duties. What you can prevent, however, is ambiguity and wasted time surrounding their work. By putting systems that facilitate transparency in place, you’ll be able to assess whether the subcontractor is adequately performing the task at hand or if it’s time to pull the plug. Either way, you’ll be able to service your customer efficiently. 

Construction Management Software, Evolved

This year has provided a lot of twists and turns, but through it all, the construction industry has once again established itself as a resounding backbone of the American economy. Projects were put on pause, but now that some semblance of normalcy has returned, it’s time to prepare for what’s ahead.

If you were anxiously awaiting the cliché of all clichés, here it is: time is money. All kidding aside, it’s the truth. Finding ways to help your business better deal with backlog, manage real time budget adjustments, and keep tabs on subcontractors will allow you to get back to doing what you’ve always aimed to do, but seemingly didn’t have time for: growing your business. 

What Your Manufacturing Software Knows (That You Don’t)

Posted on by Matt Bernot

Inside the heart of the manufacturing industry, there exists one fundamental truth: supply and demand. The products your business builds are ultimately determined by those who are purchasing them. You know that the driving force behind the creation of your products are your customers and/or suppliers—but what’s the driving force behind your production process?

Human error and operational inefficiency plague production lines nationwide. Some business owners will concede defeat to these shortcomings in the name of keeping familiar systems in place. By standing behind flawed yet familiar systems, you’re instinctively seeking to stay in control of your business—and that’s exactly what you should be doing. But in 2020 and beyond, staying in control means knowing when to let technology take the wheel. 

What Manufacturing Process Software Can Do For You

The way that your manufacturing business runs is just as important as the products you assemble. Even if you consistently produce good results, that’s only just the beginning—the goal is always to produce more products more efficiently. The best way to do this? Invest in cloud technology. 

Most manufacturers are already starting this process—the discrete manufacturing industry leads the way in cloud technology and services spending. They view investing in the cloud not just as a savvy business decision, but also as an inevitability. 

“Cloud software will significantly outpace traditional software product delivery over the next five years, growing nearly three times faster than the software market as a whole and becoming the significant growth driver to all functional software markets,” said Benjamin McGrath, senior research analyst, SaaS and Business Models

(Source: ICT Business)

There are a lot of things that the future of manufacturing will demand from you. First and foremost, it involves investing in new technologies. And profits will follow from smart investments.

By utilizing production software designed to reduce human error, you’ll be able to improve production quality, shorten order cycle times, and intuitively schedule repairs and maintenance. Smart technology is here to help you achieve long term financial security for your business. Here’s some ways that you can put this technology to work for you:

Higher Quality Products

Product development is a complex process with no single, concrete roadmap to success. Each type of product comes with its own set of unique challenges. Your products are different and require varying levels of attention and adjustments along the way—make sure you have a software that is able to efficiently adjust to these changes. 

While a traditional CAD software will ultimately be your main tool for formulating design specs, the creativity, collaboration, and overall team effort that goes into the design process takes place elsewhere. Cloud computing offers something extremely valuable in today’s day and age—flexibility. Allow your entire team and any relevant stakeholders to make notes and adjustments in real time, from anywhere. Cut out repetitive emails, duplicate renderings, and other time-wasters. Manufacturing production software exists to make the hard work you do more efficient than yesterday. 

Lower Order Cycle Times

Automation isn’t as scary of a word as it once was. It used to trigger visions of robots and computers prying jobs away from flesh-and-blood humans. Currently, automation can best be described—in terms of manufacturing—as a process by which machines complete one of two kinds of tasks:

  • Tasks which humans are not suitably skilled for (precisely measuring down to 1/1000th of an inch).
  • Tasks that would simply take us way too long to provide any tangible benefit (analyzing 1000 spreadsheets worth of data). 

Ultimately, automation can function as a tool that can help you and your employees save time and work more efficiently.

Your inventory is arguably your business’s most valuable asset, so it’s understandably difficult to surrender some hands-on control to a software system. But the simple fact of the matter is that while humans are prone to errors, computers are not. Considering that 46% of small to medium-sized businesses still use pen and paper to keep track of their inventory, it’s surprising that inventory is still about 63% accurate across the board. 

