Are you searching for a way to improve your service order organization and management? If so, you are in the right place. Having an efficient process in place will help things run more smoothly and ensure your business does not experience issues related to disorganization or lost work orders.
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Request Formal Submissions for Every Work Order
Even when new projects are discussed during a meeting, requested through an email, or mentioned during an informal conversation, noting will happen until a formal request is made and the project is given a set deadline. Part of your service order management plan should be creating and using a template for request management.
This template will serve as a guide for the types of requests that your team gets. They should also include all the information needed to handle the request. By doing this, you can have confidence that everyone will understand the process to use and the proper way to deal with newly received service orders.
Centralize and Standardize Work Order Information
No matter what system you use, anything from scraps of paper to digital spreadsheets, consistency is essential. For example, if you opt for using paper, all work orders should be on paper. If your work orders begin as spreadsheets, they should end as spreadsheets too.
When it comes to using old-fashioned systems like these, though, there is a higher likelihood that data will go missing, become corrupted, or even stale.
What makes the system even worse is if the workflows go back and forth from spreadsheets to paper. In this situation, you experience even more opportunities for incorrect or bad data. Each time someone is copying information from a spreadsheet to paper (or vice versa), the numbers may be wrong.
These small mistakes can have a huge impact. Using a single standard makes it much easier to keep all information together in a single location.
Determine the Priority of Your Work Orders
Prioritizing your work orders is essential to have an efficient system in place. This is why it is essential to create and implement a standard set of rules related to prioritization. This is going to help you achieve a more systematic process.
The project manager should determine what tasks require immediate attention. They should also be able to identify what carriers the most value to your organization and business.
Require Extensive Information for Every Work Order
When creating work orders, it is essential that all the techs of the project or job are specified. The more you can include on the work order, the more the person doing the work will know. It also makes it easier to finish the job and ensure it meets set specifications.
Some of the information to include on a work order includes checklists, step-by-step instructions, materials and parts needed, images or schematics, and other pertinent information.
Your goal should be to ensure that the person handling the job knows what to do and how to handle what is needed. You want to ensure that no potential question is left unanswered.
The Approval Process
If you want to avoid any type of complication or delay, you need to ensure that work orders are approved before assigning them to anyone. After approval (or revision request made or cancellation), send a notification to let the end-user know about the status change. This is going to help everyone stay informed and know the progress of the project.
Utilize Schedule Management Tools
Scheduling is an important part of any work order management plan. It is a good idea to use a scheduling tool that allows remote access and updates. With this, you can ensure everything is tracked and monitored in real-time, which helps to keep everyone informed.
As you can see, there are several benefits offered by having a plan in place to manage and organize your incoming work orders. Implementing the steps here in your process will reduce the potential for issues and mistakes.