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Having all our staff understand how our business operates is a very important factor for success. When staff have an appreciation for what goes on in other departments, they gain a deeper understanding of the work we do and how they contribute. Whilst all roles in an organisation impact others to some degree, it is perhaps the working relationship between our operations team and our team out in the field that benefits most from this understanding.

Before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in the UK, Mizzy Watson who is part of the operations and customer service team, took a trip out in the field with our delivery driver, Jon Larkins.

Mizzy, who started at MVIS towards the end of 2019, works closely with MVIS customers and their requirements. Part of her role is communicating this to the delivery team, organising our delivery drivers over the phone, organising our operations in the field to ensure that units are deployed safely, in the correct location and display the correct messages as per our customers instruction. However, whilst she works with our delivery team on a regular basis, Mizzy is still fairly new to the organisation and in striving for a vertical understanding of our operations, it was decided that she should experience ‘a day in the life’ of one of our delivery drivers.

In this case, the exercise helped Mizzy to gain a much deeper appreciation of our delivery team’s roles, the risks involved in what they do and the important contribution she makes in helping deliveries go smoothly, all in a way that allows her to imagine doing the role herself.

Taking part in this training before the lockdown was particularly well timed, as Mizzy gained a deeper understanding of life out on site, giving her a deeper understanding of this role just before working from home was imposed in response to COVID-19. Working from home requires a larger degree of autonomy than working from the office, where staff are readily available to train and assist with questions.

Mizzy commented, “It’s fantastic getting an opportunity to see how the magic happens with my own eyes. I loved getting stuck in and representing the office team out in the field. But I also gained a real understanding of what our delivery team does and the importance of the risk assessments they perform, vehicle checks, product checks and deployment in the safest location and safety of others on the roads. Seeing this has helped me to understand my contribution to the team better, enabling me to be more effective in my service overall.”

Jon adds, “Taking Mizzy out in the field was a great opportunity for me to show her just how valuable her work is to us, and in turn how important our work is for the roads in general. I really enjoyed getting to know her more on a personal level too as we rarely get chance to talk about our lives. It’s essential to have a professional person on the end of the phone, as working on the highways is a dangerous occupation, so Mizzy’s support back in the office is appreciated. Building a good relationship with your colleagues is very reassuring to those out in the field, so it’s great to build any kind of relationship with our operations team member, especially when your life is often in their hands.”