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September 16, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Women in Field Service: Stake Your Claim, Seize The Opportunity

September 16, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Women in Field Service: Stake Your Claim, Seize The Opportunity

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Tali McRee joined DISH Network right out of college after applying for a position with the company because she thought the job description looked really interesting. In her five years with DISH, she’s advanced pretty quickly through positions to her current role as Business Operations Manager III in which she’s responsible for coaching and development of Business Operations Managers and Analysts, along with determining resource planning strategies for DISH’s In-Home Services department as well as overseeing all products and communication delivered from the company’s Command Center to all internal and external business partners.

I asked Tali if she had considered a career in field service before she came across the DISH posting, after studying economics and political science in college. “After college, I wanted to stay in Denver, so that was the main focus of my job search. I applied for the operations analyst role at DISH because I really enjoy solving problems, and that’s what the job entailed. The job description didn’t mention the words ‘field service,’ and if it had, I wouldn’t have known what that term meant,” she says. “No one talked about the industry in school, so it wasn’t a career path I’d envisioned.” Despite the unfamiliarity of the industry she was joining, Tali quickly fell in love. “I truly enjoy the work I do at DISH – it’s a wide variety, which keeps me interested and engaged at all times. I love solving problems and creating new opportunities, and it’s continually changing,” says Tali. “The industry is almost completely different than it was when I joined just five years ago – there are new divisions, changing business processes, different skill sets needed, and much more to come. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the field service industry in general, and DISH specifically.”

Don’t Overthink It

While Tali clearly has a passion for the work she does at DISH, she acknowledges that being a woman in field service isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. The reality is that while DISH is working diligently to diversify, it is still – like nearly all field service organizations – male dominated. “About one third of the people in my division are women,” says Tali. “And that’s in an analytics division, not even the field. The great news is that we’ve been getting more diverse – in the past two and a half years, we’ve almost doubled the number of women in our division, but we still have a ways to go.” Tali has refused to let these statistics intimidate her, and rather faces her challenges head on. “My biggest challenge is just that I myself will overthink things,” she says. “When I’m the only woman in the room, I’ll get in my own head and wonder, ‘Am I doing a good enough job?’ It forces me to harness my own confidence and forge ahead, which in many ways ends up being a really good thing.”

Creating Greater Diversity & Embracing Field Service Opportunity

DISH is actively working to create and celebrate greater diversity among all aspects of its workforce. In fact, Tali has been involved in re-writing some of the job descriptions for role within her division to ensure they are appealing to a wider range of candidates. “It’s important to us – our division and DISH – to hire the best possible candidate, period. We worked to remove some of the wording in our postings to be less subtly gender coded so that we are sure we’re casting the widest net of qualified applicants.” DISH also has a Women’s Network, with around 1,500 members, which Tali is a part of. “Anyone can be a part of the Women’s Network, and it offers opportunities for collaboration, support, and mentoring.” Tali is thrilled she landed in field service, where she feels there’s a wealth of opportunity. “My accomplishments speak for themselves, but it doesn’t hurt to stand out a little. DISH is very fair – if you have the best idea, you win. Period. I love that I feel I am a part of making or breaking the success of DISH operations. I love this company, and it’s thrilling how many new opportunities are arising. There are roles now that didn’t even exist six months ago, and that pace is only speeding up. It’s a really fun time to be a part of DISH, and this industry.”

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September 12, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

What’s Your Undiscovered Opportunity with Digital Transformation?

September 12, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

What’s Your Undiscovered Opportunity with Digital Transformation?

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By Greg Lush

I have referenced this luscious quote a thousand times: "Have you replaced your employees’ bicycles with Ford F150s and wonder why they still only drive on bike paths?" Our past can influence current behaviors in both negative and positive ways. The so-called comfort zone, which many individuals stay within for various social-economic reasons, is weighted heavier towards the habits which do not always move us forward. Unfortunately, innovation is often curtailed when the comfort zone represents your boundaries for experimentation. What is the significance of this chatter? Undiscovered opportunity requires individuals to think about things completely different and be willing to fail along the way (a place where many institutional employees are not comfortable). It is only at the apex of the "I know it can do X" where we will unlock these undiscovered opportunities.

