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September 27, 2021 | 3 Mins Read

It’s Time for a Mental Health Check

September 27, 2021 | 3 Mins Read

It’s Time for a Mental Health Check

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Let me start by admitting a few things. I’ve been struggling lately – not every day, but a good amount of the time. I feel overwhelmed by inputs and decisions and stresses and underwhelmed at my options for turning any of it “off.” I feel a bit numb, almost like I’m watching myself do all of these things from a distance. Don’t get me wrong, I am not unhappy – I love my family, I love my work, and I have so much to be grateful for. But after two-under-two followed by a child diagnosed at age three with Type 1 diabetes followed by a global pandemic, I am more than a bit burnt out.

And here’s the thing, I think we all are. Yet it’s becoming harder to talk about mental health in the context of our current landscape because, well, what the hell do we say? The check-ins we all had early on in the pandemic were sprinkled with statements that perhaps we then believed, like “We can get through this!” or “The silver lining is…” or “When this is over…” No one wants to hear it anymore, myself included. Because eighteen months into this, platitudes are nothing but frustrating. But we’re still struggling, in fact many of us are struggling more. Chronic stress for a year and a half will do that.

Silence Isn’t the Answer

This is a major challenge when it comes to talking about mental health – we often don’t know what to say, so we don’t say anything. But silence is not the answer, and it is time for a mental health check. How are your work-from-home employees feeling? How are your frontline workers holding up? How are your peers faring? How are YOU? You don’t have to have a perfect response to ask a genuine question – in fact, you don’t have to have a response at all. Just listening helps. Alternatively, you don’t have to be asking any questions – you can simply share. Being honest about your own feelings encourages others to do the same.

I was talking with a connection last week and when we got onto Teams and exchanged “how are you’s?” we both sort of just shrugged. Once we got talking, we each opened up about how we’re feeling. How we are struggling at times, but then feel guilty verbalizing any of that struggle because we know many are struggling more. How we feel like we have to maintain an image of strength, for our families and our colleagues, even when we really need a break from being “tough.” It was an honest, vulnerable conversation – and it felt so good. It was the catalyst for writing this because I think that as the pandemic has gone on, we’ve become less communicative about this critically important topic.

So, I urge you, speak up and speak out. Talk to your people, check in on them with sincerity. Don’t worry about knowing how to respond, just focus on being present. If you aren’t comfortable asking the big questions and aren’t getting any more than a surface-level response with “how are you?” try to incorporate some small talk into your interactions to allow folks to feel more comfortable getting personal so that they can open up if they need to. And if it’s you that need to talk, don’t underestimate how much it might help both you and those around you to be the one to share. Please also know that I will always gladly make myself available for connection, camaraderie, and solidarity – reach out anytime.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month in the U.S. Please find resources and help here: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

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September 24, 2021 | 3 Mins Read

The State of the Service Workforce

September 24, 2021 | 3 Mins Read

The State of the Service Workforce

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By Tom Paquin

This is part of an ongoing series of articles about the current State of Service going into 2022, along with the contributing elements that have and will continue to impact the industry in the years ahead. Read this to get caught up:

The service workforce has been a fraught topic since years before the pandemic. Even back in 2018, service employee turnover was nearly 50%, meaning new training, aging employees, and job vacancies that sometimes remained unfilled for years.

And COVID-19 has certainly not improved situations, with an estimated 1 million more jobs than job seekers today. We’ve felt the impact of this in every sector, and service is by no means immune to these challenges. Taking manufacturing alone as a benchmark, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that job vacancies have more than doubled. We knew that this ramp-up was coming, but I don’t know that we were prepared for the secondary effects that COVID would have on the labor market.

Hiring for technical trades was already a challenge, but today, the challenge is doubly exacerbated by retraining, changing employee wants and expectations, and shifting business priorities. Businesses are increasingly closing the windows on their ability to hire their way out of labor shortages, as apprenticeships and other incentives can’t keep up with the pace of churn.

Because of this, businesses are rightly rethinking service from top to bottom, to support their current employees, attract more talent, and do more with less, sometimes next to nothing.

Doing Something with Nothing

Remote Assistance is now well-tread ground around here, so there’s not much of a surprise that RA utilities can do quite a bit to paper over an overextended staff, and permit less seasoned workers in the field tap resources in the backoffice in real-time.

An alternative to that is the inverse—put less tensured employees in front of a computer where they have their full reference library, and have them work through step-by-step repairs with on-site customers to resolve issues. Individuals are much more amenable to managing their own destiny, so in many respects, as little as a skeleton crew with minimal training can get a service brand through lean times. Yes that might seem like an extreme scenario, but for manufacturers, it might end up being a more viable option as organizations move away from repairs altogether.

The Death of Repair

We know that, on top of workplace challenges, businesses have an incentive to maximize the remittance of materials to their original point of origin. Here’s how I described it in the linked article:

So—if manufacturers are incentivized to invest in the circular economy, that means a couple of things:

  • Manufacturers are going to want parts to be reasonably intact upon extraction from a product
  • Manufacturers are going to want parts and products back as much as possible
  • The act of repair will, in many circumstances, be eclipsed by the act of remanufacturing goods into wholly new items

The first point here hinges upon a simple premise: Manufacturers are going to focus on increasing not only quality control, in order to mitigate repairs, but part modularity, in order to make the act of repair itself a different type of process. If, for example, you need to replace a shock absorber in your washing machine, rather than 3,200 proprietary screws, if the part’s locking mechanism is self-contained, it can easily be removed and replaced.

