In recent years, I’ve had several experiences where a mobileperformance support solution lost out to training. Each time this has happened,I’ve tried to understand why each team was reluctant to embrace that option. I’veidentified a few reasons:
- Beyond simple procedural step-by-steps, many teammembers may not be well versed in performance support. Understanding how, when,and why to use performance support may not be a strong point for some teams.
- Mobile technology is constantly changing; assuch, some team members may not be aware of its full potential. UnderstandingAPIs, responsive design, native vs. web apps, UI design patterns, and otherfunctions may be a challenge to many on your team.
- Skills and time are often a limitation in ourprojects. Maybe mobile app development is seen as something that will takeextensive skill or time—resources that your team may not have.
These all point to a vision issue—that is, our teams may notbe ready for these solutions. Even when you have storyboards and prototypes of asolution, team members may not be able to “see it” as a viable option. Luckily,I’ve found some tools that should help you overcome these vision problems.
Moving beyond simple job aids
Checklists, decision support trees, and calculators areperformance support tools that we can employ in our solutions. When usedcorrectly, these tools can increase efficiencies, reduce errors, and drivestandard work. These tools can be especially powerful when combined withtechnology.
To illustrate their power, let’s look at a simple decisionsupport tree on “Dad Troubleshooting” (Figure 1). Decision support trees are a typeof performance tool designed to guide decisions based on several inputs.
Figure 1: Simple decision support tree for “Dad Troubleshooting 101”
A paper-based job aid of this tree would allow you toquickly determine which issues were real problems, and of those, which wouldrequire WD-40 or duct tape. This paper tool could be used on-site and at thetime of need. One limitation is that this would force users to dig it up everytime they needed it, and any updates could require extensive redeployment toensure everyone has the current version.
Creating a mobile application of this tree would addressthese needs, as users would only need to dig out their mobile devices to accessthe tool. As a mobile option, you could also ensure that everyone has thelatest version of the tool and create additional efficiencies.
For example, as an application, you could create alertfunctions so that users are notified when their supplies of WD-40 or duct tapemay be running low—e.g., after 25 recordsof duct tape being needed, set a flag. As your tool is used for a longerperiod, you could also begin to make predictions on when to expect a greaterneed for duct tape. With additional decisions and fields (adding decisions onchecking batteries, or the type of object: toy,automobile, appliance), your tool may become even more powerful.
Building a mobile application with Google Forms
Fortunately, building a mobile application like this doesn’thave to be a time-consuming or resource-intensive activity, as Google Formspresents a solution for this troubleshooting application. Watch the embeddedvideo below to see how easy building an application like this can be:
Following the steps outlined in the video will create a URLto the Dad Troubleshooting application. Since Google Forms are responsiveacross platforms, you could access and use this app on mobile devices. To dothis, you would simply need to open the URL on a mobile device. Once it’s open,you can easily add a launch shortcut to your home screen for quick access to the application. In addition, if your organization uses mobile devicemanagement (MDM), this URL can be pushed to your users’ home screens automatically.
Advanced features
The Dad Troubleshooting application is a very simpledecision support tree, but it illustrates the potential of using Google Formsfor building mobile performance support tools. You can use the back-endfeatures in Google Sheets to provide dynamic reporting capability on thesetools or to calculate the data entered in your forms. In addition, the Add-onoption in Forms can be used to expand your abilities. For instance, some add-onswill allow you to create rule-based email notifications on how people filledout the form. Other add-ons will expand your reporting capabilities withinGoogle Forms.
Besides Google Forms, there are other alternatives tobuilding mobile applications that can be pushed out to your users. Airtable and Ninox are database creation tools thatyou can download onto your devices to create and share mobile applications. Thesetools are easy to use and will allow you to create relational databases whenrequired. In addition, they will allow you to incorporate data feeds and APIintegrations into your applications if needed.