Let's start with a simple example from the service industry. Successful service companies will often have a blend of scheduled and unscheduled work. Scheduled work is anything which we can plan for, typically a maintenance contract or a project. Unscheduled work, on the other hand, might be comprised of service calls or other emergency activities. Understanding the patterns of your field workers will assist you in maximizing your profit by dispatching those workers closest to the job sites. For years intelligent scheduling programs had been in existence using GPS coordinates for the worker and the destination. Instead, if we look at this a little bit differently, we may seek to understand the driving patterns of the worker, the worker cost, familiarity with the job site, and relationship with the client. These variables will give us greater perspective and allow us to choose the optimum resource. In order to execute such a plan, we would need to connect to various systems and create algorithms which balance the weight of each input to obtain the optimum output. Just over the last few years this capability is now within financial reach. Yet, as with many parts of the business, we are burdened with our own legacy. Certainly, you have heard the idiom; people, process and technology:

  • People: If the systems that you are dealing with are older than say seven years, people will be a larger factor then you might expect. Our digital landscape is changing at record pace. Just a handful of years ago if the enterprise wanted any deviation from the provided software, it often meant customization. While often partners help build the customization, there is generally an individual, or a team of people, who have come up with a design. Often, this deep-rooted sense of ownership, which during the initial build was expressed as passion, now may become roadblocks when faced with impending change.
  • Process: I will never forget my first corporate CIO job. The president of the organization knew that I had come from a smaller service company and he advised me to dream like never before. Initially I was a bit perplexed as I, most likely similar to you, have been passionate about what I do for many years. Yet as we discussed his comment further, we began to unpack the reality of how we think about innovation. If our budget was always $100, then our brain would be thinking of things, often as a state of compromise, to achieve our objectives and goals within the $100 budget. Essentially, we are limiting ourselves as we rationalize decisions. For many, this can be crippling to the organization and ironically to your career. You must learn to get into a head-space which allows you to see everything that is possible, and once at that place, then whittle them back.
  • Technology: It is convenient to consider the technology components as investments made in the past are, frankly, a real bear to just abandon. So many things are tied to these decisions which often extend far past the actual technology. As a matter of fact, if technology was the only factor we considered, 99% of the systems would be replaced as they have obvious shortfalls. Unfortunately, that is not the world where most of us live; so in order to maintain our sanity we need to keep looking towards the future. Decisions made today will have greater impact than ever before. For instance:
    • APIs: choosing or allowing software companies enter your eco-system who do not have the capability to provide APIs (in 2020) is just crazy.
    • Common data approaches: Microsoft, and other software manufacturers, have provided the concept of a data hub within an organization. All system data, either from a transactional system, form, collaborative tool, or even email should be made accessible by other applications as required. Keep in mind that undiscovered opportunity takes the data side, UI, analytics, etc. Create the hub and spoke with the common data environment right in the middle.

Rooting out undiscovered opportunities must become a daily activity. If you believe that information is not a single dimension, then each time you speak with someone about automating their process or enhancing their digital habits, you should ask them what else would make this perspective smarter. People are so accustomed to thinking about things in narrow lanes you must constantly be pushing on the outside of the box to see what else is possible. For me, a crawl, walk, run, approach has always worked well. Time after time I have seen people overcomplicate the ability to extract real value from their organizations. This is the third step of the hierarchy, so you have already obtained their trust and have their digital habits practicing contextual computing approaches. You will be in the perfect place to have a frank conversation with the business owner, "If you had one thing that could compromise your ability to hit your numbers, what would that be?" The response will be a lot different if you leap frogged the suggested steps from this book. Trust is KEY and your fastest path to providing relevant, and pragmatic solutions to solve business challenges.

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September 9, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

Beyond CX Talk: Realizing the Monetary Value of True Customer Centricity

September 9, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

Beyond CX Talk: Realizing the Monetary Value of True Customer Centricity

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Customer experience (CX) has been the buzz of the service circuit for a couple of years now. While I see some companies really getting it right and putting a true, authentic focus on their customers – I also see a lot of companies jumping on board the latest buzz word and claiming a level of customer centricity that quite frankly is BS. It’s easy to say you are hyperfocused on CX and have a culture of customer centricity; it’s far harder to put these claims into action.

Part of the disconnect is that true customer centricity must happen from the top down – everyone needs to be aligned on the value that can come from focusing your efforts around the customer experience. At Field Service Amelia Island last month, Sophia Williams, VP and General Manager, Telecom and Technology Business Unit, NCR gave a great presentation on how “CX is a new form of currency.” Her points did an excellent job of illustrating exactly why companies need to take this focus seriously (and some tips on how to get it right). What Sophia discussed is that CX is not just a “fluffy” thing – it has real monetary value, and when tackled correctly can produce real financial results. She highlighted the disconnect between CX talk and CX action by showing a stat that reveals while 80% of companies feel they deliver superior customer experiences, only 8% of customers agree. “This is an opportunity for everyone in the room,” she said. “This is where competitive differentiation happens.” Sophia went on to review some data that illustrates the payoff focusing on CX can have. A stat from IDC showed that 93% of tech buyers say CX will have a greater influence over future purchase decisions. CEI says that 86% of consumers will pay more for a better CX (I know I will!), and Bain & Co. shows that companies with industry-leading NPS achieve 2x CAGR and 15% lower costs. Socializing metrics like these is an important step in getting company-wide alignment that a true CX focus is not only important, but will have financial impact. Once you have a common understanding and are committed to this journey, what’s next?

