We are regularly asked for user specific timesheets that will update summary spreadsheets in realtime (even offline) without sharing confidential data.

Team Timesheet App integrates your existing project spreadsheets to more quickly and accurately manage your projects and costs.

Features:

• Individual time entry
• Supervisor Controls User Views (Restrict confidential data access)
• Analysis by Day, week & Month Logs
• Dashboard analysis
• Dropdown List of Project/ Budget Codes, activities.
• Data In Google, Excel or Smartsheet Tables any combo
• Pivot tables and Charted analysis in either Excel of Google sheets
• Offline entry for later sync.
• Any Device, Any Platform

Deliverables:

• Activity Log
• Resources
• Managers
• Tasks
• Pivot Tables
• Charts

Price:
Upfront cost £1000 – $1500

User Licenses and Support – from £3.00 / $5.00 per user per month

Team Timesheet App is one of a family of Apps we’ve created to help you work smarter.  See our full range of Smarter App Solutions

Arrange your Free Initial Consultation to review your Team App requirements – we’d love to hear from you.

The post Team Timesheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

But just how far off is this future? And what does it mean for our clients?

Smartsheet and Oculus have already created a solution that enables users to collaborate in a holistic, VR work environment. The rise in the popularity of QR Codes and games such as Pokemon Go are just two examples of the enormous appeal of interactive tech. Are Smart Glasses simply taking this to the next level?

Our team of software consultants already offers a solution that allows clients to interact with their Smartsheet data while out on site. Thanks to our innovative solutions that combine Smartsheet with AppSheet, our clients are using this for stock taking, scanning packages and time keeping, to name a few. Switching from a hand held device to a pair of Smart Glasses could speed up these processes, and create a safer, smoother, hands free experience. This would be particularly useful to clients operating in environments without safe, easy access to a screen, such as in construction.

What about you? Would you trade your handset for a pair of Smart Glasses?  

 Contact us today for a chat about how we can make Smartsheet innovations work for you.

The post Looking to the Future With Smart Glasses appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

The Challenge

IPAF have auditors all around the world who monitor the compliance of powered access equipment training centres. They carry out different types of audit in several different languages, often in locations with no internet access. IPAF wanted an input tool that guided the auditors through each type of audit and allowed them to upload the completed audit to a centralised system, culminating in an audit report that can be emailed to the customer. They also wanted to be able to report in detail upon the data both from the completed audits and from their own system.

The Solution

SBP’s system architects developed an application in AppSheet that allows the auditors to input their audit data whilst on site using a smartphone, tablet or laptop in their language of choice. Upon completion of the audit entry (and when internet access is available), the data is uploaded automatically to a centralised SQL database. 

SBP also created a Microsoft Access interface for use by IPAF HQ, including a wide variety of SQL queries to report upon and amend the database data in the wide variety of ways that IPAF require.

Overnight (or on demand), all the day’s audits from around the world are incorporated automatically into IPAF’s large existing data set, and each audit report is generated in PDF form and emailed automatically to the auditor for review. At the same time, a set of Excel reports are generated, for use by IPAF HQ.

The Benefits

• Automation of a varied and previously cumbersome and very manual auditing process.
• Bringing together employees from around the world and unifying procedures
• Allowing a wide range of automated reporting of data

Testimonial 

I am delighted with the solutions  SBP have delivered.  The team listened to our needs and built a bespoke user friendly auditors Appsheet solution which automates a previously manual process.  They also created a detailed Microsoft Access interface which gives us the visibility and reporting we needed. SBP were able to understand our business needs and use their strong AppSheet  and Integration experience and expertise to develop specific and efficient solutions. Stephanie Nolan-Byrne – Audit and Quality Control Manager – IPAF

The post AppSheet Solution takes IPAF to new heights appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

When it was first introduced in 2010, the Quick Response code didn’t make much of an impact. While slick, easy data gathering might have been be appealing, not enough of us had the Smartphone technology to make it work. For those of us who did give QR a try, it required downloading a third party app, by which time you could have just found the link online.   

