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Month: January 2021

January 6, 2021 | 1 Mins Read

Top 10 of 2020 Part 2

January 6, 2021 | 1 Mins Read

Top 10 of 2020 Part 2

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Here's the second half of our New Year's two-parter. To celebrate the end of a unique and challenging year, Sarah is joined by podcast producer and fellow website contributor, Tom Paquin, to discuss their favorite conversations and lessons from the past year.

Guests include:

  • Linda Tucci, Global Sr. Director of the Technical Solutions Center of Ortho Clinical
  • Reeve Bunn, President of DSL
  • Klaus Glatz, Chief Digital Officer of ANDRITZ
  • Sonya Lacore, VP of Infight Operations of Southwest Airlines
  • Mita Mallick, formerly the Head of Diversity and Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Marketing at Unilever and now the Head of Inclusion, Equity, and Impact at Carta

If you enjoy our content, be sure to visit www.futureoffieldservice.com

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January 4, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

Setting Intentions to Turn 2020’s Trials Into 2021 Triumphs

January 4, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

Setting Intentions to Turn 2020’s Trials Into 2021 Triumphs

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Fresh starts always feel good but kicking off 2021 brings a new level of relief. Now obviously challenges haven’t miraculously dissipated, but there is a sense of hope for what’s on the horizon. Let’s build from that and consider how we can use the trials of 2020 to set intentions for 2021 that will lead us to triumph. I do believe that there’s an opportunity for service businesses to come out on the other side of COVID stronger, more innovative, and more resilient than before. On the business side, here are three intentions for 2020 that I think are imperative to making that happen:

  1. Capitalize on the acceptance and open-mindedness that 2020 created. We discussed in one of our last podcasts of 2020 with Schneider Electric that we’re at an inflection point with service – the idea that the challenges of 2020 have created a greater acceptance of the strategic importance of service and an increased willingness to put a focus on service culture and service strategy within the business. This openness seems to be shared from the frontline workforce all the way to the C-suite, and it’s something that shouldn’t be wasted. In 2021, we need to capitalize on this openness and this inclination toward service by being ready to showcase all the ways service can be innovated and matured to improve the customer experience and add revenue. Being able to build upon the acceptance 2020 brought has the potential to catapult progress at a pace that seemed impossible a year ago.
  2. Evolve service offerings and service delivery. What ways did 2020 force you to get creative in serving your customers? Did you introduce or expand remote service? Did you learn how to make far more rapid decisions and become more agile? Did you create new service offerings? Don’t let the creativity and agility that 2020 forced upon your business be for naught. If remote service worked well for you in navigating COVID, work toward developing a remote-first service strategy as your standard. If you built confidence in making faster decisions and moving more quickly to innovate last year, continue that momentum. Did your customers respond well to service spend over capital investments or new service offerings? That shows you they too are open to bringing the future of service into the present.
  3. Modernize your technology stack. 2020 proved to those who’d invested in digital transformation just how imperative those investments are and illustrated for those lagging just how critical it is to catch up. A very important step in turning 2020’s trials into triumphs is making the effort to determine what is needed to truly modernize your technology stack. Do you have a cohesive platform in place or a piece-meal approach? Are you leveraging the benefits of cloud? Have you mastered the foundational elements of digital transformation so that you can begin to reap the benefits of the next generation of functionality? Each company’s starting point is different but putting focus in 2021 into determining what your technology stack is lacking and how it needs to be modernized is imperative.

Business lessons weren’t the only 2020 taught – service leaders as individuals learned a lot too and, as individuals, you should be setting your intentions for this year as well. Here are three suggestions to get you thinking:

  1. Create white space for long-term thinking. 2020 was a whirlwind and we all did a wonderful job just by surviving. We learned on the fly how to be more flexible, more creative, and more innovative. In 2021, we should try to take back some control of our time and create some white space for longer-term thinking. We know that service leadership is a delicate balancing act of solving immediate challenges while strategizing on how to build the future. What we don’t want is for the day-to-day to overshadow our time and attention on the future and creating white space that is dedicated to innovation is important.
  2. Practice vulnerability. We all became more connected as humans in 2020 and I think continuing and building upon that in 2021 will be a triumph. Being authentic and vulnerable as a leader will help you to create personal connections that not only help you in achieving your business outcomes but fulfill you as a human being.
  3. Prioritize self-care. 2020 was hard and we’re not out of the woods yet. To lead effectively, you must take care of yourself. Burnout is real and to avoid it, you need to be cognizant and respectful of your own needs. This looks different for everyone but take some time to tune in to what it is that makes you feel energize and rested and recharged and make sure you’re doing that.