Sophia shared some great advice with the audience. First, realize that you can’t carry out a positive CX with unhappy employees. “A company’s brand is determined by its CX, and in order to deliver the experience you want, you need happy and engaged employees delivering the experience,” she says. Second, get a good understanding of where you’re at and where you want to be when it comes to CX. “Chart out what a solid CX looks like, and what an exceptional CX looks like so that you know what you need to do to progress from good to great,” says Sophia. Also understand that to progress and really master the CX, you have to put your money where your mouth his. You will need to put a CX program in place and align the organization to deliver consistency and make improvements. Finally, appreciate the value of feedback – and always take action on it. “Feedback is a gift,” says Sophia. “If you ask customers for input and they provide it but never hear back from you, they won’t continue providing it. You need to listen, take action, and respond. Since we’ve implemented a 100% closed loop system – meaning we reply to all feedback – we have 70% response rates.” Customers want to know their input is valued and appreciated, and the biggest way to show this is to communicate with them – let them know collectively what the feedback was and what’s being done with it. It’s important to know that true customer centricity can’t be achieved if you don’t master the art of collecting and acting on customer feedback. While CX isn’t a new topic, it is an area that I think is ripe for improvement for many organizations. And, as Sophia pointed out in her session, an area of focus and investment that can have great payoff.

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3 Tangible Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Efforts

September 3, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

3 Tangible Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Efforts

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

A few weeks ago, at Field Service Amelia Island, Maria Pallotta, Chief of Staff at Canopy Lawn Care, gave a highly engaging and delightfully actionable presentation on recruiting. I know from my conversations that this is a top-of-mind issue for the vast majority of you. While it is a multi-layered challenge not easily solved, what I loved about Maria’s session was how it offered some very tactical steps that will have an impact. I saw many pictures being snapped of her slides and pages of notes being taken, and she was kind enough to allow me to write up a synopsis of some of her main points.

Maria focused her session on three areas of advice: attract, convert, and close. I’m going to provide a few highlights here for your reading pleasure, but I urge you to reach out to her for a copy of her presentation.

Attraction

We know that field service has a branding problem – it isn’t a career path a lot of younger candidates envision for themselves. There are some misperceptions and even more accurate perceptions that can make attracting quality candidates tough. One of the biggest takeaways here is to do some true due diligence on reviewing and updating your job descriptions. When Maria asked the audience who has done this in the last 6 months, only a hand or two was raised! This is a rapidly evolving industry which makes this response shocking to me. Maria discussed a tool she uses, called Textio. “Textio is an AI-based tool that reviews job descriptions and makes recommendations on wording and phrasing to use to maximize results, and well as ensure you are well positioned to achieve certain goals,” she says. “For instance, if your company has a focus on creating greater diversity, Textio can tell you if you need to adjust the phrasing to help accomplish that objective.” Beyond regularly reviewing and adjusting job descriptions, Maria also discussed updating your website to prominently feature job openings and have a greater focus on recruiting. She gave some tips on employee referral programs and running successful ad campaigns for open positions as well.

Conversion

When it comes to converting applicants to employees, Maria illustrated how she’s streamlined and automated the process at Canopy to make it highly user friendly. “We use a text-only hiring process at Canopy – there’s no email until an offer is made. This has made a massive difference in our conversion because I’m meeting people where they are instead of expecting them to adjust to outdated processes,” she says. Maria uses a tool to mass text through email, which automates this outreach without sacrificing a personal feel for the candidate. Maria also discussed the need to review your application process and think about what the experience is like for your target candidates. “Most people today are applying to jobs from their phones – we’ve made our applications 100 percent mobile-friendly. Everything a candidate needs to do to apply can be done from their phone,” she says.

