As the leader of an organisation, you face a difficult choice. When it comes to increasing the productivity of your off-site workers, you can either sit and watch your competitors reduce their cost base by becoming more efficient, or give staff the means to work efficiently from any location. The "mobile arms race" is already occurring in virtually every sector and industry across Australia.
Mobility solutions are an area where the next frontier of battles are being fought, and won. Your organisation can leverage custom applications, mobile solutions, cloud services and mobile devices to increase productivity from outside the office, making information remotely accessible with the added bi-product of increasing your employee’s work-life balance.
“Organisations are embracing mobility solutions to keep productivity levels high, even when a worker is offsite. A mobility solution allows you to work from any location as if you were in the office. Not only does this reduce losses due to travel and sickness, it also increases job satisfaction and staff retention.” - Managing Director of R & G Technologies, Gordon Tan
If you’re looking at increasing productivity without significantly increasing costs, look to mobility. Smart organisations are leveraging technology to give workers access to information, communications and collaboration even when they’re offsite, resulting in higher levels of productivity and increasing the probability of successful client outcomes.
Here are three ways a mobility solution can help your organisation:
1. Increased Information Access
A mobile solution makes the days of lugging around stacks of paper case notes obsolete. You’re able to reference the organisation’s material via mobile devices over the Internet, and update the information while you’re off-site. This way, you don’t need to worry about printing sheets of client information such as contact details, address, job history and other case notes.
“For example, when Xavier would go into the field to support a child, they would carry around manila folders stuffed with case notes, pre-meeting sheets and reference information. We created a web application so they didn’t have to take physical copies everywhere.” - Tan
This made case notes accessible via iPads, tablets and other mobile devices. The application was responsive, so it could render to screen size and adapt both to tablets and phones.
In addition to this, staff in the main office received more timely more accurate information. Remote workers were able to update information in real time, eliminating the inaccuracy of retyping half-remembered notes once they were back at the office.
But there are considerations. When you’re evaluating implementing a mobile solution, remember that certain organisations may be limited by government requirements. For example, it may be mandatory to have hard copies in your possession. It’s important to research the requirements for your particular location and line of work.
Nonetheless, providing your staff with mobility empowers them to achieve more with the same amount of time. It streamlines information transfer, and makes their job easier and more efficient. The capability to reference information off-site will reduce time-wasting actions, ease your staff workload and amplify your organisation’s productivity.
2. Efficient Communication
Your staff don't need to be trapped behind their desks all day. Mobility gives them the flexibility to be where they need to be, all while accessing the same capabilities as they have in the office. It maintains the quality of off-site communications, facilitates faster decision-making, and results in a higher level of productivity.
“Fewer delays between those in the communication chain streamline processes and result in faster operations for the entire organisation.” - Tan
For example, there are certain document checks and approvals that have to occur before a decision can be made. When you have mobility, you’re able to access the document or email off a tablet between appointments, and flick off a confirmation email with minimal effort.
Increasing the quality of communications has a ripple effect. It results in a faster, more efficient organisation with greater productivity, and ensures that the government sees your organisation as a long-term player worth investing in.
3. Greater collaboration
Teamwork is easy when you share an office. If you have remote workers flying between geographically disparate offices, you may benefit from implementing a mobile solution.
Collaboration leads to greater innovation and growth without introducing additional expenses. Your organisation can leverage software with collaborative elements to change the way your teams, departments and offices work together.
For example, R & G Technologies deployed a solution for an organisation working with children’s playgroups that increased the frequency of collaborative meetings and reduced long-term expenditure.
“The company used to fly its management team from all over the country for a monthly meeting, which cost about $13,000 including flights and accommodations. We implemented Lync, set up webcams on each individual PC, and set up an HD webcam in the board room, so the company could have 10-12 people video conferencing in a virtual meeting.” - Tan
The staff were given the capability to ‘whiteboard’, where participants of a group chat can draw diagrams, copy and paste images or video, or use it as a presenting area.
However, since there is value in face-to-face meetings, it’s about finding the optimal balance between physical interaction and virtual meetings. Gordon suggests annual face-to-face meetings to reinforce the personal connection and build relationships, as well as complement ideas discussed in video conferences.
Deploying a mobile solution will make collaboration easier and more convenient, which translates into greater efficiency and more creative problem solving. It also reduces travel expenses, and frees up more resources to invest in other productive undertakings.
Challenges of mobility solutions
Mobility comes with its own set of challenges, but as long as you’re aware of them from the very beginning, you can mitigate the risks.
Security:
Making your organisation’s data accessible by mobile devices makes it sound like it’s less secure. However, this is only true if you forego staff training and more advanced security measures. For example, Xavier’s application has the same level of security that online banking has. Ensure that your staff are trained to recognise malicious online material and enforce compliance to keep your organisation safe.
Internet speed:
The speed of information access will be dictated by your Internet connection. When you’re using a mobile device, remember that you’re accessing data or emails over the Internet. Thus, the experience isn’t going to be the same as your office’s internet, or plugging a blue cable directly into the network. Ensure there is adequate Internet coverage to make sure the mobility solution operates well.
Cost:
Tailoring the solution, building the application and connecting it to other systems will cost money.
“You have to be prepared for an initial investment, but it's pretty easy to justify the ROI when you're actually factoring in the productivity savings that it's going to give to your staff and team.“ - Tan
There are long-term productivity gains to be had, including more efficient operations and a happier workforce.
How to get started with a mobile solution
Just as mobile phones transformed your life, mobility could revolutionise your organisation. You’ll get increased efficiency from your workforce, and simultaneously give them a better work-life balance. Instead of having to carry overflowing folders of information, you can make your systems accessible through a web application. You’ll be able to communicate off-site with the same efficiency that you get within the office, and remote offices, departments and team members can collaborate more effectively.
The era of bring your own device is here, this means you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing a vendor. Therefore, it’s even more important to meticulously assess what products match your organisation’s requirements. Start by talking to your IT department or an external consultant to ascertain exactly what you want to achieve with your solution. Afterwards, you can assess your business requirements together, and look for products sold by vendors you can trust.