Case Study: How to Improve Remote Team Collaboration with Field Operations Software

A recent survey by the Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association (NATE) found that almost 75% of their members have had some employees move to remote work while still managing the same workload.

Because of this, many Wireless Construction companies have been rethinking how they use digital technology to manage their business operations. Legacy applications and spot solutions, such as spreadsheets, email, accounting systems, and basic timekeeping tools are not optimized for the additional complexity that comes with managing projects with remote teams.

The good news is that an emerging category of software called Field Operations Platforms, such as Fieldclix, are designed to address the unique challenges that come with projects requiring tight coordination across remote team members, including project managers, field crews, finance, and HR.

These software platforms come with many "out of box" capabilities that can be rapidly deployed with minimal configuration, including crew scheduling, budget tracking, timekeeping and payroll, material and asset management, and invoice management.

Typical benefits that come with Field Operations Platforms include enhanced planning capabilities to help minimize project risk, standardized processes to improve team alignment and collaboration, real time visibility into field activities and daily updates on project status and costs. Companies deploying these platforms are seeing field productivity improve by up to 30% and a 5-10% increase in profit margins.

Dan Denda, the President of Ironbo, made the decision a few years ago to move his company onto a Field Operations Platform and is seeing unanticipated benefits now that his employees are required to work remotely. "With Fieldclix, we've been able to move full steam ahead without missing a beat. The software allowed us to establish standardized workflows across the organization which gives our employees immediate access to the tasks, information and documents they need to manage their day to day responsibilities."

Before Covid, Dan had up to 30 people in his offices. He's now down to a skeleton crew of 6 to 8. "I'm not sure how we would have handled the sudden shift to remote work without a Field Operations Platform," Dan said. "Like many others, we didn't anticipate this situation and fortunately, had an emergency backup plan we didn't know existed."

Kent Smith from Wireless Communications is heavily focused on indoor and venue based wireless infrastructure installations and is seeing new revenue opportunities open up due to the increased need for remote monitoring and security across the health care landscape.

It used to take Kent's accounting team over 45 days to close their books. These delays impacted his ability to manage the financial health of these complex programs. "We've now moved all our financial workflows out of email and into Fieldclix which allows us to maintain tighter control, even with our teams working across the country," Kent said. "It's even more important that we get a handle on our costs, and Fieldclix is giving us this information daily and providing increased visibility into many areas where we can begin to improve our efficiency."

Even more important is the need maintain a safe working environment for his field crews. Kent relies on his Fieldclix to provide visibility into their daily movements. "Our field teams are moving in and out of many venues, including hospitals, and we rely on the real-time data to help us communicate with them and watch out for their safety while making sure they have information at their fingertips to comply with both CDC and venue protocols."

A recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that productivity gains greater than 30 percent are possible with the adoption of digital technologies.

We still don't have a handle on the degree to which remote work will become a norm in the long term. Regardless, Field Operations software offers a proven solution to help maintain stable and profitable business operations with distributed teams working in the field, in the office, and from home.