The Ultimate Guide to Using Smartwatches for Mobile Workforce Management

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

Contributions sourced from

The Ultimate Guide To Mobile Workforce Management (MWM)

Introduction

In recent years, we have witnessed many changes in the way people work. Lets start with changes that occurred during the industrial revolution; when factories were being opened everywhere, the small set-ups were paying less, accompanied by poor working conditions for laborers. It took years to bring labor-friendly reforms into reality.

Back to the present scenario, luckily, things at work have changed for the better since then. Employees have much better work environments, great passion for work, and healthy competition. Modern-day revolutions usually involve adding technology such as Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) software to streamline field workflow.

However, as per a recent survey, only 50% of mobile workers have access to a connected device in the field. Businesses have been hesitant to invest in tools for managing mobile teams due to a lack of understanding of how valuable these tools are.

With the rise of hybrid and remote cultures, companies need to focus on workforce management tools that will help them manage employees effectively. These tools can make an impact by increasing employee productivity and improving customer satisfaction.

In this article, well discuss the importance of workforce management what it is, why you need it, and features to consider when choosing an MWM app.

Lets dive in-

What Is Mobile Workforce Management (MWM)?

MWM is a strategy for efficiently managing a large number of employees across several locations so they can best perform their duties.

Source: LeadSquared

MWM specializes in helping those small-big business owners who are involved with jobs that do not take place within the confines of an office. Some examples are appliance installation and maintenance services, cleaning businesses, non-emergency medical transportation, and HVAC companies.

What is a Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) Software Tool?

MWM software tools help companies to improve efficiency by ensuring that mobile workers are in the right place at the right time. By tracking employees locations and timesheets, businesses can see where there are gaps in coverage and where there are clusters of people doing similar tasks simultaneously.

These tools let companies adjust accordingly as they can send more people to areas needing them or reduce deployment in places with less demand.

Furthermore, companies can also see which employees are working hard and which ones are slacking offand then reward the former and help the latter accordingly.

Follow-up question: What does the future hold for MWM?

Read the next section to know the answer-

Is Managing Mobile Workforce A Headache?

Automate Mobile Workforce Management With Workstatus

MWM Future & Market Size

According to the report published by Verified Market Research, the global MWM market size was valued at USD 3.89 Billion in 2020. It is expected to reach USD 10.46 Billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 13.16% from 2021-2028.

With the rise of the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend within workplaces, due to the competition in the tech industry, the prices of tablets, smartphones, and modern innovations used in mobile and computing broadband technology are coming down. These all are the prime factors for the growth in field workforce & management.

Follow-up question: What features to look for in MWM Software?

Read the next section to know the answer-

Some Powerful Features of MWM Software

The best mobile workforce scheduling software makes it easy to keep track of your field workers when theyre out in the field. Here are some of its special features:

Geofencing lets you set boundaries, so you know when someone goes outside their area.
Instant notifications ensure that you dont miss anything important.
Real-time location tracking means youll always know where your employees are and how long theyve been there.
View & audit work & location history so you can see what your employees were doing at any point during the day.
Privacy protection with automatic tracking, so employees dont feel like their boss is stalking them.
Automatic alerting so you know when something important happens (like an employee going over their allotted lunch break time).
A mobile app lets managers check in on their teams from anywhere and see how theyre doing without having to schedule a meeting or send an email; its always up-to-date with the latest information.

Overall, these tools make it easier than ever before to manage mobile workforce.

Also Read: Workforce Management: A Complete Guide

Top 5 Benefits of Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) Software

MWM software enables organizations to manage their workforce effectively and efficiently, helping companies save time and money. With just a few simple clicks, employers can manage and monitor their employees work schedules, locations, tasks, and key performance indicators (KPIs) from any location via their computer or mobile deviceeven while on the go.

Here are the top benefits of the field workforce management software that make it so valuable to growing & established businesses alike.

