For example, suppose your company specializes in selling and repairing commercial HVAC units. There a number of different units your repair staff needs to know how to fix. But rather than taking your people out of work and putting them in a multiday training course, you keep them in the field without the specific training. When they have to repair a unit they are not familiar with, they can receive the training on how to fix it in real time via their mobile device as they are servicing the unit.
Now, let’s take this trend a step further. Suppose the commercial HVAC repairperson is on site, servicing something he’s never worked on before. He uses the just-in-time training module via his tablet computer. But he’s still confused about a certain aspect of the repair. All he has to do is touch the “help” icon on his screen and it immediately connects him to a master trainer live on screen. But instead of just telling the master trainer what the problem is, the repairperson can put on a headband that has a camera on the front, much like the headbands with a light on the front that people use for camping or car repair. By wearing this digital, high-resolution camera that interfaces with the mobile device, the repairperson can show the master trainer exactly what the issue is. Now that master trainer can see what the repairperson sees and can tell him exactly what to do. The master trainer can lead the repairperson through the repair as if he were standing right there with the repairperson. Talk about a dramatic savings and increase in efficiency.
Realize that using cloud-based technology for just-in-time services goes way beyond repair. It could be used to train people on new software, train salespeople on product upgrades, instruct employees on new policies and procedures, etc. And it’s different and better than a standard tutorial, because the training could be accessed via any device, anywhere, at any time. In reality, the applications for cloud-based, just-in-time services are virtually limitless.
Create Your Company’s Future
Many business leaders will say they are too busy to address any of these trends. But if you don’t address them, who will? Ultimately, whoever drives these trends within an organization will be perceived as a significant contributor to the enterprise – someone worth keeping, and someone with high value in the marketplace. When that someone is you, you can drive results to the bottom line and be a key contributor to the organization’s success.
Daniel Burrus is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best seller "Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible," as well as the highly acclaimed "Technotrends." For more information, please visit burrus.com.
