Keeping all the moving parts of your business running smoothly can be a challenge. When you get busy, something that can often slip is inspections. Inspections however, are a key component in making your business run more efficiently. With regular, structured inspections you can:

• Improve productivity 
• Improve efficiency
• Improve retention

Two Inspections You Should be Using

There are an infinite number of inspections you could put in place for your team but here are two general inspections that you should implement if you are not using them already!

Vehicle Inspections

Not all inspections need to be done by a manager. Scheduling self inspections for employees can save you time and help you run your team more efficiently. Having a simple vehicle safety inspection checklist for technicians to run through weekly can help you: 

• Better anticipate vehicle maintenance
• Ensure technicians have everything they need to complete their route
• Better ensure safety on the road
• Reduce risk for workers’ compensation claims/accidents
• Keep track of chemical usage and anticipate changes to inventory
• Increase the accountability of your technicians

We recommend assigning vehicle inspections to be completed on a weekly basis. 

Monthly/Quarterly Performance Inspections

Regularly providing feedback to employees about what is expected, how well they are performing, and what they need to do to improve will help increase productivity and efficiency in the long run. Inspections provide a structured environment for managers to give feedback and assess the quality of work and performance of each employee. Regularly grading and measuring performance in this manner gives employees a chance to address issues in their performance and provides a clear record of feedback should you ever need to fire an employee.

Keep in mind, Forgely inspections don’t have to be time-intensive meetings with each technician or employee at the company. It can be as simple as a pass-fail on key performance metrics filled out by the manager and sent to the employee, or as detailed as a Quality Call Inspection, where managers oversee the performance of various services and techniques in the field.

4 Keys to Successful Inspection Implementation

We use Forgely to help us streamline our process of assigning, scheduling, and reviewing all employee inspections. Here are four ways using Forgely for inspections can up your management game and make your team more accountable and efficient. 

Assign 

Put team members in charge of performing their own inspections. Make sure your team knows what they are responsible for, and what their manager is responsible for - especially when it comes to vehicle inspections! 

Schedule

Inconsistent inspection schedules make it easy for things to slip through the cracks - not to mention the stress and confusion it can cause for employees. Forgely keeps a regular schedule and sends automatic reminders to you and your employees, so nobody is caught off guard! 

Be Clear

Employees should have a clear understanding of what is expected of them for each inspection. This will allow all parties to fully understand why they passed or failed. Using Forgely for inspections allows employees to leave feedback for their manager if they’re unsure why they failed in one area. 

Review

Make sure each employee has a chance to review their inspection, acknowledge it, and understand what they need to do to meet their requirements moving forward. Forgely keeps a history of all completed inspections, so your employees can always go back to check their previous performance and be aware of areas for improvement.  

How does your business manage inspections? What have you found to be the most effective?