Keep your processes in your pocket
How the application of handheld devices for process management keeps employees informed and ensures compliance with safety procedures
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As of 2020, the internet contained about 64 billion gigabytes of information, and it has not stopped growing from there. With the advent of smartphones and internet-enabled devices, we have all that information in the palm of our hands. Whether we are looking for a technical specification or a piece of pop culture trivia, it is only a few swipes and taps away at almost any time.
Business processes should be just as easy to access.
Historically stored in dusty manuals on the shelf, business processes that are available to the people who need them is a vital part of ensuring your operations run smoothly and effectively.
A strong process management platform will enable your teams to find the right procedures – and how they relate to their work – without the fuss or frustration of old-school process manuals. The natural next step is putting real-time access to processes, along with all the detail and relevant documentation attached, into the hands of employees.
There are a number of key use cases where being able to access processes on handheld devices creates significant business benefits.
Bringing outsiders in
Contractors and consultants often come into an organization with specialist knowledge which can be leveraged for significant improvements. What they do not always have is an idea of how your operations, facilities or teams run.
If those specialists are technical contractors, they need to understand how their work impacts your operations. If they are there to provide insight rather than practical services, they need to understand the impact that changes could have on the protocols that surround particular functions.
In both of these cases, clear processes provide the key information they need. Having those available on a mobile device ensures staff can focus on the work they need to do, knowing that information is readily at hand.
Contractors and consultants are not a regular part of the business. The best process platforms will allow you to share only the relevant process maps with the necessary group of people, without going through the challenges of security access, temporary logins or verification credentials. A simple link to the relevant process or process group will give specific individuals the access they need without creating security concerns or more work for your IT team.
Safety first and last
Even for regular members of your teams, safety protocols and practices can fade over time. When procedures or equipment are not a regular part of your day-to-day operations, the vital steps that ensure they are operated safely can easily be forgotten or overlooked.
When it is as simple as opening your phone or tapping on a tablet, steps and safeguards can be viewed instantly to ensure full compliance and safety for everyone.
Even with the best precautions, disasters can still strike. Having immediate access to vital emergency processes and procedures could be the difference between an incident and a catastrophe. By making those disaster recovery processes available on mobile devices, teams can react on the spot, finding the key information they need to act immediately and effectively to circumvent further harm.
Keep your processes in your pocket
We develop processes to protect our teams, to maximize our operations and to optimize our businesses. Powerful, accessible process platforms provide a real-time central source of truth for your organization, ensuring best practices are always available.
It makes sense that those processes should be available to the teams that need them, wherever they are. In the age of the smart device – with a phone, tablet or terminal close at hand for virtually every worker – our processes are there, too.
Does your business offer handheld process access through mobile devices? Let us know in the comments below.