Closing and Retention

When it comes to closing the deal, Maria points out that it really has a lot to do about your company culture and how well you outline the value you can provide a candidate. “Candidates want to work somewhere where they feel they are making a difference, and that they matter. We have company values that are central to everything we do – we live and breathe these values at Canopy, and they empower and motivate our team because they give employees something to buy into,” she says. You also want to think about how you’re conveying the value of your benefits, and what you can offer in terms of career development. “We have created a seed to lead program which is a transparent and achievable career path for all new hires. Everyone, regardless of history, comes into the program at the same apprentice level and has a clear path for how to progress through all phases to management. The program outlines this progression and each step achieved raises pay. People can move as quickly or slowly as they want through this path. It removes the mystery of how people get promoted. Each quarter we celebrate promotions as a company,” says Maria. She suggests making your benefits clearly visible on your website so potential employees can see all perks available. Finally, Maria stresses the importance of a focus on onboarding. “You have to make a good impression right away,” she says. “It’s worth making an investment in this process. You should employee journey map, seek regular input and feedback, and create mentor programs. Delighting your team and creating a positive culture that makes people want to stay is one of the real keys to recruitment.”

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Extracting Value from Enterprise Software: How to Pinpoint Software Strengths

August 29, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Extracting Value from Enterprise Software: How to Pinpoint Software Strengths

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By Greg Lush

The point of value extraction from enterprise software has changed over the years. One of my earliest memories was in the mid-1990s with a fantastic software application that was designed to digitally collaborate across locations, on and offline. For many of you reading this I imagine you are thinking; who cares about the ability to shuffle between on and offline?  During the late 90s in the United States, we all worked with a very slow, and immature internet, just short of having to feed it quarters in order to keep it running (time-based reference to the dimes we carried to feed pay phones). Of course, the ability to seamlessly transition between on and offline was hyper-critical, a process mastered by Lotus Notes (Notes) and their revolutionary "replication" tools. I was working for an Oil and Gas company in Texas and we leveraged Notes like many in the day, everything ran through this platform. Heck, Notes was the only digital tool that we used to communicate with one another, it was a collaborator dream environment. Then, a dark cloud of change rolled in towards the end of the decade, Notes introduced electronic mail to their product, this was the beginning of the end. Email, our first example of a transactional system, and arguably the single most inefficient digital tool ever inflicted upon an organization.

During this time in our computing history it was not uncommon to have only one computer in the office. The accounting person was the first to receive digital technology, often working off a dumb terminal connected to a server located in the broom closet. Time marched on and software manufacturers seized the moment by offering monolithic solutions often referred to as ERP systems. At the core was accounting, manufacturing, supply chain, payroll, etc. Also included, most of the time as third-class citizens, would be some elementary form of file management and email. Notes was well positioned in many organizations and at the time showed no interest in traditional ERP, so everyone seemed to get along, working side by side. However, the water began to get a bit murky as the ERP software manufacturers attempted to capture all of the organization’s licenses. A strong push for several years saw organizations attempt to deploy ERP-based collaboration tools, often these attempts producing lackluster results. Organizations were beginning to accept defeat and become satisfied with an accounting system, email, and some form of file storage (typically handled on local or networked servers). Our first decade of the new millennium had nearly destroyed the collaborative movement, so brilliantly executed by Ray Ozzie and the team at Lotus Notes. The second example of a transactional system, with the monolithic ERP system, had unfortunately set the stage for stunted digital growth. Service oriented architectures (SOA) helped lead the way to integrating products to one another. Although the ERP software manufacturers were holding on tight to their exclusive systems, we were starting to see our first move towards the possibility of leveraging best in class solutions. At the same time, the internet and SaaS providers were busting onto the digital landscape, challenging the enterprise to reconsider their approaches and commitments to these monolithic ERP systems. A long overdue movement was on the horizon, but the biggest question remained: Would the enterprise be able to accept these positive changes? Certainly, a level of comfort had been established leading towards the complacency by many to keep things "as-is.”  Unfortunately, for those suspended in yesteryear, the value of their digital investments has peaked, isolated to a small percentage of functionality in transactional systems, including accounting, service management, manufacturing systems, and email. Ironically, the promise of the holistic ERP system is still alive and well; however, it looks totally different, now encapsulated in inclusive cloud platforms. To take advantage of the shifting sands and fully embrace the promise of ERP, you must change your perspective. Start by separating transactional systems from digital collateral systems. The simplest way to achieve the balance between what belongs inside of transactional system versus what should reside outside is to understand the primary purpose of your enterprise applications. This sounds simple enough, however, we often allow non-software variables impact our decision process. For instance, let's say that you are the person responsible for collections. You are comfortable working inside of the accounting system yet understand that to be effective at your job you need to access and reference more than just a plain text field connected to the accounting AP record. Collections is all about understanding all of the related data, access to conversations and journals, even insight from your deal pipeline. Yet, you are left to make the best of it, attempting to flex the accounting system to provide collaborative content required to decrease the current 48-to-54-day average day sales outstanding metrics. The first step is to establish and communicate the primary purpose of your enterprise applications. Be as objective as possible and summarize these objectives in three bullets or less. Next, with your newly found objective assessment of the digital tools at your disposal, start to map where information may cross over between these applications. Often, accompanying information is workflow, how will you take advantage of triggers and actions to and from these tools? This is where the effort required will vary significantly between those of you with legacy systems and those fortunate enough to have modern, cloud-based digital tools. Armed with your data relationships and workflow, you are ready to lay out a deliberate plan forward which leverages the power of both the transactional systems and your digital collateral systems. It is only when you see each part as their own unique value that you will be able to put them together and create a symphony for your digital enterprise.