Today QR code creation is common place and every day practice in most businesses and communities.

What did QR stand for?

A quick-response code is a type of two-dimensional matrix barcode, invented in 1994, by Japanese company Denso Wave originally for labelling automobile parts. 

What is a QR code?

A barcode is a machine-readable optical image that contains information specific to the labelled item. In practice, Quick Response codes contain data for a locator, an identifier, and a website visitor tracking. To efficiently store data, QR codes use four standardized modes of encoding (i) numeric, (ii) alphanumeric, (iii) byte or binary, and (iv) kanji.

Creating a QR code

A Quick Response code consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, including some fiducial markers, which can be read by an imaging device such as a camera, and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted.

The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.

The spread of the QR code applications

The QR labelling system was applied beyond the automobile industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Creating QR codes was easy. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing

QR Codes in the time of Covid-19

During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, these codes came into regular use and in fact became a reliable source of data.

While the Track and Trace app has by no means had a smooth, controversy-free implementation (Excel Spreadsheet columns anyone?) it demonstrates the versatility of this type of code. With every shop and cafe asking us to point and click we’re really starting to see just how accessible it can be.

QR Use Cases

Today QR codes have become common in all areas of commerce and society, from consumer advertising, tracking in product stock taking, to supply chain management.

Typically, a smartphone is used as a QR code scanner, displaying the code and converting it to some useful form (such as a standard URL for a website, thereby obviating the need for a user to type it into a web browser).

QR code has become a focus of advertising strategy, since it provides a way to access a brand’s website more quickly than by manually entering a URL.  Not only is it super convenient to the consumer, the importance of this capability also increases the conversion rate and the chance that contact with the advertisement converts to a sale.

Now everything is automated. Instead of taking you to a third party website, the app collects all the information it needs in one simple step, and lets you go back to sanitising your cat or doing whatever it was you were doing before you had to zap the code with your mobile phone. So easy! 

This tech hasn’t just become slicker either. It can now be implemented at a fraction of what it used to cost. This makes it a total game changer, especially for anyone who needs to report progress or gather data while out on site. Find out how QR codes can drive efficiency in your business in our Appsheet with Smartsheet blog, or watch a quick demo below on how we can make it work for you.

The post #DRAFT_On the up: The Rise and Rise of QR Codes appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

When it was first introduced in 2010, the Quick Response code didn’t make much of an impact. While slick, easy data gathering might have been be appealing, not enough of us had the Smartphone technology to make it work. For those of us who did give QR a try, it required downloading a third party app, by which time you could have just found the link online.   

Today QR code creation is common place and every day practice in most businesses and communities.

What did QR stand for?

A quick-response code is a type of two-dimensional matrix barcode, invented in 1994, by Japanese company Denso Wave originally for labelling automobile parts. 

What is a QR code?

A barcode is a machine-readable optical image that contains information specific to the labelled item. In practice, Quick Response codes contain data for a locator, an identifier, and a website visitor tracking. To efficiently store data, QR codes use four standardized modes of encoding (i) numeric, (ii) alphanumeric, (iii) byte or binary, and (iv) kanji.

Creating a QR code

A Quick Response code consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, including some fiducial markers, which can be read by an imaging device such as a camera, and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted.

The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.

The spread of the QR code applications

The QR labelling system was applied beyond the automobile industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Creating QR codes was easy. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing

QR Codes in the time of Covid-19

During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, these codes came into regular use and in fact became a reliable source of data.

While the Track and Trace app has by no means had a smooth, controversy-free implementation (Excel Spreadsheet columns anyone?) it demonstrates the versatility of this type of code. With every shop and cafe asking us to point and click we’re really starting to see just how accessible it can be.