Making parts easier to replace also means less actual service appointments. Why? Because easier parts means easier on-site service. When things break, manufacturers can ship parts to customers, and provide the packaging to allow the broken part to be shipped back to the manufacturer, thus keeping it in the circular manufacturing loop. Add in tools like remote assistance and even moderately complex jobs can be completed without a truck roll or a local tech.

This reflects yet another avenue for organizations to consider when grappling with a reduced workforce, one that has the added benefit of lowering overhead costs for manufacturing, and allowing businesses to recoup resources from themselves, thus changing the nature of new, and building a more sustainable world. A real win-win.

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September 20, 2021 | 5 Mins Read

Key Observations from The Service Council Smarter Services Symposium 2021

September 20, 2021 | 5 Mins Read

Key Observations from The Service Council Smarter Services Symposium 2021

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Last week I boarded a flight to Chicago for my first in-person conference in more than 18 months. When I walked into the Smarter Services Symposium at the Loew’s Hotel, it was quite honestly surreal at first. Greeting others with masks and the uncertainty of whether or not to shake hands or bump elbows felt awkward and almost had me wishing for the home-office comfort zone of my leggings and Teams meetings. Almost. It didn’t take long for me to reacclimate and realize just how good it felt to be reunited with friendly faces and to meet some new.

The energy and excitement around being back together in person was palpable – there were proper precautions in place, and for those who did decide to attend the event in person, any initial awkwardness was quickly replaced with an appreciation for the reunion of the community. In-person attendance, which was lighter than pre-Covid events, was bolstered with video cameos and attendees viewing the livestream.

The three-day event was more than just warm-fuzzies and cocktails, though there was plenty of both. Sessions featured insights from members of The Service Council’s board and then some, and many were led by the energetic team of the Nour Group. Topics included the theme “Service is Humanity” as well as discussions on all of the major trends you’d assume be incorporated: customer centricity, employee engagement, diversity, innovation, digital transformation, the talent gap, the future of work, as-a-Service models, and more.

While these are all topics we cover regularly here at Future of Field Service, I didn’t spend the three days bored. As I find is typically the case at these events, even if what’s being discussed at a high level are key trends you’re familiar with, there’s always a new perspective, point, or nugget of insight to walk away with. That said, here are what stood out to me as my key observations from the event.

#1: Innovation Demands Accountability

I hosted a 90-minute workshop at the event alongside Joni Chapas, VP of Field Operations at Brinks Home. You may remember Joni from her podcast on how Brinks Home is fueling innovation, and this session was a more in-depth discussion around this topic. We shared some of each of our stories, and then opened it up for an interactive talk around what’s driving innovation within service, what key areas of strategy are essential for successful innovation, how is innovation most effectively tackled, and what are some lessons learned.

One of the most important takeaways from this session is that innovation demands accountability. At Brinks Home, Joni’s team was created to work alongside operations to collaboratively drive innovation. The company recognizes that the operational leaders need to focus on operational excellence, but that innovation is still imperative – so the team was created to extract insight from those leaders on what innovation is needed, but to work solely on driving that innovation and strategic alignment surrounding it.

Whether accountability at your organization is achieved through a dedicated team like what Brinks Home has done or in another way, the point is that we can’t expect to innovate at the pace we need to by simply expecting the leaders already responsible for so much to just add it on top and “get to it when they can.” It’s unfair to place the burden for your company’s future entirely on the shoulders of those who are already overtaxed trying to maintain its present.

#2: Pressing Pause is Better Than Racing Recklessly

Eduardo Bonefont, VP of Life Sciences Technical Services at BD, spoke on day one about the Future of Service and how the company’s people, processes, and tools play a role. He had some excellent points around the importance of manager accountability, creating a speak-up culture, and how to prioritize various projects and objectives.

Part of Eduardo’s discussion that I found especially impactful was him relaying how BD took a “pause year” of introducing new tools to gather feedback, clarify areas of priority, and create a cohesive strategy. While the idea of a pause year may sound challenging for some, the reality is that undoing the negative impact of racing ahead when you truly aren’t ready or aligned is far harder. I loved this idea of pressing pause long enough to examine, reassess, and align.

#3: Your Customers Don’t Want Service

To kick off day two, Mike Adams, SVP of Services Delivery at NCR Corporation, spoke about Servitization. One of the first sentences of his presentation is my favorite quote of the entire event: “Our customers don’t want service; they just want their equipment to work – all the time.” To me, understanding the significance of this statement – and the action it requires from service businesses – is the core of Servitization success.

Your customers don’t want your service – they want results, outcomes, peace of mind. They want guarantees, they want less stress. This doesn’t mean, of course, that they don’t need your service – but it changes the game in terms of what the value proposition is, how service needs to be delivered, and what will achieve customer loyalty. Mike went on to deliver far more gold in his session that illustrated the depth of his experience, but this was by far my favorite point.

#4: Disruption is Inevitable, By Force or By Choice

In a panel discussion on innovation, James Mylett, SVP of Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric, said of his company, “You have to dare to disrupt. Innovation is our middle name – we think fact and act faster.” This attitude alone takes energy and effort, not to mention the cultural, procedural, and technological steps necessary to make fast action a reality. But James is 100% right – you do have to dare to disrupt. Because if you don’t, the disruption will come anyway – by force. And it is far harder to come back from that type of disruption than it is to proactively master the art of disrupting by choice.

#5: The Story is More Important Than the Strategy

Karin Hamel, VP of Services for U.S. Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric, did a session on day three with David Nour and Lin Wilson of the Nour Group to discuss – and show – how she’s worked to visualize strategy to create employee buy-in. Karin spoke to how much unnecessary complexity and corporate speak are put into communications with the frontline workforce that work against the mission of clarity and authenticity.