Number 1: Improved Communication

One major advantage that MWM can offer your business is improved communication and teamwork. Employees work from different locations these days and dont want to be on the phone all day talking to their coworkers when they could be getting more work done.

MWM allows them to send a message in real-time, and allows the team to collaborate better. This streamlined communication can lead to filling communication gaps, to help in better decision-making and a happier, more productive workforce.

Number 2: Improved Customer Satisfaction

A companys ability to fix work orders when they are first scheduled is measured by a metric known as First-Time Fix Rate (FTF). In a recent study by Aberdeen Group, it was found that companies having a FTF rate more than 71% have 20% higher customer satisfaction as compared to companies with FTF rate less than 70%.

So, if youre using the field workforce management software solution like Workstatus, your customers will be even happier because your field employees will always have up-to-date information they can access on the fly. It means fewer wasted trips, less downtime, and happier customers!

Number 3: Tracking Employees Performance

Keeping tabs on your employees work performance is paramount to maintaining successful staff members retention and business productivity. With MWM software, youll be able to keep track of each employees task completion rates, delays, travel time, and expenses meaning they wont be slacking off without you knowing about it!

Do you know?

As per McKinsey, MWM solutions can increase the number of tasks a business can perform by 20-30% per full-time employee/day.

Number 4: Better Efficiency

Efficiency is the crucial factor to succeeding in the new economy. With a workforce of human beings spread across thousands or millions of miles, using inefficient tracking and communication systems leads to huge problems. MWM can help you monitor your employees jobs and performance on a detailed level with data-driven time and productivity reports.

If youre looking for increased efficiency in your company, look no further than the best workforce management software available in the market.

Number 5: Less Stress

People often think that tech can cause more stress for workers. It couldnt be further from the truth one recent study found that 75% of employees would leave their current job if it wasnt for the availability of digital tools. Having all your business documents and tasks at your fingertips reduces stress because youre less likely to make mistakes.

Follow-up question: Is there any best workforce management software available in the market?

Also read: On-Premise or SaaS: Which is Better for Your Business?

Read the next section to know the answer-

Struggling to Track Mobile Team Performance?

Optimize & Monitor Mobile Team Productivity with Workstatus

Why Are Companies Making a Shift To Workstatus From Its Competitors?

MWM Software like Workstatus provides various features to help you coordinate with field workers efficiently, transparently, and openly. It enables business owners and team leaders to perform the following tasks with ease:

Powerful Geofencing Capabilities
Optimize routes and schedules
Automate scheduling and planning tasks
Evaluate performance with built-in analytics tools
Workload adjustment based on shift timings
Record job start and end time automatically and accurately
Keep FTF rate>71% for satisfied customers

Plus, businesses have already reaped the following benefits of trusting Workstatus to manage their mobile workforce-

Powerful time tracking and reporting system optimized their overall workflow by 28%
single dashboard to keep track of employees who are absent, leave early, or tardy; it improved the attendance of their workforce by more than 15%
A boost of 34% in productivity by having real-time data to easily identify and remove any roadblocks that may arise

More amazing features of Workstatus for your field workforce:

Are you now ready to get started?

Start monitoring your mobile workforce now!

Closing Thoughts

Mobile or field workforce management solutions can positively impact your company in many ways. It could increase efficiency, productivity, and even employee engagement. All this translates to better customer service and financial success for you.

No company can thrive without a proper workforce management system in place. It has become essential for meeting expectations and ensuring the sustainability of your enterprise. With workforce management solutions, you will be able to determine where you need to allocate resources most efficiently and improve the overall productivity of your field members which translates directly into increased revenue for your business.

If youre interested in learning more about the best workforce management software and what it can do for your business today, try Workstatus free for 7 Days!

Is Mobile Attendance Tracking Time Consuming?

Simplify Attendance Management With Workstatus

Mobile Workforce Management: The Modern Managers Guide

Think back to the 1990s.

