Several of my fellow bloggers have recently focused some of their posts on the importance of mobile strategies, and what needs to be considered in developing them. I’ve been inspired by these! And since I happen to have my own variation on this crucial theme, I thought I’d share. It would be unfriendly of me otherwise.
Imagine, if you will, that your CEO has asked you to develop you company’s mobility strategy. Seems like a big deal doesn’t it? The CEO wants you to determine the course of mobility and plot that course for your organization. What could be a better gig than that? Maybe some help with what you just got signed up for would be appropriate.
Having a mobility strategy starts with the basics. What do we do now? How are we doing it? What is working and what needs to change? How much change can our organization consume at any given time? What are the internal and external influences that should be considered in planning my strategy? Who are my stakeholders? What are the long term and short term goals for the company? Can I align my strategy with these goals? Can I facilitate the change necessary to support these goals as they relate to our mobile efforts? Can I please shut up because I’m giving myself a migraine? I can (and often do) go on forever.
The situation is fairly simple. You need a strategy but just a strategy is not enough to be successful. You need to execute on that strategy and measure the results regularly and effectively. You then have to adapt your plans to address your changing business needs. And you must do all of this quickly, cheaply and effectively or you’re fired. No pressure. Can you have something on my desk by Monday?
A Mission Statement? That Ain’t a Strategy!
Again, I am taking a rather extreme approach to this question but that’s the way I roll. I have interacted with quite a few companies that have a ‘strategy’ that sounds more like a vague mission statement. ‘We will mobilize our workforce using cutting edge technology to become the industry leader’ has always been my favorite. Like listening to a politician, I heard a lot of words but the message was cloudy. How does one go about executing on that (alleged) strategy? Here’s another thing: strategies are great but they are only the beginning.
The true measure of your strategy is if it can be implemented, and that is no small feat. Think of all the times you have been asked to help solve a problem. You come up with a plan and then what? Does anybody follow it? Do you adapt as your plan goes into place since it will inevitably have an unforeseen impact that will have to be compensated for? Do you measure your plan once implemented? Can you honestly say you made things better or did you just make things different?
Here’s an example of how this ‘strategy only’ process works in all the wrong ways. A customer had a problem getting accurate data back from the field. They had a paper based system and aside from the techs not mailing the paperwork back regularly enough, when it was received it was usually unreadable (think ‘dog ate my homework’). The strategy they put in place was to ‘improve the flow of paperwork to and from the field.’ An honorable goal to say the least but not exactly a strategy. They deployed mobile fax machines with all the techs and started reaping the rewards the very next day.
Since no good deed goes unpunished they were in for a real shock. Sure paperwork was whizzing through the ether and getting places faster but it wasn’t any better. I have said this too many times to count, if I mobilize your current crappy process it will just be a FASTER crappy process. And that makes who happy exactly?
The challenge this ‘strategy’ presented was that there was no ‘and then’ to it. They put the fax machines out in the vehicles and then…nothing. That was the whole enchilada (without rice and beans). I take exception with this approach being called a strategy in the first place. This could more accurately be described as a tactic and it did what it was supposed to do. It got the paperwork flowing more quickly. But the paperwork was still unreadable, incomplete, inaccurate and a series of other un’s and in’s. The problem only became more glaring.
First Review, Then Plan
The correct approach might have been to review their current processes and figure out what was working and what they could improve on. Just getting the bad paperwork to move faster was probably pretty low on the employees list of concerns but it happened anyway and with gusto. The real shame in this situation was that both the office and field folks needed real help and this was a missed opportunity. It didn’t help and in some cases it made it worse.
A wise man once told me that no battle plans survives first contact with the enemy intact. This would have been a good lesson for the strategy team. Don’t fix the symptom. Identify the root cause and attempt to fix that but be aware that you will only be playing kick the can. As you fix the first problem the next most pressing issue will now take its place. Ever hear someone say ‘I found my car keys… They were in the last place I looked…’ No kidding? Really? Why would you keep looking once you found them? I’ll wait for you to fill in your own answer but if they hadn’t looked the keys would still be lost. Don’t treat opportunities like your car keys, it’s just not right.
You will see opportunity for improvement anywhere you look in your business. The right Mobility Strategy is to adapt your business as your challenges adapt but never forget to keep looking. You may find that you have made things different and not better so it’s time to adapt that plan and rush out into battle again. The enemy doesn’t stand a chance now.
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Tags: Brian Philbin, Business Process, Field Automation, Field Servi, Mobile Futures Today, Mobility - General