Let your software handle tracking and management tasks so your employees don’t have to. The right manufacturing inventory software will manage price quotes, order intake, and customer requests. 

Predictive Repairing and Maintenance

Nothing cuts down on operational efficiency quite like a broken piece of equipment. Sure, things are always going to break down despite your best efforts. It happens. But much like a controlled burn helps manage forests, you can use the technology at your disposal to determine when it’s time to take a functional machine out of duty so that it can be maintained for the long haul.

Take care of your equipment before a problem ever exists—being proactive will save your business time and money. With technology like this at your fingertips, you’ll find new ways to be efficient that you weren’t aware of before. Maybe, for instance, there’s one piece of equipment that breaks down slightly more often than the others. It required maintenance 13 times in five years as opposed to similar machines which required an average of 9.5 maintenance services in the same amount of time—something that you may not have picked up on without the help of smart technology. 

The name of the game is to prevent idle time within your operation. By putting more time into production than troubleshooting, you’ll be able to focus on the long term growth of your business.

Manufacturing Software That Works For You

By allowing cloud technology to improve and expand upon the hard work you’ve already done, you’ll raise the ceiling on what you can accomplish. Each day more and more manufacturers continue to adapt cloud-centric production methods—you still have a chance to be ahead of the curve. 

Ten years from now, how successful will your business be?  Shouldn’t you start forming the answer to this question today? Investing in and trusting cloud manufacturing software will provide a boon to your overall bottom line, efficiency, and future business viability. For the manufacturing industry—and most others, for that matter—cloud technology is here to stay.

[A Better Process For] Scheduling and Dispatching

Posted on by Eric Kingett

When your technician arrives at your customer’s doorstep, it may appear as the first step in the process of providing your service. But for the best field service companies, that moment is actually the result of careful and calculated prior planning. 

Did your technician arrive on time? Did they have all of the necessary equipment with them? What certifications do they hold?

The dilemmas you deal with contain an ever-changing amount of moving parts. Issues such as dispatching appropriately skilled technicians, tracking their status, and avoiding the dreaded low first-time fixed rate all plague your work day.

But they don’t have to. Modern field service management (FSM) technology—and the experts behind it—unify the variables that have always seemed to be stubbornly uncommunicative. 

With the right field service scheduling software, you can worry less about each individual dispatch and get back to growing your business. There are a lot of things to consider when optimizing your dispatching, but if you’re able to take full advantage of the technology at your disposal, you’ll see that the difficult problems didn’t have to be so difficult after all. 

Are You Prepared For Each Dispatch?

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

When it comes to field services, there are many pre-dispatch questions to address. To properly service your customer, they’ll all need to be answered before the customer ever receives an appointment time. Let’s break down all of the components of a successful field service visit from start to finish:

A customer calls in who needs services X and Y at their home, and you have a feeling they may need service Z as well. This customer is near the edge of your service radius. Given the time-sensitive and difficult nature of service Z, you want someone to service this customer ASAP.

Are they nearby? The most obvious obstacle is geography. Given the time-sensitive nature of this particular dispatch, it is important that you have up-to-the-minute locations of your technicians so that you can route someone to the customer’s location with time to spare. Even for jobs that don’t require as much urgency, it is important to hold your employees accountable for maintaining high standards of customer service in regards to keeping prompt appointment times. 

Are they certified to handle services, X, Y, and Z? While services X and Y are fairly routine, service Z requires a little more expertise. Your business depends on your customers feeling as though they received top notch service every single time. Make sure the technicians you dispatch are overqualified to handle all of the possible scenarios they may encounter. With the right technology at your fingertips, you’ll be able to see what specific experience, skills, and other certifications your technicians have so that you can send out the right people accordingly. 

In the midst of everything else you’re managing, don’t let expired certifications impede the progress of a job—the right field service management software will automatically alert you when it’s time for your technicians to renew their certifications.