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August 26, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

The Case for a Chief Service Officer

August 26, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

The Case for a Chief Service Officer

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By Tom Paquin

I know what you’re thinking—The last thing that your business needs is another top-down decision-maker imposing their vision on a staff. But hear me out. I have two questions about service at your business.

Here’s the first: Where does the direction of your service business come from, on the executive level, today? Perhaps, if you’re a pure service business, it comes from product. For others, it may be a function of operations. For others still, it may sit solely with the CEO. Perhaps it comes from nowhere. At Future of Field Service, we’ve seen, interacted with, and learned from service leaders, whose titles included these roles, and countless others. The second question is this: Who makes the go/no-go decision on service technology for your business? Does it come from the same department? When is your CTO, CIO, or VP of BI, brought in to advise? Is there already some degree of incongruence within your business, here? Then a Chief Service Officer may be the bridge that you need to bring everything together. There is, of course, a little more to it than just that. Recent news impacting the service delivery industry is a symptom of a shift impacting businesses globally: Service is becoming the centerpiece of business growth. The 2010’s, for many, was the age of the customer. That mindset evolved over the decade based on several trends, including:

  • A shift away from ownership towards products-as-a-service.
  • An oversaturation of products entering the market from new, global entrants and decreasing barriers to entry.
  • A fundamental shift in the economy away from product-focused businesses towards services-focused businesses.
  • The need to diversify product portfolios with low-overhead add-ons that simultaneously offer value to the customer beyond your competitors.
  • Best-in-class manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers creating pathways towards completely upending business practices with service.

There are dozens of other considerations to go along with these. All of these elements come together to make service an urgent consideration, if not for all businesses, then certainly for most. If you’re servitizing a legacy business, or just looking to enhance the service offerings that you have today, a Chief Service Officer is an ideal steward to help navigate your business through difficult waters. Service is a natural outgrowth of operations, but operations, as a function, is generally oriented towards minimizing overhead. This, traditionally, is a key function of service, but in the new service economy, becomes secondary to making service a growth agent for a business. In that way, service decisions may seem to fit more comfortably on the product side of a business, and for many, that might be enough. For businesses where their products aren’t exclusively service, though, the operational elements needed to make service run properly could weigh down the role. Enter the Chief Service Officer. The position that straddles the operations and product world, interfacing with both sides of the business, making service a continued discussion, and helping bridge the gap between the technical elements of successful Service Management adoption and the actual work of field and back-office employees. So what does the Chief Service Officer do? This will obviously differ from company to company, but on a high-level, here are some general ideas:

  • Own the technology rollout for all of service.
  • Work with product to set rigid parameters for service execution.
  • Develop benchmarks, roadmaps, and dashboard to measure service’s impact on the whole company.
  • Set up and execute on service business development efforts within sales.
  • Own the service management platform, tie it to all areas of enterprise resource planning, asset management, and customer experience management.
  • Make the push that your company provides service because it wants to faster a stronger relationship with its customers.

This is by no means a silver bullet for businesses looking to redefine service, but with the right person, and the right organizational outlook, it could be what sets your business on the track towards end-to-end service transformation.

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Are the Results of Cloud-based Outsourcing Projects Perceived Differently by Men and Women?

August 22, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Are the Results of Cloud-based Outsourcing Projects Perceived Differently by Men and Women?