By simplifying and illustrating key points, Schneider Electric has been able to create a message that resonates far better with its workforce. The focus is on the story, not the detailed strategy, which helps employees connect more and understand better the key aspects that are important and matter most to them. Obviously, there’s strategy here, too, but Karin’s point – and it’s a great one – is that the story is more important and often overlooked. Leading with story gets people to listen and care, which makes the strategy part far smoother.

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September 13, 2021 | 6 Mins Read

5 Musts for Leaders to Increase Digital Proficiency

September 13, 2021 | 6 Mins Read

5 Musts for Leaders to Increase Digital Proficiency

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I wrote an article not long ago on the need to build your digital “dream team,” but what exactly is the responsibility of leaders in our digital age? I spoke with Russell Masters, director of IT and analytics at DHU, a provider to the UK National Health Service, for this week’s podcast about the degree to which all leaders must develop digital capabilities. Does everyone need to be a digital expert? No, but all leaders need to reach a level of digital proficiency in some key areas.

Here's what Russell, who has worked in services for more than 20 years having notably been a part of helping build digital services at Rolls-Royce before joining DHU, has to say about the demand of leaders today to become more digitally adept: “It’s really challenging to take forward the blending of IT technology with the real world and go through what has effectively been a transition big IT to the more ubiquitous version of that which is digital. Every aspect of our life now is touched by some form of digital technology. And I would suggest that the generation of business leaders we have now are right at the forefront of being the first to take those big digital tools and technologies and deploy them into their companies, into their businesses and their teams at any real scale.”

While the digital era doesn’t require all leaders to be technical experts, it does require an effort to build more digital understanding and acumen and to think a bit differently about how you build, motivate, and measure teams who do have the technical digital skillsets you lack. Here are five key areas of focus when it comes to stepping up your leadership to be more digitally proficient.

#1: Acknowledge the Necessity

There’s no denying that digital is a front-and-center focus of every organization today. But there are leaders who feel they can leave this all “to the experts,” and this is a major misstep. It is necessary for all leaders to build a better understanding of digital so that they are able to see the opportunities it offers the company, set a strategy to digitally transform and evolve, and drive continual progress. It’s simply too critical an area of the business not to become more adept in.

“I'm probably part of one of the first generations of leaders who've really had to get their head round how do you take these digital tools and technologies and how do you deploy them successfully into your organization? With the complete democratization of those technologies, leaders are wrestling with how to make something really successful out of something that they probably haven't had a lot of chance to understand but know is incredibly important and being used by everyone everywhere to make their businesses better and more effective,” says Russell.

We’re talking about making sophisticated technology very simple for both employees and customers, and this requires immense knowledge and skill. While you don’t need to hold all of that knowledge and skill yourself, you certainly can’t opt out of educating yourself and improving your competence in such an important area.

#2: Know Your Role

While it is essential to put effort into building digital proficiency, that does not mean you need to become a technical expert. You need to find a balance of having ample understanding and capability, enough so that you can make important decisions and effectively lead a team, but not getting buried in a rabbit hole of feeling you need to become the #1 digital expert in your business. What’s the right balance for you between passing the buck (not acceptable) and feeling you must become a deep technical expert (likely not reasonable OR necessary)?

“I think the subject of digital technology starts, first and foremost, with some pretty super sophisticated content. And that can be really daunting when you're starting to contemplate how do you take digital forward,” says Russell. “And there's always a sense and a concern that really maybe you have to actually be a developer yourself to be able to be effective in these areas, maybe actually have to understand architecture. This concern is a barrier that can get in the way for a lot of leaders. The truth is, you do need to know something about the technology, and you do need to find a way of interacting with the many, many technical people that you'll meet. To be more digitally enabled, you need to understand the subject matter a bit more but not to be too worried about knowing it to the Nth degree.”

#3: Learn (and Respect) the Language

This means that the path to building digital proficiency for most leaders has a lot to do with increasing your digital acumen and focusing on creating a common language around digital within your organization to ensure everyone stays aligned. Growing your understanding and building this common language is what allows you to participate at a productive level in all key decisions and progress without needing to get lost in the weeds of the deep details.

“You do need to know enough about the technology to make yourself educated and informed, but you don't have to be the expert,” says Russell. “This comes from learning to ask intelligent questions and learning to pick out the areas where maybe it's worth digging into a big deeper. This is a far more valuable skill than, for example, taking yourself back to night school and learning all about cloud architecture. Your job is to become familiar and converse in the broad language and be able to know who to speak to about which challenge and which issue, and to learn how to bring those people together in a way that drives towards a common goal. Much the same as if you're building a house, you wouldn't lecture your architect on where to put the beams and how deep the footings would be, you trust that they know how to do their job. But you'd certainly have an opinion on what the outcome should look like.”

#4: Build a Team You Trust (and Trusts You)

While you should not shirk your responsibility to grow your digital understanding and abilities, you need to use that understanding to build strength in the technical layers that are beyond what your role requires. Good leaders know enough to define the digital strengths needed and focus on hiring a team that delivers these skills that they can trust. This trust is important, because you won’t know all of the details they do – so you need to trust their abilities and make them feel empowered to accomplish the objectives, and they need to trust your leadership and feel adequately valued.

“Your first focus should be building a great team,” says Russell. “Having built that great team, you've got to trust that that team can do the task that you put them together for. Now, by the same account, you still have to be there and show up every day and show interest and drive the energy. As a leader, your job in a number of ways is to just pour constant amounts of energy into those projects. It can be really difficult when you're leading a big project to understand how far do you go in demonstrating that you're committed and care about it and you're willing to take action and participate and how do you make sure you don't go too far and stifle the creativity and the enthusiasm and the ownership of the team around you?” This is where you use your knowledge to guide, motivate, and empower versus control or micromanage.