QR Use Cases

Today QR codes have become common in all areas of commerce and society, from consumer advertising, tracking in product stock taking, to supply chain management.

Typically, a smartphone is used as a QR code scanner, displaying the code and converting it to some useful form (such as a standard URL for a website, thereby obviating the need for a user to type it into a web browser).

QR code has become a focus of advertising strategy, since it provides a way to access a brand’s website more quickly than by manually entering a URL.  Not only is it super convenient to the consumer, the importance of this capability also increases the conversion rate and the chance that contact with the advertisement converts to a sale.

Now everything is automated. Instead of taking you to a third party website, the app collects all the information it needs in one simple step, and lets you go back to sanitising your cat or doing whatever it was you were doing before you had to zap the code with your mobile phone. So easy! 

This tech hasn’t just become slicker either. It can now be implemented at a fraction of what it used to cost. This makes it a total game changer, especially for anyone who needs to report progress or gather data while out on site. Find out how QR codes can drive efficiency in your business in our Appsheet with Smartsheet blog, or watch a quick demo below on how we can make it work for you.

The post On the up: The Rise and Rise of QR Codes appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

The Challenge

Migrating the complex manual ballscrew repair process to a digital system required a solution that was easy to use and yet able to accommodate the hundreds of items of information that may be required for any one repair.  Of particular importance was the storage of the many photos taken throughout the repair process.

The Solution

The conditional logic possible within AppSheet allowed SBP’s technical consultants to migrate PGM Reball’s finely-honed repair workflow into a portable digital solution that allowed the team to easily store and retrieve every piece of information they needed for each repair. 

The Benefits

By uploading photos directly into the app, integrating AppSheet with the team’s backend spreadsheet, and with the use of automated AppSheet workflows, SBP have significanctly  increased the efficiency of PGM Reball’s ballscrew repair process.

Testimonial 

PGM Reball had identified AppSheet as a perfect solution to digitise our ballscrew repair process.  We were familiar with managing the process using MS Excel which meant that AppSheet provided the perfect platform combining the familiarisation of Excel with the simple user interface of AppSheet. 

Although we had a basic understanding of creating Apps using AppSheet in-house, we needed the experience and expertise of Smarter Business Processes to help us transform the complexity of our ballscrew repair process into a user friendly App. 

SBP’s approach was very systematic and inclusive and they provided advice and support over and above the project brief. The result was a successful project with potential to extend to our ballscrew manufacturing.  I highly recommend  Smarter Business Processes for their professionalism and AppSheet expertise.   Ann Ford – Director Sales & Marketing – PGM Reball

The post PGM Reball digitises ballscrew repair process with AppSheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

While the principles behind Manufacturing 4.0 are promising, you might be apprehensive about how you can implement these lofty ideas in your industry. That said, by implementing just one small improvement which cascades into others , your organization could become a lean, mean Manufacturing 4.0 machine.

The Industrial Revolution conjures images of smoggy London skies and Dickensian toil.   A lot has changed since the 18^th century and the initial transition of manufacturing from hand methods to mass production.   In fact, there have been two additional industrial revolutions in the meantime.

The Second Industrial Revolution occurred around the turn of the 20^th century thanks to technological advancements such as the railroad, electrical power, and the widespread use of machinery. Then came the Third Industrial Revolution, or the Digital Revolution, which kicked off in the middle of the 20^th century.  This stage marked a shift from production via analogue machines to a digital infrastructure including computers, microprocessors, and the Internet.

But  let’s talk about today.  We stand at the very beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in which new technologies promise to bridge the physical and the digital. The world is in for rapid, disruptive change thanks to artificial intelligence, the democratization of mobile technology, quantum computing, the Internet of Things, and myriad other advances.

These fast-paced changes inspire equal parts excitement and fear. On one hand, new efficiencies in supply chain, transportation, and communications promise to improve the quality of life around the globe. Meanwhile, many people fear that their livelihoods will be replaced by automation.

