3 Ways to Track Real-Time Job Progress in The Field

Keeping tabs on a field team sounds simple in theory, but in practice things get complicated. From monitoring schedules to managing on-site production, there is a variety of moving pieces to maintain from a distance. For owners and managers of gardening, lawn maintenance, landscaping, pest control businesses, and other companies sending their crews out on the road, being able to monitor activity is crucial to the success of your brand.

Arborgold is a business software provider specializing in companies that earn their money working in the great outdoors. From plant care to snow removal, we understand the ins and outs of these industries and know what it takes to keep things moving and manage a team in the field. Here are 3 of our top tips on tracking your field crew while they’re on a job.

1. GPS Vehicle Tracking

Monitoring team progress is about more than just how much work has been accomplished at the end of the day. It’s also about how long it takes your team to arrive at the worksite, whether your company vehicles are being used appropriately and ensuring your team knows where to go and how to get there. GPS vehicle tracking allows you to see where your team is at any given moment, whether a company vehicle is in motion, and when it reaches the worksite.

Vehicle GPS tracking gives you a better idea of the present and future costs for gas and whether additional vehicles are needed to maintain current client needs. The analytic reports from a vehicle tracker may also provide insight into better routes to save time and money on future endeavors.

Having access to GPS vehicle tracking in real-time has more advantages than tracking mileage and location alone. It also lets your team see how to get where they’re going, and gives you the ability to share traffic updates, route changes, or directions on the go. This is essential for new team members or for new job sites in remote areas.

A great benefit to GPS vehicle tracking aside from the obvious is that you can share information with a single team member, or the whole team through mobile devices. This keeps everybody connected from your job site manager to your employees and even back of house accounting where numbers for fuel consumption are needed.

2. Using Mobile App Technology

With the internet age in full swing, it’s no surprise that mobile apps are used for everything from ordering food to online banking and a variety of business functions. So, of course, there are apps for field crew management to make your life easier. A quick search through the Android or Apple app stores will offer options for time tracking, vehicle tracking, communication, schedule apps, and more.

At Arborgold we’ve found that using multiple apps for the same team just confuses everybody. Jumping between apps to determine schedules and then directions and then back for break times wastes time. To streamline productivity and keep your entire crew on the same page, we’ve combined all these apps into one easy to use MobileCrew app. This lets your team:

• Clock in and out of jobs
• Check local weather to maximize time and supplies
• Add new information to service orders
• Record financial exchanges and updates
• List tools they need and the tools they’ve used
• Develop interactive maps to worksites
• Manage schedules
• Mobile sales estimator

The Arborgold Cloud connects everybody on your team and lets you store information and make changes as they occur. So, whether you’re trying to add a vacation day to a timesheet or help an employee avoid a downpour, we’ve got you covered.

3. Update Jobs in Real-Time

An important way to track job progress is to make updates as they happen. Your field team can easily provide you with all the information you need to manage them from a distance by updating each step of a project directly through mobile app technology. Keeping you apprised of job status in real-time means you can predict when a job will be completed and manage any complications that arise before they escalate. Some of the things included in real-time job tracking include:

• Start and end times
• Completed tasks on a project to-do list
• Changes to a current work order
• Materials used
• Extra materials needed
• Break times

Requiring your team to update their efforts in real-time requires employee accountability. Not only is this a great skill to instill in your team but also it creates a sense of teamwork and accomplishment, raising morale and keeps your team motivated. The features, which update automatically, also hold your employees accountable for their work.

Is Time Tracking Software Right for Your Company?

If you run a company with employees who aren’t always in the office where you can observe and manage them – time tracking software can help. While it isn’t a fix-all for field crews, it improves schedule adherence, productivity, and provides helpful reports for future scheduling and job management. At Arborgold, our time tracking software is constantly being revamped and upgraded with industry and technology evolution. We strive to stay on top of the latest and greatest digital tools to give our business clients a leg up on the competition.

Crew management software is an excellent way to maintain even the most minimal details from a distance, but more importantly, always keep lines of communication open from both sides. Seeing your team operate in real-time, rather than receiving reports throughout the day ensures you know where everybody is and can provide realistic completion times and cost estimates to your customers. Arborgold offers a variety of pricing and plans to customize your software to fit your company’s specific needs. We know no two businesses are exactly alike, and we want to help yours stand out. Interested in learning more about time tracking software and other features of Arborgold apps?

Take a tour of our MobileCrew app today to see if it’s a good fit for your field team.