Page 183 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

162 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

ability to communicate and share information is seamless, easy, and
intuitive. Technology can’t be the stumbling block when finding and
preparing the right people to move the profit line higher and higher.
Training a mobile team is not a new idea. Certainly the methods
vary from company to company, but all employees within the organi-
zation, whether onsite or on the road, need to be on top of their game
no matter where or what they call their office. Trainers need to take
into account that more and more employees, not only in sales but also
in tech support, customer service, and even at the executive level, are
increasingly able to choose where and when they want to work.
Employees are no longer leashed to the desk or to a brick-and-
mortar office, and that makes coordinating training sessions a strat-
egy game. Advances in mobile technology give trainers a new set of
opportunities and requirements to consider, ones that open up an en-
tirely a new dimension in how business training can and should be
conducted. The best training departments in today’s top companies
have evolved from a little room with a few desks and old hand-me-
down computers. They are now well equipped to manage the required
knowledge infrastructure to build smart teams and to help them to
do their jobs more effectively on a global scale and in a way that mea-
sures performance. The companies that stand out from the crowd are
creating innovative training units that deliver immeasurable value to
the long-term health and prosperity of the enterprise and to every
member of the organization.
There is a higher level of urgency today for training management
to react to the fast, competitive nature of business. The question for
your organization remains, “How can we educate our mobile staff in
an engaging, interactive, and inclusive manner that is just as, or more,
effective than if they were in the office every day?” Let’s find out.
Doug Harward is respected for what he has brought to the train-
ing world as a global director at Nortel. He works from his beautiful
offices in Cary, North Carolina, just off of the I-40 Interstate, tucked
into an upscale business park, surrounded by a never-ending string of
lush green trees and sitting next to the immaculate corporate grounds