This leads us to the concept of Manufacturing 4.0, a movement which zeros in on how these technologies impact the manufacturing industry.

The principles behind Manufacturing 4.0

We’re optimistic for an increase in safe and rewarding jobs spurred by concrete technological improvements in manufacturing. Done right, Manufacturing 4.0 will be realized through four central methods:

• Interconnection. People will be able to communicate with machinery and tools via the Internet of Things. Importantly, machines and devices are also able to share data with one another.
• Information transparency. Expect a huge influx of data enabled by these interconnected technologies and people. Improved information has the potential to touch every point in the manufacturing processes. Operators, managers, and workers will be able to make data-driven decisions when it comes to improving processes, training, factory layouts, and more.
• Technical assistance. Humans will not have to parse through this information alone. New systems will aid leaders and teams to make informed decisions based on the quick and systematic aggregation of the data collected with the help of information transparency. Computers can detect trends and produce visualizations so that managers and workers can make data-driven choices and plan ahead. Aside from helping people think and reason better, cyber physical systems aka smart machines, will also be there to perform or support physical tasks that are too difficult or unsafe for humans.
• Decentralized decisions. In some cases, systems will make decisions on their own. This is automation. The promise of automation relies on the imagination of people performing manufacturing processes today. These folks know their work best and can provide the best insights into how technology can amplify and standardize their hard work.

People-powered innovation

While the principles behind Manufacturing 4.0 are promising, you might be apprehensive about how you can implement these lofty ideas in your industry. After all, manufacturing touches a wide variety of industries from automobiles to clothing, specialty chemicals to aerospace equipment, and everything else produced on planet Earth. How can you make business decisions about technology that will produce specific, yet ongoing, impact?

Start small. Ask around. The people who work in your manufacturing plants and facilities are the experts at the work they do every day. Seek the input of manufacturing workers and managers on how their jobs could be made easier.

Does paperwork keep foremen working late into the night? Think about ways that smart technology could streamline this work, such as replacing pen and paper with tablets that store data in a centralized, cloud database. Explore optical character recognition (OCR) solutions that detect handwriting to convert scattered, paper-based information into digital files. Voila! The beginnings of interconnection and information transparency at your organization.

There are countless examples of how manufacturing processes can be improved today. And given the volume and complexity of work done on any manufacturing site, it’s inevitable that one small improvement will cascade into others until eventually, your organization will become a lean, mean Manufacturing 4.0 machine.

Talk to us about creating powerful Apps directly from your date with AppSheet

The post What is Industry 4.0? appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Key Benefits are:  eliminating data duplication, tracking and being able to produce high quality, reliable statistics  AUTOMAGICALLY!

As huge fans of the benefits of Smartsheet and Appsheet, we already work with the coolest solution platforms but our clients are always asking for more.  

Having  listened to client needs, our clever API Guru Team have further enhanced SmarterControls4Smartsheet which includes 15 individual solutions solving the most popular needs. 

SC4S can be purchased on an SaaS basis, with the Business or Enterprise Plan versions. Choose what you need (Business) or just have all of them (Enterprise). Contact us  for more info

The short-term benefits of automating repetitive, manual workflows are well known: saving time, saving money, and increasing efficiency.  But there are lesser-known, long-term benefits of automation, too like Focussing Employees on Innovation, Reducing Risk and Making Better Decisions.  Read more about the 3 major long term benefits of automation for businesses seeking competitive advantage:

The post Smarter Applications, Automation and Integration appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

These Apps stretch the functionality of Smartsheet and Appsheet to create some amazing new, low cost business automations and App Integrations.  Leading the launch is their much requested Smarter Dropdown List Manager solution.

As one of Smartsheet’s leading Consultants operating across North America, UK and Europe, Smarter Business Processes have shadowed Smartsheet’s phenomenal growth, with their own client base doubling year on year.

