What are the best ways to build and manage a high-performing field service team?

One thing I found very important is setting clear goals and alignment on approach and deliverables. The manager must ensure that the goals are aligned with the companies vision and strategy and make sure the team understands the connection between their job and the company's vision. It is also important to revisit the goals and progress regularly to ensure the team is on track and there needs to be further clarification or redirection to the goals/approach. A clear organizational vision and structure play a huge role in avoiding confusion, duplication and conflict among teams.

In my experience building and managing a high performance field service team starts with understanding the environment and building trust at the front lines. A manager needs to... *Communicate! *Listen and be consistently engaged with their team to ensure they have the support, training, tools and resources they need to perform. *Map the team expertise and create redundancy where possible by cross-training to ensure gaps in support are closed. This aides in ensuring a sound work/life balance. *Always be available but empower your team. *Be human. Know your team, their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles etc. Take care of your team and they will take care of you.

By teaching them the following effort management distrbution and ensuring they are implementing it well :- - 60% of being a successful service engineer is the ability to listen carefully and prober customer handling. - 20% is accurate data analysis which leads to decent troubleshooting. - 20% is starting by suspecting small root causes first, before going deep.

In my experience I find that hiring right people who have leadership qualities and the who is willing to ask questions. Any one can be trained on how to do a job, however very few are willing to think out the box and make logical decisions on the spot.

All the software and information related to the machine should be with all the engineers. There should be a group on WhatsApp in which all the engineers are added. If anyone has any issue at any time then share it,If any engineer knows the issue of the machine then share on the group,If the issue not resloved then contact to principle

Feedback is the most important contributing factor to the growth and development of the members of your team. Positive feedback encourages high performance while negative feedback should be followed by training/retraining. This balance of positive and negative feedback and regular training is important to fostering a team that is open to criticism, as opposed to a team that meets feedback with hostility.

Right training is the key for any service personnel to be prepared for what they face in sites, with the proper training service personnel are way ahead of their game and ready to rock at any site conditions with a proper experience that reduces NQC caused by increasing the site time and mistakes due to lack of knowledge.

Allowing sharing of ideas and how the solve technical issues among themselves is also key to improving performance. This requires creating a platform where they can discuss the challenges and solutions they encounter on the field

It is important to invest in comprehensive training programs to ensure your team members have the necessary technical knowledge and skills to excel in their roles. Also, continuously update training materials to keep pace with evolving technologies and industry best practices.

Trainings are very important, but their importance is overrated. In most cases, training is useful to get basic information about something new, but it is usually mostly theoretical. However, working in the field in most cases requires solving non-standard tasks on a specific set of control and controlled equipment and requires multidisciplinary knowledge. The most important thing for improving the quality of service and strengthening the knowledge of field engineers is the sharing of experience among team members. This includes writing field reports, small articles and how-tos. This helps to avoid unnecessary time wasted looking for a solution to a problem that has already been solved.

To the best of my knowledge and experience in Field service engineering, providing the team with the right tools and resources help makes their work easier, efficient and productive.

Without the right tools and resources a job can and will take longer than is needed causing frustration for the customer and the field service engineer and then causes a backlog of work leading to more frustrated customers and usually not hitting kpi targets

1- Right tools is very important to get the job done . 2- Try to find out the reason of Failure in the machines before go to attend 3- Go through Manuals ( it helps Engineer identify Problems ) and this is the Professional way to Do the Machine examination . 4- Never ever afraid of doing Experiment with the failure ,if you do mistakes you learn and if you learn from mistakes you won't repeat in future .. 5- Be confident while attend the machine .this is the most important key

One of the most important resources is OEM training, so that they are not only capable but are manufacturer certified to perform corrective and preventive maintenance.

Equipping your team with the right tools to do the job not only makes repairs efficient, but often gets more effective results. It shows your team that you’re willing to invest in them and accommodate their needs.

I would add, generally the field service people are away from office, colleagues main stream discussions and celebrations due to continuous travel to sites. One thing need to remember, they are physically also in front of the fire of the customer. So it is the manager’s responsibility to make sure they don’t feel left out. They are a valuable part of the company that needs to be told by various means. Like some gatherings of all people after a span. Take them out with other people. Encourage others vertical also to keep regular contact with them. Mostly as they don’t stay in sight, we miss to recognise them.