Here’s to a triumphant 2021! I’m excited to be on the journey with you and look forward to telling many stories this year of how we’ve channeled the challenges of 2020 for good.

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January 1, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

What Did I Write About This Year?

January 1, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

What Did I Write About This Year?

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By Tom Paquin

I’ll spare everyone the cliched overtures about what a year we’ve had. We’ve all been enduring it, but there’s the potential of hope on the horizon. Given that 2020, on the whole, was mired by disruption of business-as-usual, with this wretched year now in the rearview, I wanted to take stock of exactly what it was that I, personally, spilled digital ink over this last year. Sarah wrote a lovely article in which she discusses many of her feelings on the last year, as well as some of her favorite pieces that she produced, and I encourage you to read that, if you haven’t. Here, on New Year’s Day, is my own.

The COVID Stuff

Perhaps unsurprisingly, beginning in mid-March, our year was inundated with content and stories about COVID—what businesses should do, what they are and will be doing, and how we, as a community, are working to make the best of a set of challenges and restrictions that few were adequately prepared for. We have a whole section of the website dedicated to this content, but here are some of the pieces that I think speak to the gravity of the situation, and where we go from here:

  • Our First Articles on the Subject (Here and Here): Sarah and I both took different perspectives when first tackling COVID-19, and while they’re now somewhat peculiar time capsules considering the immense speed of change that propelled us through the year, there are constants that run through both into today. At the end of my piece, I promise our readers that Sarah and I will see them at the next in-person service event. That has yet to happen, but I have high hopes we’ll be able to meet again in 2021.
  • The Story of Munters: Munters was a topic of frequent conversation for us during the early months of the crisis, as they were the first COVID success story, leveraging Remote Assistance from IFS to quickly keep operations afloat in spite of the pandemic’s restrictions. Even now that we’ve seen other businesses find success, Munters stands out with the speed and forward-thinking they employed to stay on top of things, and use a crisis to differentiate their business for the better (Also listen to Munters on the Podcast).
  • The Service Buyer’s Guide: COVID-19 Edition: Typically, when we write about business decisions, all roads lead to software, and that’s naturally adjusted our evaluations when planning for service software implementation. I think that the calculus of what makes service software has been permanently changed by COVID, and I tried to reflect that in this article.

The Weird Stuff

Perhaps as an antidote to the intense anxiety that this year caused me (on top of my, you know, regular anxiety), I had a little fun with my articles every few weeks. I think it’s useful, even with “serious” topics like complex business decisions, to inject a little levity wherever possible. I also like to take things that I’m passionate about outside of work and make them a component of what I’m passionate about at work. That’s what I’ve tried to do, and here are a few of the weirdest ones:

Back to Basics

The SEO-minded cynic in me knows that the most searched-for topic on service management is “What is Service Management?” and yes—that did initially inspire this lengthy series of articles. Moreover, though, I remembered what it was like to not know anything about service management software. Sarah and I both have shared stories about starting out in this field with little to no experience with the technology, and having to build a knowledge base from scratch. More than anything, I hope this series of articles saves someone the headaches that she and I went through a decade ago.

In spite of so many challenges, anxieties, lost sleep, and frustration throughout 2020, there’s still plenty of joy, hope, and thanks that this year has been able to offer. Much of it comes from being able to share thoughts, ideas, and stories here with all of you. In spite of the challenges, being part of the Future of Field Service Community through 2020 has been immeasurably special. Thanks for being part of this journey with us, and here’s to 2021.

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