Since Listing on the Nasdaq Smartsheet Shares (SMAR) have doubled from $15 USD to @ $30 USD and the business and Investing world is watching and finding out what it is that is hot about Smartsheet.

SBP CEO Richard Rymill said;  Organisations are seeking more  Automation and App Integration. So using the latest Smartsheet APIs enables us to stretch the standard solution to achieve things which many ERP systems would love to do, providing real Time Dashboards and collaborative solutions previously not possible.”

Speaking at a time of great change in both the world and the workplace Smarter Business Processes CEO Richard Rymill had this advice for organisations; “Embrace the opportunities presented to gain competitive advantage.  Invest in your people and within your own workforce generate a culture of continuous innovation.  Your people will love it if you do it well!”

The post Smartsheet crosses the pond from Boston USA to Boston Spa UK appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Learn. Share. Innovate.

ENGAGE brings together passionate leaders, practitioners, and innovators for four days of inspiring educational sessions and hands-on learning opportunities. Want to learn more? Sign up for updates here.

Watch the ENGAGE 2017 Highlights

See more about Smartsheet ENGAGE 2017 Wrap up including Opening Keynote from Smartsheet President and CEO Mark Mader and inspirational Closing Keynote by Captain Sully Sullenberger

Whether or not you’re attending the conference, please feel free to reach out to arrange a face to face or remote meeting to discuss your Smartsheet and AppSheet workflow and integration needs.  

         Please contact us – we’d love to hear from you

The post Smartsheet ENGAGE 2018 – Bellevue, WA – October 1-4 appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

These AppSheet Mobile App Solutions are game changers  for those Spreadsheet users that like to provide selected mobile access for reports and updates using spreadsheets to not only source but to capture data,  location,  signatures,  scan bar codes,  even work offline.

Implementing AppSheet alongside Smartsheet has allowed us to extend Smartsheet’s capability, providing you with the ability to;

• Slice and dice your data according to who needs to see or edit it.
• Create the effect of a relational database which uses conditional logic to modify your work activities
• Have Dynamic dropdown capability – maintain one dynamic dropdown list, accessed by numerous other sheets
• Manage time more precisely by hour, minutes and seconds
• Split Tasks so they can be completed by multiple users
• Scale up your data beyond 5000 rows with data partitioning
• Work offline

See our full range of Smarter App Solutions

Bearing in mind this new capability, our solutions open up all sorts of business efficiencies, improved user access and views on any device – so what would you like to achieve? Share your ideas with us.  

See sample Case Studies

Arrange your Free Initial Consultation to review your Team App requirements

OR

Do you have ideas on developing a more bespoke Mobile App solution?

if so,  please complete our detailed needs appraisal

We’re here to help

The post Extending Smartsheet’s capabilities with AppSheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Making sales teams work smarter, not harder.

While field teams are the on the rise, it is becoming more and more crucial to empower these employees with customized mobile apps. This innovation of working efficiently with optimal communication is a top priority for Antwain Jordan, Sales Execution Coordinator for Spring Mobile which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GameStop and serves as the premier wireless retailer for AT&T and Cricket Wireless operating in over +1500 locations. “Part of my job is to take the everyday sales and our onboarding process and simplify them by removing redundancy from the process”, explains Antwain. “Since we have partnered with AppSheet, we have developed and currently use 5 applications on a regular basis to help us accomplish that.”

Part of my job is to take the everyday sales and our onboarding process and simplify them by removing redundancy from the process

Modern day businesses are no longer constrained by state lines or time zones. For many, including Antwain, their team expands across the nation and often times, the globe. Mobile apps are a great way to ensure that communication is clear and that progress is being made in a timely manner (which is especially crucial concerning sales). In fact, Natalie Lambert of Enterprise Apps Tech found in a recent Forrester Research report that “30 percent of employees want personalized notifications of tasks that need to be completed and another 28 percent of employees believe a personalized feed of individual actions and updates would improve how they leverage, access, and take action on information.”