#5: Measure Outcomes

Russell was adamant that one of the biggest changes in digital leadership is adjusting to a different way of measuring contribution, where you’re focusing more on outcomes and less on tasks. “Digital leaders must get better at working towards outcomes. This starts with enabling the team to understand those outcomes and then really supporting and empowering them, moving away from a culture where you're the one making all the decisions and you're the one driving all the actions to the one where you're more making the team accountable for the outcome that you'll need to deliver and fostering a culture where we all work together to achieve an end result,” he explains.

This can require a shift in management philosophy and even company culture but is far more aligned to making progress the way you need to with digital projects and digital talent. “These ways of working are not necessarily well understood or well-practiced everywhere but moving away from action to outcome and focusing on creating the right culture and collaborative spirit with the right team is what leads to success in this digital age.”

Stay tuned for far more insights on this week’s podcast.

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September 10, 2021 | 2 Mins Read

The State of Connected Assets

September 10, 2021 | 2 Mins Read

The State of Connected Assets

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By Tom Paquin

This is part of an ongoing series of articles about the current State of Service going into 2022, along with the contributing elements that have and will continue to impact the industry in the years ahead. Read this to get caught up:

A few years back at Field Service USA, a group of service professionals were discussing how comparatively subdued talk of IoT was, that year. This was the first indication in a long time that the concept of connected assets was finally moving from buzzword to ubiquitous component of service delivery. Comparatively mundane. But that is not to say that the story of IoT has ended, nor that we’ve reached a fully saturated market. It merely represents how our perspective has moved away from “let’s connect everything” to “What can I connect to be more successful?”

And that defines the current state of connected IoT—practicality trumps novelty for connected assets. Organizations are making informed decisions about what to connect to—not going to market with app-enabled coffee mugs.

Oh wait they’re still doing that? Never mind. BUT—in industrial applications, IoT adoption now is engineered around a few core capabilities. Let’s discuss some of them.

True Predictive
We often talk in abstractions about how predictive systems work with connected assets: If you see one weed on your lawn, we can extrapolate that in a week, you’ll have a dozen weeds. But what does that actually measure? The reality is that for most industrial assets, the amount of data generated by any one device is far too much to manage. So how do you extrapolate from that data what normal processes look like, build benchmarks and contingencies for repair, and make the right decisions for your customers?

At the very base level, you need to ensure that your assets are accurately measuring data. Once that has been established, you need a way to clean that data fast and actionalize it without it sitting, untouched, in a data lake. The solution for that is of course thoughtful AI processing, which, when given the opportunity to study practical business processes can cleanse data and form a complex web of conditional guidelines that can, in turn, automate job assignment, or inform remote repairs.

Augmented Augmented Reality
With those systems effectively in place, calibrated to understand your processes, you now have a new channel of service resolution that goes a step beyond basic remote assistance and telestration. By combining visuals for repair with back-end conditions, you have the ability to show someone how to resolve issues while understanding, on the back-end, what isn’t working, how to get it up and running, and what it’ll look like when it’s working. There are a myriad of business efficiencies that are inherently derived from this. Leveraging them will allow an organization to offer more value to their customers while simultaneously improving margins.

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September 6, 2021 | 6 Mins Read

Where Servitization and Sustainability Converge

September 6, 2021 | 6 Mins Read

Where Servitization and Sustainability Converge

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

On this week’s podcast, I welcome Dr. Andreas Schroeder, Digital Lead of The Advanced Services Group at Aston Business School back to discuss the ways in which Servitization and sustainability are linked. The Advanced Services Group is preparing for its Servitization Live event, which runs October 4-6 in a hybrid format, and sustainability is one of the major themes being covered.

According to Dr. Schroeder, sustainability and Servitization are closely linked and companies with interest in either area should understand the connection. “The way I understand sustainability, there are societal obligations, and then, of course, companies have their own strategies,” he ways. “What I argue is that these are not contradictive to each other. A good-run business, or specifically a business that tries to move into the advanced services space, naturally needs and contributes to sustainability objectives. These are not two diverging interests that need to be balanced out. The interesting thing is that these are very well, and very nicely, aligned.”

The Advanced Services Group has seen an increase in Servitization efforts driven by sustainability-related motivation. “There are different kinds of motivations driving Servitization,” says Dr. Schroeder. “Quite a number of them come from the digital angle – companies that have digitized products and are looking for business models that help drive more value out of the investment in digital. The other bucket is companies that have an edge in product innovation but are feeling competition creep up and are getting squeezed on price, so they look to Servitization to make use of innovation and expertise without having to compete on price. Now, though, we see also where companies literally see the absolute need – the constraints that the traditional business models put on the way they can interact with customers.”

In London, for instance, there are a number of industries being impacted by sustainability-driven legislation that need to completely reimagine their business to comply. “Every manufacturer will have to meet these new requirements and all the alternative technologies are electronic-based. They will be more expensive, more difficult to maintain, require different kinds of care, and do not fit traditional models. This means companies coming to us and saying, ‘We see how the market is being constrained for us,’ for the right reasons, they don't even blame legislators for it. Again, coming not from altruistic motives, but somebody as a leader of a business that needs to make sure that they have a business in 15 years' time,” describes Dr. Schroeder.

Exploring the Intersection Points

Whether you’re feeling the pressures of legislative change related to sustainability initiatives, or simply have a commitment to making a positive impact, Servitization is a lever to explore. However, even if sustainability isn’t a key driver for you at the moment, understanding how Servitization based strictly on the business decision will have an impact on sustainability is interesting to explore and, I’d argue, important to understand. So, let’s examine some of the intersection points.