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By Dr. Marlene R. Kolodziej

In the May, 2014 issue of The Atlantic, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman wrote an article “The Confidence Gap”, and how evidence shows women are less self-assured than men, and in order for women to succeed, confidence matters as much as competence. My doctoral research explored the decision-making process, and particularly the criteria used by executive decision-makers, for identifying and selecting organizational competencies when engaging in Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) using cloud-based services. As part of that study, participants had the opportunity to describe the effects and actual outcome of their outsourcing decisions on organizational processes, capabilities, skills, and performance; and to note how the results of the outsourcing decision differ or are the same from the expected outcome of the ITO engagement for cloud-based services. One of the findings from that study was an apparent difference in the perception of the success or failure of the outcome for ITO for cloud-based services based on participants’ gender.

But what if the outcome of the cloud-based outsourcing didn’t matter, but the perception of success or failure was real? And what if that perception differed between men and women, regardless of the actual results?

Expectation versus reality. Known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, it is the tendency for some people to substantially overestimate their abilities. The less competent people are, the more they overestimate their abilities. In 2003, David Dunning and Joyce Ehrlinger furthered this research and focused on women, delving into the connection between confidence and competence. Their findings indicated that the women did not pursue opportunities when they were less confident in their abilities, even when performance was equal to men. According to Forbes (2018), a Hewlett Packard internal report found that men apply for a job or promotion when they met 60% of the qualifications, whereas women applied only when they met 100% of those same qualifications. There were 15 participants interviewed individually for the published research, Exploring the Role of Organizational Competencies in Information Technology Outsourcing: A Holistic Case Study on Decision-Making for Outsourcing of Cloud-Based Services, and of those fifteen participants, two identified as female. Only those two females expressed they experienced a negative outcome from their ITO engagements for cloud-based services.  In contrast, while still citing challenges faced by their organizations, male participants in individual in-depth interviews appeared to be more positive when evaluating the outcomes of their ITO engagements for cloud-based services. Male participants in this same study categorized their outcomes as successful, whereas female participants expressed a negative outcome. So with similar outcomes for both male and female executive decision-makers for their ITO engagements for cloud-based services, why such a difference in reported outcomes?  

The Confidence Gap. Stephanie Thomson (2018) discussed a theory known as the “confidence gap”, where women are assumed to feel less confident than men, and are encouraged to be more like men by promoting their accomplishments. While women do self-promote less than men in the corporate world, a wide body of research shows that women have as much confidence in their abilities to lead and perform as men do. Recent research suggests that for a woman, confidence and assertiveness without classic feminine traits such as empathy and altruism will not result in professional success. Research has also shown self-confidence is not awarded equally between men and women, and that men simply could simply increase their organizational influence based on their self-confidence, women could only do the same if they could display their motivation was to the benefit of others, appearing both confident and modest simultaneously. According to Dina Gerdeman (2019), women are more likely to dismiss praise and discount their abilities. One of the biggest problems with closing the confidence gap is the expectation that women are the issue, and the fix is to be is to be more like men, when in reality, normalizing self-promotion, reducing instances of well-documented backlash for women who do self-promote, could bring awareness to implicit gender biases. Early in my career, there was an issue with how my interactions with others were perceived. With representation from both Human Resources and from Leadership, along with my direct Manager, a meeting took place to discuss the issue and come to resolution. My Manager was able to analyze the situation and see through to the core of the problem, and asked those in attendance a simple question: “If Marlene was a man, would her actions be an issue?”. Suddenly it was if a light switch had gone on and each one of the attendees realized that their perception of how I should act was based solely on gender, and not on the actions themselves.

Where do we go from here? While more research is needed in gender-based decision-making and perceptions of outcomes, particularly when outsourcing to the cloud, recognition of these differences and the impact to corporations and their employees is significant. Confidence, self-promotion and extra encouragement are all areas where corporations and managers can focus to close the gender gap. Business leaders need to consider how confidence levels, especially for women, impact organizations, and recognize, reward, and encourage engagement and self-promotion equally.

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August 19, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

Need, Skill, Will: The Path to Successful Technology Adoption

August 19, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

Need, Skill, Will: The Path to Successful Technology Adoption

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I had the good fortune last week of interviewing Paul Joesbury, Commercial Operations Director at HomeServe, for an upcoming episode of the Future of Field Service podcast (his episode will air August 28th, and it’s a must listen!). The conversation produced a wealth of valuable points, and as we prepare the episode for your listening pleasure, I thought I’d start by sharing Paul’s thoughts on what it takes to get employees to adopt new technology.