Initial Project Requirements

• Connect multiple spreadsheets and data sources in an unified solution
• Automate workflows through email and SMS
• Enable real-time reporting

Before using AppSheet, Antwain’s work process consisted of accessing multiple spreadsheets and documents that contained a lot of the same data. “This proved to be a task because Google sheets can only handle so many sheets, cells or rows per workbook, and typically required the use of multiple bookmarks. Excel could not provide us with a cloud-based system that we were looking to use to get real-time information,” explains Antwain. “We were also looking for ways to quickly automate workflows through e-mails and text messages. By combining AppSheet with Google sheets, I have been able to organize, develop reports, simplify processes and trigger workflows in the fraction of the time we use to before.”

Antwain has been able to customize his apps to his specific job duties. He has developed five apps in which four of the apps are used on a daily basis. These apps range from CRM management to Onboarding new hires. These apps have features that not only manage automated workflows, but allow for better time management. “Being able to manage our time better allows us to concentrate on other areas that allow us growth and opportunity. As I am solely responsible for all day to day interactions with AppSheet. I have been able to simplify processes that would take normally take hours, down to minutes. Our sales reps can quickly get real-time notification on leads that come through our CRM.”

Antwain further customized his apps with additional features. “Because our apps are being used nationwide, it can be difficult to deliver messages to teams across the country so we use GoTo Meeting to discuss app updates and changes. One thing that simplifies this is AppSheet’s user-friendly monitor mode that allows the tracking of user statistics and workflow actions. Having this is very important because I can see who is actually interacting with the app, how often, and if any issues arise with the sync process you can tell, when, where, how & why. That way I can directly reach out to those individuals to provide aid.”

Here are some of the apps that Antwain has deployed to his field sales teams.

EntertainemtCRM

This app is used by our sales executives to track all our leads and where they came from. We are able to use all of our spreadsheets connected to send back to AT&T while staying within SOC compliance.

• Tracks leads in real-time when our lead generators submit leads
• Tracks referral payout expenses.
• Automated vendor setup and sends secured W9’s through email workflows
• Emails confirmation letter to customers on completion of sales.
• Tracks updates of lead statuses in real-time.
• Allows contacting customers a breeze using quick action buttons
• Record new leads in real-time during the order process
• Dashboard view of lead statuses and expenses to provide a

Spring Concierge

Spring Concierge is a web app we developed to securely collect leads from our lead generators. Our lead generators send us leads through a website designed to showcase our team, what we do, and our growth.

• Web app developed for lead generators to easily send leads to sales team
• Directory of all sales executives to easily provide contact when needed for support
• A map to show where our sales executives are located.

BSIS On-boarding

This app is used to minimize the amount of time required to request access to tools, devices, and training. During our hyper growth, this is extremely important because it allows our new hires to start faster and minimizes time spent to set these individuals up.

• Automates email workflows for requesting new hire information such as employee ID’s, training, requesting new devices, and requesting access to other tools
• Allows for the upload of employee picture and biographies.
• Easily find and locate team members or store locations by multiple identifiers such as address, manager’s name and store specific codes.
• Breaks down store locations by color coding regions
• Directory to quickly contact sales executives
• Allows for the removal of employee access to other apps when inactive or terminated.

Create powerful Mobile Apps directly from your data  – To try Out These Apps Yourself? Click here

Tell us about the Mobile Apps you need in YOUR organisation or just Contact Us and let us know how we can help.  We’d love to hear from you!

The post Five Apps to Coordinate a Field Sales Team appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Enterprises are capitalizing on the mobile app phenomenon by building innovative apps to communicate with their staff and to enable them to work anytime, anywhere.

As more and more businesses use enterprise mobility apps to complement their core business, the use of corporate apps will continue to grow. This means more opportunities for mobile app developers and cross platform mobile development experts to test their ideas, skills, and creativity to find their niche in this thriving marketplace.