First, products developed with the goal of Servitization and delivering outcomes in mind will be more sustainable than those developed with the restriction of prioritizing acquisition cost. In a traditional model, products are designed and manufactured to the degree that the market will bear in the sense of selling that product under a traditional, capital-based sales model. This naturally puts certain restrictions on innovation because it would take the product beyond its tolerated price point.

But in the Servitization model, where the manufacturer is retaining ownership of the product and responsible for delivering the outcome, it often makes sense to invest more in the production of the product to extend its lifecycle, because ultimately, they are now benefiting from that longer-term view. Innovation now will help them in terms of their ultimate profits in the way that the market won't bare on a capital-expenditure model.

“In a traditional business model, the objective is to make a profit margin, of course. The objective for design is not necessarily to look at the full lifecycle of the product. The objective of design and production of the product is to make it attractive for purchase. There will be a lot of innovations that companies would have in their drawers that would not meet the price point that they've identified for their customers, so these will not be developed,” explains Dr. Schroeder. “When we look at a change of business model, from a product to a Servitization context, a lot changes. The objective is not to design to sell for an immediate price point, but to be able to deliver services on the back of a product for a longer period of time. The Servitization contracts we're looking at are 10-year contracts where the company designs a product, and knows that they are responsible for its use, and service, and outcome, and possibly efficiency for a ten-year period. They will naturally design the product in a different way.”

The freedom to design differently results in longer lasting and easier-to-use products. “When we look at developing products in a Servitized context, there is no interest in companies having to replace products repeatedly, there is no interest in that. The interest there is efficiently, in an optimized way, maintaining this product in use, because they benefit from products in use, not products in sale,” says Dr. Schroeder. “The other part is, again, every service, every repair, is now to the detriment of the manufacturer. It's a cost to the manufacturer, so they will design in a way that things naturally are easier to service.”

But the impact isn’t just on product design and production, it is also on product use. “When the product is being managed by somebody who has designed the product to be longer lasting, who has penalties around inefficiencies, there will be more focus on maintaining and making sure the product runs on maximum efficiency. That's where the digital part comes in, a lot of monitoring along the side to ensure that this is in place,” explains Dr. Schroeder. “These are some of sustainability benefits of Servitization that are part of the business model. They are not an extra, kind of an ethical or moral obligation, this is to optimize the business of the manufacturers in advanced services context.”

While for many Servitization’s impact on sustainability may be a happenstance of a financially versus environmentally driven business decision, the reality is that sustainability will inevitably become more of a driver. Some companies are already feeling this pressure, or proactively taking these steps, but for those that aren’t this is an opportunity to be proactive versus reactive and to give yourself some headway to make necessary changes. “This dimension will expand. As an example, in the UK we now have legislation that by 2025 no gas boilers can be installed in new houses. For a manufacturer of gas boilers that means if they don't change technology, they have no business. Forget about the moral obligation and the environment constraints of gas boilers, from the legislative point of view they do not have a business within four years' time. They are looking at more advanced technology, but these options are more expensive, more difficult to manage, and require more looking after than traditional gas boilers,” explains Dr. Schroeder. “They are now turning to advanced services to make sure that their higher-value technology can still be put into market. Americans have similar sustainability goals – in nine years' time, 50% reduction of CO2 emissions. There will be, if there aren’t yet, significant legislation coming out and new technologies coming on the market to meet these goals. If the goals are met or not, the legislation will be there, incentives will be there, and the penalties will be there. Again, we are in the space where new technologies, as I described with the gas boilers, come onto market, possibly at a different price point, requiring new business models for these companies to remain viable.”

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The State of Field Service Management Software

September 3, 2021 | 3 Mins Read

The State of Field Service Management Software

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By Tom Paquin

This is part of an ongoing series of articles about the current State of Service going into 2022, along with the contributing elements that have and will continue to impact the industry in the years ahead. Read this to get caught up:

While last week we spoke specifically about how the service stack has been impacted by COVID, and gave a fairly comprehensive rundown of the features and functions that define best-in-class, we’re now going to take that towards looking at service software trends as they relate holistically to the product.

We know that service technology, like anything, can get bogged down in the novelty of new and exciting technologies, which are often solutions in search of problems. The last few years have provided us all with the opportunity to separate the gimmick from the true tools for differentiation, and this year, there are certainly some standout insights that we should explore:

Cloud Hype Continues to Wear Off
Is the ubiquity of cloud with us permanently? I would imagine, unless an EMP wipes out all electronic devices tomorrow and Future of Field Service needs to transition to a print publication, that the answer is yes. And while business models for software companies inevitably want you to invest in cloud software (preferably by subscription)l the actual business models of service companies sometimes don’t support that.

Still, forward-thinking companies realize that deployment flexibility is often key. That flexibility keeps your business on a regular update cadence, and ensures that you get the support that you need in the day-to-day. This hybrid-izes the cloud model into a container-oriented model. Containerization offers a greater threshold of control. You can run the cloud instance multi-tenant, on a cloud platform of your choice, or on your private server in the server room. Ultimate flexibility.

Is Automation Coming to the Physical World?
Self-driving cars haven’t taken off with the expedience that one would have anticipated five years ago, but we’ve spoken about how automation will take us to this place eventually, allowing technicians to work, eat, or relax while their van gets them to their next appointment. But we’ve also talked about Roomba-like autonomous workers designed to allow for completely zero-touch service. This has seemed like science fiction, but with delivery, we’ve already reached the era of automated service.

