Mobile workforce management (MWM) is a category of software and related services used to manage employees working outside the company premises. These Mobile WFM (Workforce Management) Solutions are, needless to say, quite powerful. They can be leveraged to solve a wide range of issues that organizations are likely to face. In the US, almost 70% of organizations have staff members that are mobile. This includes field technicians, frontline sales personnel, security teams etc.
However, the odd thing is that, despite having such a mobile workforce, many organizations have failed to leverage mobile WFM solutions in favour of reducing costs and boosting efficiency.
So, if you’re one of those organizations that’s trying to figure out how you can successfully deploy mobile WFM solutions and make the most of it, here are a few tips.
Identify Opportunities
Developing the solution is highly dependent on your grasp of what the problem/opportunity is. One way to begin is having a discussion with the various stakeholders and generate support for the initiative. You can also discuss issues that are likely to occur in the future and possible opportunities that can benefit the organization.
For instance, one problem could be that your field reports fail accuracy tests due to delays in scanning, e-mailing, and faxing.
So, once you’ve identified problems and put them all out there, you can start organizing and segmenting.
Find a Development Partner
There’s a range of partners that can work with you to develop mobile WFM solutions. You have custom mobile platform developers, mobile development companies, and enterprise platform companies. Each of them offers a set of specializations and benefits.
For instance, custom mobile development firms create apps according to client-provided specifications. They work with clients to identify their exact needs and develop solutions that meet those unique needs.
On the other hand, mobile platform developers typically offer SaaS cloud-oriented products. So, you benefit from lower upfront costs and a quicker time to market.
Enterprise platform companies offer a suite of products with mobile solutions being one among many. So, they tend to be of no use to smaller organizations looking to leverage mobile app solutions.
Nevertheless, take the time to identify which development partner would meet your needs the best.
The Phased Approach
If you’re looking at larger mobile WFM solutions, a phased approach is the best. The objective is to deliver high impact workflows that will provide the maximum impact with very little effort. The projects are phased, allowing clients to understand the benefits provided by the mobile WFM solution.
A phased approach offers several benefits such as reduced upfront costs. You see, the cost of development can be spread out, which means upfront costs can be met at different periods of accounting.
Then, there is ROI measurement. You can measure the performance of the process for every single aspect of the solution, which means you can know what the actual ROI is.