Well Maintained, Well Behaved, Well Educated, Well Defined. Whenever you are in field above expectations required. Service Man need to be Customer Oriented

Communication and collaboration should be both top-down and bottom-up. Management should regularly apprise the team of activities that affect their job duties, and engineers/technicians should be encouraged to voice concerns or contribute ideas to improve the performance of the team.

"Encountering a challenging or unfamiliar situation while trying to execute a task or perform repairs can be immensely frustrating. Seeking an additional perspective or having another set of eyes examine the problem often expedites finding a solution. This becomes particularly crucial for engineers during site visits to remote locations. Communication with colleagues or experts can untangle thoughts, providing a clearer mental path to troubleshoot effectively. Additionally, when collaborating with technicians and assistants, clear communication becomes indispensable for accomplishing the task at hand efficiently. Highlighting the need for teamwork, collective insights and communication significantly improve problem-solving in these cases.

In the field, workers spend roughly upto 75% of their active time. As a result of this fact, meaningful collaboration and communication are of essence to the continuous flow of activities in the field service engineering. I have actively been a field service personnel, and I have first hand knowledge and benefits of encouraging collaboration and communication amongst the team members. For the interest of the personnel and the job, I am in no doubt of the impact of this point and I dearly recommend it to the team. Ogoke Peter Royston O. [email protected]

A praise is just as good as a raise. Making sure each and every team member is recognized for the work they do. Yes they may say I'm just doing my job, but to keep a team motivated you need to ensure that the simplest of things are recognized. In the military we were taught you are only as strong as your weakest person. If you know your weakness, work on them and have the whole team involved.

Companies providing incentives or recognition or rewards have better outcomes and even attrition rate is too low due to employee satisfaction.

Acknowledging the contributions of a high-performing field service team through recognition and rewards is not just a gesture of appreciation but a strategic investment in team dynamics. Regularly acknowledging their efforts with positive feedback and praise fosters a sense of value and respect, enhancing team morale and cohesion. Additionally, providing tangible rewards such as incentives, bonuses, or perks serves as a powerful motivator, instilling a sense of loyalty and commitment among team members. This approach not only boosts immediate performance but also contributes significantly to long-term retention, creating a work environment where team members feel recognized, appreciated, and inspired to consistently excel.

Rewards are an important part of the motivation process and should include monetary rewards and a sign of achievement. Don't hesitate giving thanks to team members for each piece of work completed. Show them the importance of their work by providing them positive customer feedback. However, the reward system should be clear and based on trust. Fortunately, in engineering it is easy to define goals - these are on-time maintenance performed with high quality and/or a problem solved. The faster a job is done, the earlier you can start the next one, which means a bigger paycheck. But it requires good management, in some cases crisis management, to harmonize the requirements of the customer and the service company.

Recognizing and rewarding service personnel is one of the best form motivation that can be offered to them. It helps encourage them to put in their best and go the extra mile in making the customer happy.

In today's world of work, employees are far less interested in devoting all of their time to the organization, and much more interested in having a good work-life balance. It is important to respect the boundaries of employees, and encourage them to manage this work-life balance. In my experience, this leads to a more content and highly efficient team, with reduced job burnout. It also makes them more willing to "go the extra mile" when asked.

Give them plenty of personal time off. Servicemen snd women get burned out with too much travel and time away from home. Travel is not fun regardless of where you are going. Your body must adjust to the time changes and food choices.

It always begins with comprehensive training and ongoing education to enhance technical skills and customer service. Moreover, imagine nurturing your field service team like a garden of diverse, well-tended plants. Offer specialized training as the soil to enrich their skills, allowing them to grow and adapt. Use clear communication as the sunlight, ensuring every team member thrives in a transparent environment. Set performance metrics as the gardener's careful monitoring, ensuring each plant—each team member—blooms to their potential.

KRA Reports and dashboards also plays important role It helps to track and improve the quality, timelines etc. and further it leads to customer satisfaction. Such MIS dashboards also helps for self-realization and generates healthy competitions within the teams.

One thing i found helpful was to firstly employ the correct candidate. In my experience in training field service I found that having a diploma in electronics is not actually enough, for example. Knowing how to test current in circuit is all well and good because it was show to you numerous times. I believe technical and logical thinking will actually create a good field engineer. Must be able to actually see the issue and have a theoretical solution in mind before even applying a fix.