Hands-on management has its benefits...
...but employers must exercise care to avoid creating a workplace with “Big Brother” oversight and where micromanaging is a common theme. Employees should feel trusted and valued, by both employers and their company as a whole. Furthermore, employees often feel suffocated and resentful when they are micromanaged, which leads to major problems with employee retention, engagement, and professional relationships. This type of business culture creates a negative atmosphere, especially where it applies to field teams who expect a degree of autonomy. If team members are constantly dealing with management interjection, they aren’t able to complete tasks and do jobs properly. Micromanaging is not the same as holding employees accountable, so establishing the line between absent employer and helicopter boss is critical for long-term success with your field team.
The Benefits of Field Team Management for Accountability
It’s important to have the right tools in place so field team leaders don’t feel the need to micromanage. Field team management tools provide team members with ownership of projects, resulting in a work environment where accountability is part of the process. The trust and responsibility given to team members, that comes with the distribution of the right tool, helps create a positive and nurturing company culture.
Field Team Advantages
Establishing attainable goals and putting quality tools in employees’ hands go a long way toward helping your field team feel accountable. The necessary technology tools empower and entrust teams to do their work because of the given responsibility. Employees should feel confident in their abilities to analyze and maximize retail execution. Internally validated assurance is difficult to attain when micromanagement is prevalent.
Experienced employees provide valuable insight to an organization. But certain suggestions may never be offered if employees don’t feel trusted. Data collection tools back up employee claims by providing proof of the current situation in the marketplace. If something seems wrong with a retail execution strategy, a field team member can quickly identify the issue, get the data to back up necessary change, and deliver the information across company departments.
Management Advantages
Field team management tools help management as well as other employees. One reason managers micromanage is because they don’t have a clear picture of what’s going on in the workplace. The correct tools provide a 360 view so managers have the awareness they need without asking employees for constant status updates. Retail data collection software can be used to compile reports, send data to various company departments and correctly evaluate employee productivity and effectiveness.
With the right tool, managers have access to data from each individual team member. In today’s business world, departments don’t exist in a vacuum. The information the field team collects is useful for sales, marketing, IT and other parts of the organization. When management time isn’t consumed by the need to micromanage, other business tasks can be completed, thus improving the business’ overall productivity.
Often, employees struggle to reach their potential when they feel micromanaged, as it creates a distrustful business environment that is poor for productivity, retention, and morale. Field team management tools connect management with their field teams to alleviate the potential for unnecessary oversight and build trust and confidence in the team, while simultaneously providing managers with the information they need.