According to research firm Gartner, by 2017 the demand for such development will increase five times faster than companies and IT departments can keep pace with. With mobile phone sales expected to reach 2.1 billion units in 2019, it will fuel demand for enterprise mobile apps that are just as useful and popular as consumer apps. We look at reasons why.

Customized to business needs

Corporate apps are customized to an organization’s core business needs and there are several use cases, for example, such as helping its field sales and marketing teams effectively present solutions to customers. They also enable staff on the go to access the latest product brochures or information where document management and distribution platforms make sure that employees have up-to-date information when they need it. There is no need to share multiple versions of files and to look for misplaced documents. Staff can gather information from customers and prospects and enter this data into the corporate or customer relationship management databases efficiently. This saves workers time and ensures that they stay in the loop.

Train and develop anywhere, anytime

Such apps deliver learning content to their workers on the go. They are interactive, up-to-date and enable workers to sign up for courses online. This way, employees can learn anytime, anywhere and at their own pace. Workers can also keep up to date with company news and industry developments.

Employee engagement

Employees are already having to pay attention to the emails they get on a daily basis from their co-workers and external customers. A corporate app should not add to this burden.

Do keep in mind the following suggestions when building a corporate app:

• Consider the group of employees you are designing the app for. When creating a product for the public at large, the first step is to consider your audience. The same goes for the corporate app.

• Talk to your staff and find out about the culture of the department, get their feedback and find out what they actually need. It may sound simple to say but until you actually talk to the people who are actually doing the job day in and day out, creating an app you think may help them, may not actually address their needs.

• Build engagement with your employees. If your staff find the apps useful and understand that these will help to make their lives easier, they will want to adopt this into their daily work routine.

• The lives of employees hang on their mobile devices. A good suggestion, at this point, would be to incorporate location services and image capabilities to connect staff and share information more efficiently. Include a variety of media such as interactive, videos and embedded documents. This level of interactivity engages staff, enabling them to be more productive. The best corporate apps work because they enable organizations to engage their employees and to bring productivity increases and faster business processes. The bigger picture is that the organization gains insights (through analytics and such software) into the work habits of its employees, which in the long term, will enable it to fine-tune business processes for greater productivity and rewards. Do your employees work in the field? Give them offline access.

• Keep apps up-to-date so that the latest information and documents can be distributed to the work force so as to ensure that everyone is working on the same digital page. Nothing is more frustrating than spending time working on outdated documents or data.

Create powerful mobile apps directly from your data

Try AppSheet for FREE

The post The Best Corporate Apps And Why They Work appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

If you are interested in leading on change in your business, making your Business Processes more efficient, intuitive, easy to work with, easy to report on and track progress, then please watch Jim Hemerling’s 14 minute TED talk video, it explains what we do and how we are succeeding where others seem to disappoint.    

Jim outlines five imperatives, centered around putting people first, for turning company reorganization into an empowering, energizing task for all.

• Inspire through purpose
• Commit to ‘going all in’
• Enable people with the capeabilities to succeed
• Instil a culture of continuous learning
• Encourage inclusive leadership

In the era of “always-on” transformation, organizations are always going to be transforming. But doing so, does not have to be exhausting. We owe it to ourselves, to our organizations and to society more broadly to boldly transform our approach to transformation. To do that, we need to start putting people first.

About Jim Hemerling

Jim Hemerling is a Senior Partner and Managing Director in The Boston Consulting Group’s People & Organization and Transformation Practices. He is a BCG Fellow with a focus on high-performance organization transformation. He also leads BCG’s global Behavior & Culture topic.

Hemerling has published extensively on transformation, organization effectiveness and culture. He is co-editor of Transformation: Delivering and Sustaining Breakthrough Performance, a synthesis of BCG’s latest thinking on transformation to be published in November 2016.  

