As technology is our primary support in these challenging times, companies find different strategies to establish a foolproof deskless environment. A deskless workforce refers to employees who do not have a permanent workspace. These employees are often known as frontline employees, and they are on the move or work in different shifts while interacting with their target base directly. As per a recent report, about 80% of employees globally are working as deskless workers. But, as we are evolving and embracing a new way of life, it is crucial to employ successful strategies to grow and prosper. The following article consists of challenges and different methods that companies can use to train their deskless workforce:

Primary challenges with deskless workforce

It can get tough to train frontline employees for the management due to the following reasons. First off, the number of deskless workers is spread remotely. There is a constant need for faceless interaction to stay updated. Additionally, the deskless workforce ends up shuttling jobs for more lucrative and competitive opportunities. While this is not a problem with employees working from home, it is still challenging to interact directly with the customers. Another challenge for training these employees is that the time is quite limited, and companies cannot afford constant follow-ups for teaching them the process. Also, not having the right equipment such as laptops and phones to train this base is a definite barrier for the employer.

If you are in the equal boat, here are some strategies to ensure that your deskless workforce stays on track.

Strategies you can use

Here are a few of the various significant ways for you to help manage your deskless workers and create a deskless environment that supports both- the management and the employees:

• Leverage technology for learning

Mobile learning is a fantastic strategy that can help you train your deskless workforce. If you can use a perfect team communication tool that can help you circulate content through mobile phones, your trained employees can access them anytime. You can also make a community or a team through a secure environment, where your frontline employees can share their work experiences. This can help other teammates learn from different backgrounds and use them for their work style. You can make a bundle of ways to talk, the process to follow, and people can share their experiences as well.

• Keep training a regular thing and deliver it in short bursts.

It is also essential that you deliver processes and ways to enhance work skills in short bursts. Through these times of COVID, industries like retail, manufacturing, logistics, and finance, and insurance have adopted training their deskless workforce. From retail showroom workers to delivery executives, your frontline employees constantly need to know how to interact with customers and reflect your work ethos. But, remember not always to keep pressuring your employee workforce with work that is not a part of their crucial responsibility area, increasing their stress. They need to know that it is for their upskilling and is not purely for your company’s profit.

• Address the acumen and prioritize the language understood by the majority

While addressing frontline employees or creating a deskless environment, you need to prioritize the language and the level of difficulty of your team. For instance, if your remote workforce consists of delivery executives across India, you cannot follow just one common language. It is essential to divide your force and train them with a language they understand the most. This can help your employees feel more relaxed and grasp the content better too. If they think that training content is getting very difficult for them, it will reflect their productivity.

• Experiment with different formats

We also recommend that you try out different formats for engaging your employees. Firstly, adopt a collaboration tool that can help you engage virtually with your employee base once in a while. Additionally, have training sessions that keep things fun. Do not keep your work communication only revenue-based. Engaging employees can prove very helpful in the long run and in keeping your deskless environment very efficient.

• Try keeping a standard format for updates.

Another way to help your deskless workforce is by keeping a standard format for follow-ups. Have an internal group that allows your employees to update on the critical tasks and another group for sharing their experience. Do not mix these, which will surely help you streamline the process and manage your work base much more efficiently.

Key takeaways:

While all of the aforementioned pointers will surely help you curate the perfect strategy to keep your deskless workforce efficient, we think you should pay maximum attention to streamlining your communication process. An internal collaboration tool dedicated and secure for usage by your frontline employees will help navigate the maximum number of challenges for you. It is not difficult to attain a deskless environment that perfectly manages these minor setbacks.

How to Bulletproof Your Company’s Deskless Environment

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