How to Save Time on Your Field Service Operations

Whether you’re a small or large business, it’s important you streamline your field service operations.

When you streamline your field service operations, you can:

• Save time
• Increase your profits
• Increase your productivity
• Improve your service quality
• Keep great employees (plus win new ones)

Just by streamlining your field service operations, you can grow your business beyond your wildest dreams - surpassing your biggest goals.

By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how to save time on your field service operations using the best-kept industry tools and secrets.

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You NEED Organizational Structure in Your Field Service Business

Creating organizational structure is important because it’s the framework within your company that defines operational procedures and determines how tasks are coordinated and allocated.

Simply put, organizational structure is the foundation of your field service business.

Here’s what it does:

• It aligns…
  • All the parts of an organization so that they efficiently work together with maximum effect.
  • All of your employees so everyone is on the same page - working towards the same goal.
• It improves the overall efficiency.
• It increases productivity.
• It improves the bottom line.

When you properly set up your organizational structure, it WILL start running like a well-oiled machine.

In other words, it helps you to implement and improve your company structure and also to communicate better to your company, team, and clients.

Additionally, you can further improve your communications when you implement the new Tickets feature in Service Autopilot (an SA Team Member will even set up your documents, forms, and pre-built automations for you with the new Accelerate add-on!).

As a result, your efficient organization structure will help you to increase your profits and grow your business faster.

What to Consider Before Choosing an Organizational Structure Type

Now, you know what organization structure is and why you need it, it’s time to decide on an organizational structure type for your field service business.

Before you choose an organizational type, here’s what you should consider:

1. What Is Your GOAL?

Since organization structures are heavily based on what an organization is trying to accomplish, you should consider your goal before deciding on an organizational type.

Bottom Line: Think about what you want your organizational structure to help you do before you choose one.

For example, if you’re focused on improving productivity and efficiency, then you may need a different structure than if you’re looking to expand into different geographical regions or margins.

2. What Is Best for Your EMPLOYEES?

Your organizational structure matters because it impacts your workforce planning, and it determines how well your employees are able to do their jobs.

Plus, it determines the advancement opportunities your employees have in your field service business.

Whatever you choose needs to keep your employees happy, motivated, and able to operate with maximum efficiency.

Bottom Line: Your organizational structure should give your employees a sense of hope for the future of their career at your field service company.

3. How Important Is COLLABORATION?

By implementing a new organizational structure, you have the potential to hugely impact the collaboration within your company.

Collaboration in your company is important, because without it you can inadvertently separate key players who need to work together.

As a result, this lack of communication can have a disastrous effect on your company. This is why it’s important that you consult with each of your key stakeholders in each department before making any major changes.

Choose an Organizational Structure to Save Time on Your Field Service Operations

Now that you know what makes an organizational structure and how to choose one, let’s look at the three types of organizational structure types you can choose from.

1. Role-Based Organizational Structure Type

A role-based organizational structure type is when you base your organizational chart on the roles within your business.

While many field service business owners don’t feel like an organizational chart is important, when in reality, it’s critical to saving time on your field service operations.

An organizational chart shows your employees what they’re responsible for as well as how different departments and jobs relate to each other.

In addition, an organizational structure type ensures all of your loose ends are covered and that communication is clear.

Here are the four steps for creating your organizational chart using a role-based structure type:

1. Plan three years into the future (which gives you a goal).
2. Fill in the functions for your organizational chart first.
3. Fill in the names for each function on the chart.
4. Number the functions by priority to hire.

2. Agile-Based Kanban Structure

Before we get started, a kanban is a visual management method for any work that follows a process.

This kanban structure promotes things like:

• Strong teamwork
• Sharing ideas
• Making decisions together

In essence, the kanban (or scrum) structure helps your employees to collaborate well with other key people to help you streamline your field service business operations.

Click here to find out more about kanban.

Essentially, the kanban structure helps you to use changes to further promote opportunities in your field service business operations.

Here’s a quick list of the benefits of using the kanban structure in your company:

1. Helps you improve your workflow.
2. Reduces your lead time.
3. Delivers value to your customers.
4. Improves your predictability and quality.

This is a brief example of how you can use kanban in your business:

First off, think about what needs to be done in your business, and then decide on what you can realistically get done in two weeks.

Here’s the a quick step-by-step breakdown of what a kanban system would look like for your business:

1. Hold weekly meetings with your management team (or other stakeholders) as a recap of each department’s daily meetings.
2. Hold daily meetings with your individual teams as you grow as a company.

While this system is helpful, you’re probably already dreading the thought of having meetings; however, these meetings don’t have to be long, dreaded meetings.

Take a look at these tips for holding practical kanban meetings:

1. Stand up so you’re more likely to stay focused in the meetings (and it’ll be a little shorter if everyone is standing up).
2. Hold a stand-up meeting every day or at least once per week.
3. Have clear meeting leadership.
4. Keep it SHORT - 15 minutes MAX!
5. Define meeting goals before you start having the meetings.
6. Stop unrelated, unproductive discussion.

The main concept of a kanban board is to have everyone assigned a list of tasks in the “To Do” column for things they want to complete over the next two weeks (also referred to as a sprint).

Then, as the task progresses, it’ll move from To Do → Doing → Blocked (possibly) → Done. The kanban system is a great way to keep in touch with what’s going on in the company.

3. Using a Combination of Role-Based and Kanban Structures

For most businesses, a combination between role-based and kanban structures is the best way to streamline your field service business operations and communications.

One of the best ways to conquer this goal is through Service Autopilot Tickets, which can help streamline communication within your company.

Do this by adding notes to your tickets, which you can then schedule those notes to become calendar events. Plus, you can add calls and emails to your tickets too.

You can update the progress of the ticket, and you can also use tickets to schedule meetings as well.

Plus, when you join the new Accelerate program, you can let a dedicated Service Autopilot Team Member set up your documents, forms, and automations FOR YOU!

CLICK HERE to find out more information about Accelerate.

Speed Up Your Field Service Operations NOW

If you truly want to speed up your field service operations ASAP, then you need to prioritize organizational structure.

By prioritizing your organizational structure, you’re setting you and your employees up for success with attainable goal accomplishments.

Additionally, it’s also important to hold meetings that foster communication and collaboration among your employees. This is the best way to conquer your goals and maintain employee productivity.

While building this type of organizational structure can take time, you can use Service Autopilot Tickets to speed up your field service operations even more.

Use Service Autopilot Tickets to efficiently plan, schedule, and communicate with your employees and clients.

As a bonus, you don’t even have to set it up yourself! Add the new Accelerate service to your Service Autopilot Membership and let us set up your forms, documents, and pre-built automations for you!

CLICK HERE to find out more about the new Accelerate service!

Related: The 3 Most Profitable Service Autopilot Automations

Originally published Jan 12, 2021 7:00 AM