The current pandemic has raised newer challenges for how trades, construction and facilities management companies can efficiently deliver their services, with increased remote working and social distancing measures having an impact on day-to-day delivery. The world of work has changed as we know it and it has required industries to radically rethink their business models. The trades sector is no exception.
By nature, projects in the construction and facilities management sectors almost always involve a number of different organisations and individual consultants working towards a common goal. These different entities are tied together by different types of contract. But often, this chain of work can become fragmented, which is not only inefficient but also leads to errors. So, how can this be improved?
Subcontractor Enablement and Management
In 2017, a Gartner report predicted that by 2020, 40% of field service work will be done by engineers or technicians who are not directly employed by their organisation. In 2021, outsourcing field service work to third party service providers is a widespread strategy for organisations operating in this sector. And the changed working landscape brought about by Covid-19 has only accelerated the need for more remote and flexible set-ups.
A more recent report on field service management by Gartner listed subcontractor enablement and management as a key functionality emphasis for deploying new technologies. The report strongly recommended organisations should look for software that serve the use of subcontractors and can help align vetted vendors, onboard new vendors and assign work to other organisations in a way that integrates with internal scheduling.
8 components of successful outsourced field service management
Here are Gartner’s 8 components of successful outsourced field service management:
- Avoid overbooking by tracking availability and capacity
- Help dispatchers choose the best subcontractor by understanding what skills are available at the expected time
- Ensure flexibility to assign specific technicians or offload assignment of bulk work to the contractor’s dispatchers
- Ensure mobile apps provide data that enables subcontractor technicians (securely)
- Use an extensible mobile app to enable technicians to capture debrief data and secure site evidence
- Assess tools and technologies that help remote supervisors monitor, mentor and evaluate subcontractors’ technicians
- Develop integrations to enable the exchange of work orders and invoice data with as many organisations as possible
- Evolve your employee onboarding process to mitigate the risks of using uninsured, uncertified or unprofessional technicians
So, What Does The Future Hold?
The Gartner report suggests that by 2025, over 50% of field service management deployments will include mobile collaboration and knowledge-sharing tools, up from less than 10% in 2019. And by 2025, over 50% of equipment manufacturers will offer outcome-based service contracts that rely on access to digital data, up from less than 20% in 2019.
The pandemic may have created an even more complex environment to be working in, but it has also opened up a wide range of potential opportunities for evolving relationships with stakeholders, based on trust, proactive support and new technologies to simplify the process. So, if you haven’t started using these types of technologies to help you manage the workforce then now is the time to begin.
How Okappy Portal+ Can Help
Okappy Portal+ is one solution to keep employees, customers, contractors and subcontractors connected, whilst streamlining workforce management processes and freeing up valuable time. With Okappy Portal+ you can communicate with your network, send and receive jobs, manage your workforce remotely, run reports, and raise invoices – all on one platform. You can receive updates to job details as they happen and view all important documents needed for the work in one secure place. To learn more, request a call here.