While I don’t expect R2-D2 to roll over to a terminal and fix the hyperdrive, I would expect that within a few years, the concept of a drone supporting shared view and remote assistance will become part of the conversation. Getting a high-level view in energy production, for instance, can safely provide a view for workers to validate and enrich IoT capabilities. This may all sound a bit silly today, but as drones become cheaper, easier to use, and more precise, their first stop will be a service visit.

Do You Have the Big Picture?
We talk about this all the time, but there’s no excuse, in 2021 to not have all of your service processes integrated in your broader stack of technologies.

I will say that I would not advise doing so under a single product banner. What happens with an all-in-one shop is that you end up with a wide breath of superficial functions that require compromises in order to get them to fit into your business. As we’ve noted before, this is why a more specialized solution is more likely to fit the contours of your business. Through integrations, combining that system with your broader infrastructure, you can get a much more effective top-down view of how your service practice fits within the context of your broader business structure. In a world of increased interconnectivity, this is becoming increasingly imperative, which brings me to the final point.

Mastering Multiexperience
Mobility is a fully mature business function today. As are PCs, tablets connected assets, telephone lines, and numerous additional functions. Both customers and technicians require a unified experience that passes through each of these functions. For customers, this means mastering CE systems. For technicians, this means full mobile functionality and a 1:1 desktop-to-mobile view. Not doing this now means that you’re already falling behind. Service companies owe it to their customers, and their workforce to get this right.

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August 30, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

Actually, Technology is the Easy Part

August 30, 2021 | 4 Mins Read

Actually, Technology is the Easy Part

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Throughout my career I’ve been asked countless times about how companies can master the complexities of technology and I’ve always answered the same way: “Actually, technology is the easy part.” When I first gave this answer, it had a different meaning than it does today – but nonetheless, it holds true.

As we find ourselves surrounded by disruption and working hard to innovate and adapt, we must acknowledge that people are the crux of our success or failure. Digital technology is the great enabler, but there’s a lot that it isn’t – it isn’t our spark, it isn’t our heart, and it isn’t the face of our brand. Our people are. And the glancing over of this fact is becoming a significant problem, especially as it compounds the concerning challenge of the talent gap.

Put People in Focus

Technology has dominated the focus of our innovation efforts for some time, and with good reason. As organizations sought to become digitally adept, setting our sights on technology as the driver of innovation was appropriate. But with a more level digital playing field and new facets of disruption entering the mix, we need to temper our innovation efforts with a greater focus on the role our people will play.

In the new era of delivering outcomes, connectivity, asset intelligence, and preemptive action are critical – but so too are the art of building rapport, confidence, and being viewed as a trusted advisor. As we continue to advance our digital landscape with tools like AI and ML to increase automation and improve business intelligence, we must recognize how the role of our frontline worker shifts more to that of a knowledge worker.

We must also acknowledge the harsh reality that COVID has left us with, which is that while the need we have for our frontline workers to embrace change is higher than ever before – their capacity for it may be frighteningly low. The pandemic has left us all stressed, scared, and feeling burnt out. That isn’t a great baseline from which to ask your employees for something new, for something more, but that is where we are – and that reality makes it even more crucial for us to put our people in the center of our focus.

For those who thrive in the linear land of technology evaluation and data-driven decision making, and struggle to grasp the less structured realm of feelings and emotions, this article may be causing some angst. Here are my thoughts on where to start when it comes to bringing your people, and their needs, front and center:

  • Compassion. Start by stepping back, picturing yourself in your frontline workers’ shoes, and just thinking about how they may feel. Understand what their career has looked like thus far, and how different what you’re asking them to do as the company innovates and evolves really is. Acknowledge the emotions that may bring to the surface – anxiety, fear, frustration, concern, excitement, overwhelm, etc. – and broach your interactions with a sense of compassion about what your innovative objectives feel like from their end.
  • Consensus. Understand that no one likes to feel as though things are happening to them; they want to be a part of the change, not the recipient of it. Moreover, as your needs and expectations of your frontline shift and you ask them to take on the role of trusted advisor, know that their insights and input are absolutely integral to your strategy and evolution. Treat them as such, perhaps even before you reach that point. If they feel a part of the journey from the beginning, they’ll not only experience less negative emotion, but they will add far more value along the way.
  • Camaraderie. We all want to feel as though we’re a part of something. Often a frontline worker spends his or her days solo, and the events of the last 18 months have made many of us feel isolated in different ways than we ever have before. Looking for opportunities to foster a sense of camaraderie and community among your workforce can help employees feel more connected to one another, your company, and its mission and increase your chances of their buy-in and emotional wellbeing.
  • Coaching. Many companies prioritize training in their change management strategies, but when you think about the depth of change at play in service evolution today, it requires more than the classroom instruction that the addition of a new tool would. This is why I think coaching is a more appropriate approach – training is a part of this, but not the whole. Coaching is more interactive, it is more ongoing, and it helps employees to feel you’re more invested in their success.
  • Communication, but make it two-way. Communication is another area of change management that is commonly acknowledged and addressed, but it isn’t as bidirectional as it should be. Often companies focus efforts on communicating the “why” without seeking to understand any of the “what do you think?” afterward. As your service moves beyond transactional, so too should your relationship with your frontline workers you’re entrusting to lead your company’s evolution. Communicate, but not just in the sense of delivering a message – ask, and then listen. Authentically, thoughtfully, and with the intent to act on the feedback and feelings you hear.

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August 27, 2021 | 5 Mins Read

State of Service: The Post-COVID Service Technology Stack

August 27, 2021 | 5 Mins Read

State of Service: The Post-COVID Service Technology Stack

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By Tom Paquin

Earlier this year, we ran a series of articles about the current paradigm of living with COVID, which covered the organizational, structural, and interpersonal considerations that businesses in the service sector should focus their attention on as our relationship to the pandemic continues to evolve. Even though those articles are only three months old, much of the observations, transient as they are, seem quaint given the continuous evolutions of our current moment. In contrast, we can now observe the investments and customer changes that have changes over the last nearly two years and draw some assessments about the current and future state of technology for service. There are a few angles that need to be observed before we dive into a comprehensive list.