Workers gathered around the water cooler or in the break room, discussing the latest Friends episode, or last nights game. Then, off to the cubicles until lunch break.

Good times.

But that traditional workforce is fading away, replaced by a mobile workforce. Its a workforce that wont have that experience because theyre not confined to a building or a campus.

Theyre the deskless workforce, connecting through the internet with their mobile devices and laptops, having that same kind of discussion about the latest Netflix show on Slack, in a virtual break room.

Whether you call them mobile, remote, or deskless, the current workforce is one thats connected digitally instead of in-person, and that can be a challenge for managers.

Once you see the pros (and cons) of a mobile workforce, youll see that while the techniques are different, mobile workforce management is still the same: keeping your team connected and moving towards the same goal.

What are the benefits of a mobile workforce?

Working remotely was already the trend, with about 4.7 million people working from home. Then the pandemic kicked it into high gear. Suddenly, businesses had to find ways to let their employees work from home, with 88% of businesses and organizations around the world encouraging remote work.

With this sudden explosion of remote work, the positive benefits quickly emerged.

Access a larger talent pool

Businesses are turning to remote employees for many reasons, but top of the list has to be the ability to hire from a larger pool. No longer are you restricted to finding the best of whats locally available; the whole world is your oyster.

This is a clear competitive advantage over businesses who can only hire people who live in geographic proximity to the physical location. You can access high-level talent you might not have been able to with the traditional workforce.

Additionally, younger workers prefer to work remotely, and in a labor shortage, offering remote positions makes you stand out from the competition.

Reduce employee stress and expense

Workers who are on the job remotely dont have to commute to work.

That commute, alone, is a source of significant stress and expense to employees. 50% of employees admit they find commuting stressful, with 45% saying its too long. Depending on where employees live, their commute can end up costing companies billions each year.

Getting rid of the work commute is a win for everyone, including the planet.

Decrease costs associated with physical locations

Think of what you pay on rent, equipment, parking, custodial care, maintenanceits significant.

When you dont have a physical location, all of that expense is gone. While you still may need to purchase or reimburse employees for computers, mobile devices, or internet access, its still significantly less than brick and mortar overhead.

A mobile workforce can make your business more cost efficient, and it starts here.

What challenges does the mobile worker face at work?

While a mobile workforce has a lot of benefits, there are challenges, too.

Keep in mind that a mobile worker might be working from home, working from the road, or choosing to go to a coffee shop. The challenges each person faces depends on their personality, the setting they work in and the distractions that come with it, and how they respond to all of it.

Communication can suffer

We all know that verbal in-person communication is the best. We can see body language and facial expressions to help us put the words into context. We tend to say things differently in person than we would online.

Mobile teams are going to be mostly using text and written communication (though there will be virtual meetings). Not everyone is skilled at written communication. They write too much, too little, have poor spelling and grammar, are poor at reading comprehension, are sarcastic, are too informal, use too many emoticonswe know how it goes. We all communicate differently, and written communication accentuates this.

Messaging can get lost and relationships can be damaged. Important information goes ignored. You get the communication piece wrong, and the mobile workforce falls apart.

Isolation can affect productivity

Some workers claim they are more productive working from home or out of the office setting. In some studies, this holds true. Working from home can increase productivity up to 13%. Some workers report up to 77% more productivity.

Isolation, and the effects of a lack of socialization, are real concerns for a mobile workforce. Social isolation is tied to depression, lack of sleep, cognitive decline, and reduced physical health. Over time, those will affect productivity. For many people, the workplace is the source of most of their social interaction; removing it is tough.

Not everyone thrives in solitude, and many people dont realize how much they need the in-person presence and feedback of other people to help them stay productive. Even something as simple as being in a group of people working, with the sounds of productivity, helps spur people on to work.

At home, or wherever they choose to work, there are distractions. Some will try to find places to work (like a coffee shop) where there are other people around.