Do they have the proper equipment? So you’ve found that Technician A is a very short distance from your customer, and they have all of the necessary certifications to complete services X, Y, and Z. Awesome. 

Except—what if they don’t have all of the proper tools with them? 

Sure, they should already have everything they need with them. But in reality, it pays to double check. You really thought Technician A would be the one to solve this issue, but it turns out that they need to take an extra hour to retrieve the proper tools to address the service. Technician B is equally close, certified, and has all of the tools on hand, so you send them over instead.

Each Dispatch Provides Valuable Data

The job is done, the customer is satisfied, and the issues that normally surround service Z didn’t rear their ugly heads this time around. This is all great news. However, there’s a lot more still to be learned from this dispatch. Because not every job will go this smoothly.

Each service call that your business receives acts as an opportunity to gather, analyze, and act upon data. How long did the job take from start to finish? Could anything have been done to expedite the process further? Did your technician have a clear picture of the problem upon arrival?

Even though everything went smoothly, this is important to analyze. In fact, it is important to analyze because of how smoothly it went—your goal should be to learn how and why this job was a success so that this process can be replicated in the future. 

Regardless of whether a job went well, poorly, or in between, you may find yourself asking “Who has time to comb through every single dispatch?” The answer to that isn’t a “who,” but a “what.” The best field service management software is able to generate quick reports so that you can quickly analyze all of the pertinent information surrounding how your jobs went.

The best way to prevent a job from going south is to prepare as best as possible ahead of time. 54% of technicians say that a pre-visit review of service history is their toughest challenge—this being one of the many pre-dispatch challenges you’ll want to account for.

Track Your Technicians

The best way to ensure timeliness each and every time is to have a clear picture of what your technicians are up to, and when. Not only will the right mobile field service scheduling software keep you on top of your technicians location, it will keep your customers in the loop too. Impatience dominates the customer service industry—give your customers the opportunity to precisely see when they can expect to be serviced. Accountability gives rise to success. 

Avoiding A Low First Time Fix Rate

According to the Aberdeen Group, if your first time fix rate performance falls below 88%, you’re not at the top of your industry. Below 80% would qualify you as below average. Keeping this rate high is essential to retaining customers and staying afloat in this hyper-competitive industry. How can you avoid first time failures? Give your technicians all of the information they need, when they need it. Mobile apps developed for field service professionals allow technicians to obtain this data from anywhere, any time. 

In the sample dispatch we covered earlier, everything went right. Look at all of the variables you accounted for to ensure success—geography, certifications, tools, etc.—and apply those measures to each dispatch going forward

Technician Feedback

Data isn’t a one way street here—your technicians should be able to give feedback about the job from their end, too. Whether it’s simply acknowledging the completion of the job or something more complicated like requesting additional equipment, your technician should be able to swiftly communicate with you and your team at all times. 

In today’s world, you would be best served to communicate with your technicians about health and safety issues that may arise. If your customers are required to wear masks while your technician is present, and they refuse to, what happens next? Getting both real-time and post-dispatch feedback from your employees is vital.

It’s A Learning Process

When jobs inevitably don’t go smoothly, the best thing that you and your business can do is learn from and correct the mistakes and inefficiencies that led you down that path. 

The best way to avoid failure on the job is to prepare, act, learn, and repeat. Each day will present new challenges and new obstacles that your technicians have to overcome. Stay on top of the latest technology that your industry uses to facilitate their operations—it may just be the difference between success and failure.

Still Accounting In Spreadsheets? Here’s Why Your Competition Isn’t

Posted on by Matt Bernot

Oh, the monotony. Unless you truly enjoy the thrill of filling out spreadsheets in triplicate, there’s a better way to handle your business’s accounting needs. The old ways have probably worked good enough for you thus far. But as your business grows, you’ll outgrow what spreadsheets can do for you. They are simple, familiar, and often free of charge. All of that is very appealing—until you need more.

As with many “free” services, the cost of dealing with issues can be much higher. What happens if you experience a security breach? What if there’s a technical malfunction that leaves your finances frozen?

