A Lesson from the Childhood
There are many stories of childhood preserved in my mind as all of us have our own fond memories. Most of them have hidden inspirations or lessons which can potentially transform our lives. It is just that we choose to ignore them rather than learning those hidden lessons. This is one such memory of childhood that comes to my mind each time I hear the word ‘real-time tracking’.
When in school, we have certain disciplinary rules which a student must follow. But there is one mischief which most of us used to do while the teacher was teaching in the class. Each time the teacher turns back to write something on the board, we leveraged the opportunity by engaging in a momentary gossip with the friend sitting next to us.
I was a very disciplined guy. But still, I did the mischief as if the opportunity enticed me to do it. And on a closer evaluation, you realize that it is exactly the same reason. It is just because I knew that the teacher won’t figure out the culprit while she is writing on the board, So I used the opportunity to gossip even if it was for a minute or so. And we immediately stopped as the teacher turned back to view us. It is funny how people make an innocent poker face in such situations and that’s exactly what I did…
How this Behaviour Impacts your Business?
It is fine to do a mischief as long as you keep it below an extent where it could disturb the whole class. But not in business, because a business succeeds by grabbing opportunities from time to time and even slight mistakes can ruin such opportunities. In business, you don’t have the luxury to repeat mistakes as ‘such mistake’ can cost you dearly, more so for small business or startup.
Many people have this tendency of being careless towards their responsibilities if they know that their carelessness will not be caught. A person who works sincerely in the office can also become careless on the field for the obvious reason. If you don’t have a slight clue of what your staff does on the field or where your staff members are located at, on a given time, How on earth can you find out his efforts or work-efficiency?
How to Benefit from this Psychology?
As we did in our childhood, we stopped talking as soon as the teacher turned back. One may not have a negative intent while doing so. It is just a psychological behavior which one can’t change easily. A child gets a slight opportunity and he starts talking in the classroom knowing that he will not be caught. Similarly, people are more likely to work with ease and laziness when nobody is supervising their activities.
It simply tells us that people are more sincere towards their duty when they know that there is a risk of getting caught. But this behavior is circumstantial and it changes as soon as the circumstances change. For an example, most of us behave differently with different people under different circumstances. We are more carefree and open while we hang around with our friends but we behave much decently with the same friends along with the family members. There is no rule as such but as I said ‘it is more to do with the psychology of human behavior pattern.
So business should maintain such tools which create this psychological edge for better work efficiency. So, as long as you have an eye over your team, your staff will perform to the best of its abilities.
In fact, most businesses have already adopted this psychological edge in form CCTV Cameras or Spider Cameras in offices. CCTV monitoring has been an instant success and found in most indoor premises. It is being used because it is rightly serving the solution for real-time monitoring of the activities of your staff.
But there was no such tool for tracking the activities of field staff. Thankfully satellite based monitoring systems are available to common people now. GPS-based technology can be used for real-time tracking of sales team through mobile applications. This will make sure that you are aware of the location of your team members are…
Similarly, we are naturally more sincere towards out work when there is a risk of being caught for going wrong. On contrary, we become careless when we have no accountability. The person in both cases remain the same, just a slight increase in transparency changes the attitude of the person towards his duties.
If your field staff will know that you are having an eye over their on-field activities, he is less likely to waste his time and keep doing his work in an expected way. In fact, He will be more skeptical to do even a single thing wrong because he knows he might get caught. This a psychological edge which pushes your staff to work honestly and with dedication. The phenomenal success of Spy Cameras or CCTV Camera is based on the same psychological edge. And it is now the time to get a similar transparency for on-field tasks too.
Real-Time Tracking – A Perfect Solution
GPS Tracking provides an exceptional platform for tracking the real-time activities of your field staff. When we talk of real-time tracking, it not only means knowing the precise locations of your team members. But also to know how the person is performing on the field. If you use DSR Automation along with GPS tracking, you can easily figure out what your staff has been doing while he is on a field task.
Using GPS tracking systems, you will have the same psychological edge which CCTV monitoring gives in indoor activities. Your team will know that whatever they are doing is being tracked and this makes them work efficiently. It is a factor that maneuvers the staff to perform better without much fuss.
Why Real-time Tracking Works?
It works for an apparent reason. Real-time tracking makes the field process more transparent and this increases the accountability of a field member because wherever he is, whatever he does, it will all be there on the tracking system.
When I went to college after completing my Intermediate classes, it was the first time I was to live without any monitoring by any guardian to interrupt. I was able to do anything with no answerability towards my parents and to live free from any imposed restrictions. I knew that I am here for studies but I also knew that my parents won’t have a slight clue of what I do. They will only know what I tell them about.
And I had it in my mind that if I don’t tell my parents about whatever I do (which I am not supposed to do as a student) then they will never know about it anyhow. I started to go for parties and spent most of my time hanging around with friends, missing my classes to watch movies and every other thing which I wished to do. Though I knew that it will ultimately hamper my studies, but still I did it all knowingly.
Why? Just because What I do was not accountable to anyone. But later, It is not true because It actually harms you in some way or the other. When the results came out of the first term tests, I was a terrible feeling, to say the least. To my horror, my parents somehow managed to find out about my poor performance in the tests. That was a tight slap right on my face that made me realize my fault. Thankfully, it was just the first out of many exams and I had the chance to improve in future.
It is not about what we do, the important thing is to follow our primary duty with absolute priority. Mine was a college, and I had the chance to recover. But in the case of a Business, each and every opportunity matters. And you can’t risk your business on the back of this ‘unprecedented’ mistake that can incur a big loss to the business even if it is the slightest one.
As the spy cameras in office maintain a psychological edge over the staff, you can have the same edge over your field staff too. It is not just that you want to catch a thief. It is a precaution which makes sure that your staff is work-oriented.
In the case of on-field staff, you might not find this out through a camera. But GPS is a technology which enables you to know your staff’s whereabouts. If coupled up with few other tweaks such as DSR automation etc, it can be the perfect solution for tracking the performance of your field staff. This will make the management of your field team more precise and convenient.
Praise Your Hard Working Employee, It Motivates The Whole Team…
While tracking your employees, appraisals add the cherry on the top of the cake. This will make staff aware that their hard work is being noticed and rewarded. This boosts the morale of your team in a right way for a better cause.
Mostly, field employees are not just carefree because they know that they will not get caught but also because they think that it doesn’t matter if they are working hard enough because nobody will find out how much effort they put in.
So make sure that your staff is aware that their hard work will be rewarded and considered. This is a very convenient and healthy approach that will definitely make your field staff naturally work-efficient and encourage them for better performance.
Key Points to Remember
- Remember Tracking is not for pulling legs of your staff or to settle your personal grudge against anyone.
- Make sure that it is used for monitoring the process rather than human alone.
- Tracking doesn’t mean that you don’t trust your staff and it should never give that impression anyhow.
- Remember it is primarily a satellite-based monitoring and doesn’t convey the worldly vulnerabilities as such.
- The primary intent is to attain transparency in field process and increase work efficiency and it should remain the utmost priority in any case.