The Customer Service Angle

We’ve also spoken about how COVID has accelerated digital transformation efforts for businesses. This is harder to quantify in terms of specific capabilities, and functions more on how those capabilities—and new ones—should be calibrated to adapt to this new reality. For instance, consumer sentiment for multi-channel interactions has increased substantially, especially with respect to the internet. In the world of food delivery, “Shadow Kitchens” now offer entirely online experiences for delivery and remittance of food.

Service, too, has an imperative to ease the burdens of appointment booking. This can be chatbots, or online portals, but sophisticated organizations of course have deployed systems of connected assets to alert service organizations at the root of an issue, mitigate downtime, and do pre-diagnostics to shorten appointment times.

The Operational Angle

We’ve also talked extensively about how COVID immediately made the business case for remote assistance. Obviously, this served an immediate purpose in the face of lockdowns and travel restrictions, and that purpose changed. Remote assistance now serves a means to mitigate unnecessary truck rolls for easily-resolved issues and planned maintenance (or touch-free inspections that would have requires an on-site visit). Further, it functions as a means to limit workforce challenges that businesses have, challenges that have been exacerbated by COVID, causing supply chain bottlenecks and limits on the amount of appointments that organizations can take through traditional means.

Today’s Service Capability Stack

So—we’ve seen a shift in customer expectations, and that shift has been met with a broad set of operational advancements. While this was true before COVID, and will be true after, the baseline expectations of what customers want has invariably changes. With all of that in mind, lets look holistically the current key capabilities for field service, what they do in plain terms, and, based on our experiences and changes over the last two years, what defines the best-in-class.

CapabilityWhat it doesWhat defines best-in-class
Service ticket managementCatalogs all active and closed tickets and ticket history across the service business.Leaders unify this process across all channels of service delivery and provide external services like performance dashboards, as well as automatic ticketing and closing.
Pricing and billingProvide point-of-sale functionality, purchase order, and account functionality to field workers.The maturity of these systems means that all should have the ability to process purchase orders and credit transactions, build tabulated account views, and appropriately automate communication for late payments.
SLA managementIncorporate and outline various contract requirements in the system and use them to inform and prioritize service delivery.Automate SLA requirements into planning, scheduling, and routing; subdivide SLA requirements by region, business use case, or technician, and provide all necessary tools for outcomes-based service delivery.
Warranty managementCatalog and maintain records of product warranties and expectations.Automate renewal cadence, build complex repair-or-replace options for technicians to provide to customers.
Performance managementLog, analyze, and present technician performance across a variety of metrics that are prioritized by the firm.Consolidate data from not just the service practice, but across the serviceable assets and backoffice to provide a concise view of the business with minimal customization.
Knowledge managementDeliver on-site information to service technicians to ensure an understanding of repair processes, customer requirements, and business functionality.Provide opportunities for shared view and augmented reality. Additionally, use IoT and appointment data to prepopulate the necessary instructions and guidelines automatically.
Repair managementLog, route, and notate all instances of on and off-site repairs, and benchmark that history against any client requirements.Track repair process in real-time across channels, both internally, through dealers, as well as external partners.
Asset managementReview output and health of serviceable assets in the field.Predict service interruptions and automate service appointments before an asset breaks down based on historical sensor data.
Mobile field serviceAccess to service management capabilities on a job site via mobile device, rugged device, or tablet.1:1 mobile and desktop functionality for all systems, including knowledge management, parts management, and all aspects of service delivery.
Planning toolsBuilding long-term headcount and capacity plans for back office and field workers.AI-powered optimization allowing for multi-time horizon planning that extends past days, to weeks, months, and years, allowing businesses to set projected capacity and make decisions in advance.
Parts managementInventory, location, and stock level tracking.Ability to track across warehouses, technician vehicles, depot, and any other location that parts many be found to ensure quickest turnaround. Part allocation recommendations built into the scheduling tool based on appointment data.
Reverse logisticsTracking, managing, and optimizing returns and repairs.Multi-channel visibility across internal and external depots and warehouses. Ability to evaluate repair efficacy for customers in real-time to help facilitate informed decisions.
Driver routingMaximizing efficient appointment delivery by reviewing appointment locations.AI-powered utilities to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in technician behaviors, ability to set business rules and prioritize appointments and benchmarks and route technicians to maximize performance along those criteria.
SchedulingPrioritizing customer appointments alongside service needs.AI-powered scheduling optimization that automates scheduling with respect to all SLA, regional, and incidental requirements and restrictions.
SimulationsField "what if?" scenarios and their impact on headcount, profitability, and other metrics.This capability itself is typically a hallmark of best-in-class planning and scheduling optimization.
Enterprise resource managementManagement of internal business capabilities outside the direct delivery of service.Comprehensive lifecycle, performance and investment planning across all business functions in a unified platform environment.
Omni-channel contact centerProvide multiple ways for customers to interact with the business after the sale has completed.Unified call logs and chat histories are automatically applied to customer information; Channels include phone, online, MMS, and app-based messaging, enhanced by AI.
Chatbots and virtual assistantsAI-driven utilities for customer communications.Automated escalation and sophisticated voice recognition, ability to provide zero-touch appointment scheduling without the intercession of a human.
Customer service CRMCustomer profile and interaction management at the firm, business unit, and individual level.Automated functionality for routine service booking and marketing utilities.
Unified desktop supportConsolidated back office functionality in a single application.End-to-end compatibility with all utilities in your service stack.
Customer self-serviceSelf-resolution options for customers.Multiple channels of delivery, including phone, online, and mobile, enhanced through emerging tech where appropriate. Built-in triggers to transfer to technicians for more complex service needs.
Remote assistanceResolve service issues without dispatching a technician where possible.AR-enabled shared view that goes beyond telestration to actual collaboration. The best of the best are further enhanced by IoT functionality.