Paul and I discussed the evolution that’s taking place with field technicians – the younger technicians joining the workforce are not only comfortable with technology but lost without it. “The new technicians coming on are digital native – they were born with a phone in hand,” says Paul. “For those technicians, if a process is outlined cleanly on their devices, it is second nature to them to follow along and use it correctly.” The older generations of technicians struggle, however. “Some of the challenges companies like ours face with technology adoption among older workers would surprise many. You may not think you need to teach someone how to swipe on a device, but in many cases, you do – that’s just the reality of it,” says Paul. In these cases, it is imperative to put a change management strategy in place in an effort to get these workers to truly embrace the tools you’re introducing. “You can’t just impose new technology onto your workforce – it doesn’t work. Imposition causes resistance, and that resistance will inhibit any of the progress or forward motion you’re looking to make by introducing that technology,” says Paul.

3 Keys to Change Management

In Paul’s experience, successful change management and fostering adoption of technology comes down to three factors: need, skill, and will. “By focusing on the need, skill, and will, you can create the buy-in you need among employees to achieve successful technology adoption,” says Paul. Start with the need. Is the new tool necessary? Does it provide value? If this sounds ridiculously obvious to you, that’s great – but the reality is that many organizations make investments and force new tools for reasons besides the fact that the workforce and the business actually needs them. Your strategy must be centered around the needs of your workforce in meeting the goals you’ve set forth for the business. Deploying tools that will provide real value and make their jobs easier gets you on the path to success. You also need to focus on communicating with your workforce on the “why” for the changes you’re making and the technologies you’re introducing. If they understand the root cause for change and have an opportunity to weigh in and feel heard, they will have an easier time stepping outside their comfort zones. Next comes skill. To Paul’s point earlier, you may need to start with training more basic than you’d assume. Pay attention to what employees’ concerns or questions are around and address them quickly and extensively. Think about the full extent of education and training you will need to provide to ensure that your employees will feel comfortable using the new tools you’re introducing. If you encounter hesitation or resistance, take this as your cue to begin again. I know it can be frustrating to spend time, money, and energy on training that seems basic, but making this investment up front will ultimately pay off. If you take the time to focus on conveying the need and developing the skill, you should be able to create the will among your employees to embrace the change. “Your goal is to create the desire within your workers to use the tools you’re introducing, to embrace the changes you’re making within the business,” says Paul. “You can’t be successful without their buy-in, so following these steps and working diligently to create it is really the key to any successful transformation.”

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August 15, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Scroll Vs. Search: Investing in Efficiency

August 15, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Scroll Vs. Search: Investing in Efficiency

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By Greg Lush

My day started in the normal manner — start my computer, go get a cup of coffee, come back to the Windows 3.1 boot screen, enter my credentials and make a lap around the office spreading my morning cheer. The final leg of my journey would be to connect to our local file server and begin my work. However, today was special, I have been asked to explore the Internet. Some of our competitors had been using the Internet for a few years but my organization was, let's say, conservative. Waiting for me was a nice U.S. Robotics modem, a phone line, connected to my computer exclusively. As the modem attempted to connect the Internet to my PC it seemed as if it was teasing me with its odd melody. The suspense was over when I finally connected and greeted with a single rectangle and a "search" button. Now, this was quite an accomplishment. I thought to myself; "can't wait to show everyone else, if I could just locate the file and folder structure, browsing the internet would be a cinch." Yet, the comfortable structure I was accustomed to for so many years was nowhere to be found. Could it be that this new Internet wanted me to just type what I was looking for? What happens if I don't really know what it is that I want? Suddenly my excitement captured earlier turned into anxiety. Is it possible this damn computer and Internet were going to make me feel inferior?

Ridiculous is the thought going through my brain as I typed the first paragraph. Not the story above, as that happened everyday across the world years ago. Instead that organizations still suffer with the challenge employees face between scrolling and searching. Somehow, and I have yet to understand the conditions which cause this phenomenon, when folks walk through their organization’s doors, they seem to mysteriously forget how to search. For me, when helping companies expand their digital enterprises, I will often group users into two buckets, each having their own approach regarding transformation, they are scrollers and searchers.