About Smarter Business Processes

Smarter Business Processes provides consultancy services and training that help clients in UK, Europe and North America create huge productivity improvements with improved workflow solutions, application integration and smarter app solutions

We focus on the People and their Processes first, which produces excellent Performance outcomes.  

Responding to user demand for more automation, Smarter Business Processes have launched a series of Smarter Apps that Stretch the functionality of Smartsheet and Appsheet to create some amazing new, low cost business automations and App Integrations.  Leading the launch is their much requested Smarter Dropdown List Manager solution.

We offer a free initial consultation to assess your needs and discuss how they may be addressed with our help. See our Testimonials and Customer Success Stories

Contact Us to arrange a free initial consultation to discuss your workflow management, Smartsheet and AppSheet Mobile App needs – we’d love to hear form you

The post Improve Operational Efficiencies by Putting People First appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Providing increased efficiency, freedom and flexibility to complete the tasks at hand, and enhanced project communication and collaboration, mobile tools have real benefits for businesses.

Many contractors are using apps for project management to;

• Capture onsite real-time data,  location, signatures,  scan bar codes,  even work offline
• Keep track of project costs, budgets and timesheets
• Manage vendor, subcontractor and project details

See how our Smartsheet and AppSheet solution helped MGC Roofing and Construction

See our Sample Apps in Action – Try our favourite AppSheet Mobile Apps for free

Site Scout, an app for construction site inspections with GPS and images, that allows users to capture inspection information for specific sites.  Built with Google Sheets and AppSheet, the app automatically captures GPS locations, collections images, and allows customization of the collected data.

Quote Calculator enables contractors to calculate payment owed based on services rendered, and is a useful tool to quickly and easily calculate costs of services. The app allows users to input numerical data in to the app, calculate and display the results, and save the entry for future recall.

Repair Manual is a useful app for any business that needs to provide an instruction manual to employees or customers. This app has step-by-step instructions for repairing dry-wall, with helpful images that demonstrate each step clearly.

Timesheet  for tracking employee hours and wages,  This convenient app easily tracks log times in and out to compute hours and calculate total wages, providing all necessary information for accounting or human resources departments. This app uses information capture via forms, app formulas, virtual columns, references, and image display.

Our trial Apps are great for seeing what they can do. You’re welcome to copy, customize and make them your own but we do recommend letting us help you personalise the Apps to your exact requirements.

Payroll

Using mobile apps to file times sheets and process payroll can help boost efficiency, since workers can clock in on their mobile devices and report to work immediately on their mobile devices. GPS tracking and biometrics capabilities can also help reduce time fraud. And real-time information can be immediately processed via mobile apps, reducing response time and increasing efficiency.

 Project Management and Collaboration

Mobile apps can connect the various parties involved in any construction project, from architects to engineers to project managers. Mobile apps and devices can help actively manage activities, employees, information, and processes associated with a given project and even control scheduling. Mobile apps allow project managers to download blueprints, sync information in real-time, and communicate with the job site.

One popular app for project management  is the Photo Measures App, which allows users to measure dimensions captured in photos. It has a user-friendly interface, and users can quickly record and save measurement on a frequent basis.

Another app that helps reduce planning time and boost efficiency in construction projects is Plan Grid, which allows project managers to easily share plans, markups, photos, and reports with the entire project team from anywhere. PlanGrid can be used with or without an internet connection during construction to track revisions, document progress, and manage issues in the field while keeping everyone on the current set.

Mobile Apps Reduce Constructions Costs

According to Go Canvas, statistics show that 50 percent of a worker’s time while on the clock is devoted to wasteful activity caused by poor and outdated communication like paper forms and time wasted searching for information or recreating documents they couldn’t find.

Let AppSheet help you raise the roof on your construction job site with custom mobile apps. 

Complete our AppSheet Appraisal Form or simply Contact Us to discuss your needs.  We’d love to hear from you!

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