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Whose Responsibility Is Service Innovation?

August 23, 2021 | 5 Mins Read

Whose Responsibility Is Service Innovation?

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I wrote an article a couple of years ago about the dichotomy of service leadership, discussing how – as the need for innovation in service has increased – we have put unfair expectations on our service leaders to be masters at both operational excellence and innovation. Now, I do believe that innovation is everyone’s responsibility – but only to a degree.

What I mean is that the expectation for a service leader to contribute to innovation is fair, particularly because they often have a very strong view of what customers need and what the company needs to change to better meet those needs. However, the expectation that the service leader bear full responsibility for that innovation is not fair. Two years ago, when I wrote that article, that did seem to be the expectation in many instances: “Oh hey – please ensure we continue to meet our operational objectives, but can you also work on determining how we need to evolve the business to succeed over the next one to five years and start making those changes, too?”

Luckily, it seems that collectively organizations have begun to realize that putting the weight of innovation on the shoulders of operational leaders alone isn’t realistic. Companies have realized the strategic value of service to the business, and as such the function has become less siloed. Further, digital transformation is also eliminating siloes within companies because they realize the need to look at these opportunities more holistically to achieve success.

The recognition of the breadth of innovation needs as well as the importance of digital have not only begun to break down siloes but have also increase acknowledgement that, while everyone should be responsible for contributing to innovation, a dedicated person or team needs to exist to spearhead it. We see many organizations introducing new titles, like a VP of Innovation or a VP of Transformation, who sit across a number of functions to drive alignment on strategic, innovative, and technological efforts.

Operational Excellence vs. Innovation

One example of this approach you’ll hear in more detail on this week’s podcast, from Joni Chapas of Brinks Home. Joni’s team was put in place to work alongside operational leaders to drive innovation and ensure strategic alignment; to listen to their insights and weigh their expertise, but take the responsibility of research, strategy, and execution off their shoulders so that they can continue to focus on operational excellence. “In operations, there's always a fire that's closer to you than that smoldering ember that's out in the woods. Now that smoldering ember might end up being what's going to lead to the forest fire that really can be truly, severely detrimental if you don't stay on top of it. But before you can even look to that, you have to be dealing with what's in front of you,” says Joni. “So, we have things like that that are flashing before these operational leaders, their eyes to make sure they're keeping up with those day in day out, minute by minutes stats of how things are going. Then to also expect that, oh, and hey, and by the way, in the next quarter, next year, we need to see this overall improvement in those metrics, it's kind of tough for them to have that dual focus.”

A dual focus won’t elicit the level of innovation most organizations need to achieve today to maintain competitive differentiation, and this is why Brinks Home created the team Joni leads. “The idea of my team is really to partner with and work alongside operations, so that we can have more of the eye on the future, while they're focusing more on the near term and what's right in front of their face,” she explains. “There’s the ever, ever evolving future field service, just like what this whole series is about, that you have to keep an eye on, and you have to look to the future, and you have to innovate, or your business is not going to be successful. But you also have to take care of the day-to-day. Both are important, so this approach allows us to eliminate a divided focus and give each area ample attention.”

Innovative ideas can come from anyone, but innovative efforts take significant time and work. As companies look to become more innovative, they must realize that it isn’t a magical process of idea to reality – there’s layers of research, analysis, strategy, and execution that are required.  “There are a lot of pieces that are critical to the success of longer-range projects. If you have a leader that is also responsible for day-to-day metrics, some of that will probably start slipping through the cracks. Not because they're not capable, but because of the timeframe that they have, that they probably aren't able to get to as thorough of analysis as they might like here. Or maybe the communication piece or coordination with other parts of the organization maybe falls through the cracks a little bit,” says Joni.

One recent example is Brinks Home’s decision to invest in IFS to support its field service operations. “We worked with both field service and IT to align objectives and then began the RFP process. Anyone who has done an RFP process knows there's a whole lot of work putting together the information on what are the requirements and what's needed, identifying vendors that are going to participate, reviewing their responses, doing Q & A sessions with them, getting demos, and putting together some cost benefits and ROI information,” explains Joni. “We also want to think ahead to a tool that not only will address that specific need, but will grow with us, and that has additional modules, functionality, and a roadmap that aligns with Brinks Home.”

Joni’s team coordinated the insight from internal stakeholders, mapped the present-day and future needs, did due diligence on the technologies available, and completed the RFP process to select the best fit – shepherding the process for Brinks Homes in a way that not only created a strategically-aligned outcome but never took significant time or focus away from the day-to-day operational leaders. The team is also leading the technology implementation. “By playing the key role in a lot of the documentation, working as the primary project team, doing a lot of the testing and review and then bring the operational leaders in for final sign-off we take a lot of that burden of all the time that it takes, so that we could turn that around much more quickly than if we were relying on people to do that in addition to their day job. Innovation is our day job.”

The acknowledgement by companies like Brinks Home that this dichotomy of service leadership is not only unfair but will slow your company significantly in its innovative efforts will lead to new levels of transformation that will be exciting to see. To hear more about Joni’s journey and how Brinks Home is handling innovation, be sure to check out this week’s podcast.

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