Theres a lack of workplace rhythms

Working at the office or the shop comes with its own rhythms.

There are break times, meetings, the casual conversations that pop up as you get a cup of coffee from the break room, Friday pizza dayall of these create a daily and weekly structure that helps employees mark off time, feel as if they are accomplishing things, and keep from overworking. They get through the day understanding the rhythms.

Mobile workers lack this input. Without forced or practiced rhythms (e.g. using the Pomodoro technique or time blocking), its easy to work to exhaustion or get pulled away by distraction and not finish work at all.

How to manage and empower your mobile workforce

For managers who like to have iron-fisted control over their team, or frequently veer into micromanagement, a mobile workforce is going to be tough.

But if thats not you, you can empower your team (and reduce your own stress) by trusting your people and following a few tips on what that looks like in action.

Be purposeful about company culture

Employee culture ultimately impacts your bottom line. It trickles into customer experience, productivity, and employee retention.

Creating a great workplace culture is challenging on its own. Trying to do it with a mobile workforce is even more difficult. Culture is about team connection, feeling like you belong, feeling like youre contributing, and finding joy in the work.

These can all be done with a mobile workforce, but theyll look different. Virtual parties, celebrating important moments, sending out treats or gift cards as incentive, virtual team-building gamesthere are lots of options, but youll have to be creative.

Give them the right tools

The definition of the right tool is simple: it does what needs to be done with the least amount of resistance. Your employees should NEVER have to struggle, fuss, or find workarounds. If your team has to adapt to the tool instead of the tool adapting to how your team works, its the wrong tool.

Using a lot of different tools and trying to get them to work together can cause problems.

When I Work has integrated features for ease of use so that scheduling, communication, and payroll integrations happen in one placeinstead of forcing you to create an ad hoc system from lots of different vendors. Feel like youre managing a digital load up to your eyeballs? Using a flexible scheduling system can reduce that load to save you time and reduce stress when youre building the work schedule.

Signs that your tools need replacing? Employees (or you) arent using them much, correctly, or only through workarounds.

Start your free 14-day trial of When I Work! Click here to start scheduling your employees today.

Build in work rhythms

A mobile workforce is still a workforce. Build structure as much as would make sense.

Have your weekly or monthly meetings. Encourage teams to have brainstorming sessions or chat rooms where they can collaborate. Dont reward overwork; help employees maintain a work-life balance (which is even more difficult when you work from home).

And then, provide the training and tools to help them structure their work day and not get distracted. You may have some employees who do so well working remotely that they get their work done faster than they would have in-person. Dont penalize that; use that as a guide to help others in structuring their work day.

Rethink how you manage

In person, you could accomplish a huge chunk of your management duties simply by being in the room.

How do you do that when everyone is remote? How do you work effectively with mobile employees?

Mobile workforce management tools, like When I Work, are part of that. Its software that schedules, tracks location by GPS (where applicable) for clocking in and out, uses real-time communication, and gives your employees a single place to manage their work life.

Management shifts to monitoring resultsproject completion, customer satisfactioninstead of counting warm bodies in seats. While you still have to make sure people are working when theyre on the clock, your managers mindset will have to rely on data and results more than with a traditional workforce.

And youll have to learn that empowering your deskless workforce takes trust, but will return amazing results.

Have a great employee assistance program

An employee assistance program (EAP) is always a good idea, and even more so when your workforce is mobile.

EAPs are intended to help employees deal with personal problems that might be affecting their work, their mental health, and their physical health. Whether through counseling, training, or incentives, the goal is to maintain a healthy workforce. An EAP is part of creating that all-important company culture, and in light of concerns about some employees experiencing isolation and mental health issues, is a necessity.

Whether youre just getting started with the idea of a mobile workforce or are actively working toward it, thats where the future of jobs is heading. Even if you start with having a partly remote workforce, hoping to transition more over time, youll learn how to manage a mobile workforce and stay ahead of the curve.