Though it may seem like an insurmountable task to redirect your entire financial flow, it’s not impossible—in fact, it’s easier than ever. And the benefits are wide-ranging. You’ll be able to save time, money, and valuable resources. Let’s take a look at the ways your business can utilize modern financial planning software:

From Spreadsheets to Savings

Though there are many benefits of cloud accounting software, we’ll start with the most important one—how much money you’ll save. Granted, most spreadsheet-making software is probably of little or no cost to you. So where do the savings come from?

Ultimately, the cutting down of excess labor and wasted time will allow you to spend more time generating revenue. Say goodbye to manually inputted complex formulas, misplaced decimal points, and costly accounting firm rates. Cutting down on financial data miscalculations and the cost of extraneous outsourcing will improve your bottom line. According to Forbes, your cost of labor can be reduced by up to 50% with the help of cloud accounting.

Beyond that, you won’t have to worry about making a large dent in your bank account on day one. Subscription based models are common just about everywhere these days, and SaaS accounting is no exception. 

Financial Tracking for Growing Businesses

One spreadsheet can typically only handle one income stream. This simply won’t cut it. As your business evolves, you need a software that will be able to adapt to the complex revenue streams you’ll build—not one that forces your business into a corner with its simplicity..

One of the biggest benefits of taking your accounting to the cloud is that the hardware required to run your operations doesn’t need to be stored onsite. No need to worry about expanding the server space within your facility as your business flourishes. Sometimes, certain software systems simply aren’t built to handle data at large capacities. Make sure the system you choose is built to be there for you no matter how your business demands grow and change. 

Cloud Accounting Is Safe and Secure

Security is always one of the largest concerns that business owners have when they are considering a change in accounting software. 

The good news is that SaaS accounting software is much safer and much more reliable than traditional, in-house accounting methods. While it certainly takes a group effort to combat cyber threats these days, software can lend a huge helping hand. As your data moves to the cloud, it goes through layers upon layers of encryptions and redundancies. Put in layman’s terms, it is protected by millions of complex passwords at once while automatically being backed up in numerous places.

See what can happen to businesses that are not up to par:

Microsoft reports that 91% of small and medium sized business owners said the security of their organization was positively impacted after switching to the cloud. Entrusting your financial records to a new party is never something to take lightly. But with the right cloud accounting software, it is almost assuredly safer than the current methods you are using. 

Eliminating Divisional Silos

More likely than not, your business has divisions that have varying degrees of autonomy. And even more likely, communication between the various silos of your organization doesn’t always materialize as you hope it will.  

While maintaining an open and communicative culture doesn’t fall under the general responsibilities of the accounting department, accountants can play a crucial role in that process. The best cloud accounting software will allow you to seamlessly integrate data from all of your businesses branches and divisions.

A business that seeks to foster a collaborative and growth-filled environment needs to first ensure that its accounting division is able to communicate with all other divisions while maintaining a big-picture vantage point. At the end of the day, if your money isn’t in sync, nothing else will be.  

Software Support Needs To Shine

Just as your employees grease the wheels of your business, the people behind the accounting software you choose need to be as impressive as the software itself. No system is ever perfect, and glitches always rear their ugly head—having a software support team ready and waiting for you is more important than ever.

Besides responding to issues, you have the benefit of using a software that is constantly being upgraded and debugged. New releases don’t come in the form of a single download once or twice a year—a talented support team works on improvements every day. The best software support will even tailor features based around your specific needs.

Your money isn’t something to mess around with. By taking the necessary steps to upgrade your accounting systems, you’ll be able to ensure that a team of software experts has your back so that you never miss a beat. The best financial planning software and its support team needs to account for everything that could possibly cross your path—and then some. 

Finances Made Easy

You’ve worked too long and too hard to have your money flowing in any way that is less than optimal. Sure, you’re probably doing fine. In 2020, “doing fine” is surely not something to take for granted. But the problems of this year won’t just dissipate on January 1st—there will always be new challenges to face as the years march on. Make sure that your business is ready to handle anything that the future brings your way.