  • Scrollers: It stands to reason that workers which are accustomed to finding files on a file server or local hard drive are comfortable with scrolling. The company configures a logical folder structure and teaches their employees how to access, upload and lightly search this file management environment. Prior to the cloud, and robust search tools, this made sense; however, this practice today is like a person using an abacus instead of a calculator. Not to mention that the logic of any file structure is only understood 100% by the file/folder creator, everyone else is compromised. We are not suggesting that all folders and cloud libraries be eliminated, and one big-ass file bucket be used instead. However, you should challenge yourself and your organization with one of two quick questions:
    • Five times "why" | popularized by every child between the ages of four and seven. Examine your file structure and ask why five times over. Each time you cannot answer why, trim the structure.
    • Four by four | challenge your team to think about their file structures, for any given discipline, as only four on the initial layer and no more than four deep. This exercise will force you to look at things differently.
  • Searchers: For those comfortable in these modern times, search may already be a subconscious activity: need something, open an internet browser, and enter what you need. However, for many, searching content is an overwhelming ask. Within an enterprise, creating a predictable behavior from search, and getting folks comfortable is key. You may consider a couple activities to help folks get proficient in searching the enterprise:
    • Load it up | get as much information as possible in your cloud platform BEFORE you begin promoting the power of internal search. You will not be given many chances to win over your audience, each time they come up empty handed will be strikes against your efforts.
    • Consistency | although some would argue that modern search engines can search every piece of data, file name, description, and all the file's contents, you should still have a plan. For instance, if you organize your digital collateral starting with the customer and then work into any related information, the searcher will be relieved as in their mind if they find the customer, they may have the chance to scroll through related content.

To succeed in recalling digital collateral in the enterprise you must get your associates comfortable with search. The transformation is a deliberate activity, well-planned and sequenced. In my recent experience, especially with cloud platforms, they can be overwhelming for the user and I like to start with:

  • Comfort before full commitment | let's say that you are moving from a shared file server or local file storage culture to the cloud. Ten days prior to your cutover suggest ten minutes a day for ten days prescription, like someone taking antibiotics. At the conclusion of the ten-day period, set the shared drives to a "read-only" mode, focusing on getting as much of the information as possible into the cloud platform.
  • Immersion training | get your hands on a demo environment loaded with content and teach searching techniques within that test data set. The key is to have folks find what they are looking for immediately, show the search function (predict successful searches PRIOR to attendees arriving) and have the attendees search with success.

Invest the time in search, it may seem unnecessary at first blush seeing as we all search for content, continuously. Yet, each minute spent with internal employees raising their comfort levels will pay off exponentially in adoption and efficiency.

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Field Service Getting the Attention It Deserves

August 12, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

Field Service Getting the Attention It Deserves

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I was on vacation last week sipping a Pina Colada by the pool (OK, wrangling toddlers is a more accurate description) when I read the news that Salesforce had acquired ClickSoftware. To me, this signals exciting times for any of us involved in the world that encompasses field service. A function that was once viewed as a cost-center, and often an afterthought, is getting its turn to be recognized as the wealth of opportunity it really is for any company.

I’m coming up on twelve years covering field service, and the evolution I’ve witnessed is something that I’ve personally found exciting for quite a long time (if you’d asked me if I’d find “field service” exciting before I happened into it, I’d have looked at you with a blank stare for sure – but I’ve grown to love it). I’ve witnessed a shift – slow at first and gaining speed – in how companies view and utilize field service. Last week’s acquisition, in my opinion, illustrates the fact that field service has arrived. No longer is it an afterthought or a necessary evil, but rather it has become a strategic arm of the business. A path to differentiation, a valuable way to delight and endear customers, an opportunity to grow revenue. Salesforce’s interest in ClickSoftware is validation of just how much potential exists in field service – not just for field service management providers, but for companies ready to embrace what field service can do for their businesses.

This excitement has been building for some time. At this year’s Field Service Palm Springs event, the buzz was different than ever before. Attendees were no longer skeptical of the need to invest to advance their service efforts, but ready to learn how to do just that. They were more excitedly sharing their strategies for becoming more strategic with field service and listening closely to hear what their peers are doing. The companies I’ve interviewed for the Future of Field Service podcast since we began in April are more passionate than ever before about where the industry is headed, the journey their organizations are on, and their personal roles in it all. I’m thrilled to be covering this space and to uncover along with you all the potential that unfolds in the next couple of years.

In light of last week’s news, and news yet to come, I’d urge you to work diligently to educate yourselves on the potential for your organization around field service as well as your various paths for reaching that potential. I’ve always been a staunch proponent of learning from your peers – I think hearing what people in similar positions in other service-based businesses are doing can provide greater value than any other form of content, which is why I’ve worked hard in my career to focus on providing exactly that. There are companies leading the charge in achieving the full potential that is field service – you can find a few examples here and here. Consuming content like this, attending events like Field Service and The Service Council Symposium, and looking for other ways to network one-on-one with your peers are some of the best ways to collect objective insights. As the hype around field service continues to build, which it will, the onus is on you to do your due diligence on the strategy, technology, and change management that will allow you to embrace the potential that exists.

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