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Overseeing a fleet of vehicles is all about managing the risk. Fleet management gets more complicated every day. There are more vehicle options, safety concerns, regulations, and mandates. The need for collaboration between fleet managers and other departments is becoming imperative to help drive organizational performance.

Those who thrive in today’s environment embrace industry knowledge, communication, advanced technology, and the ability to use and share meaningful data by collaborating with internal departments.

Data is the common language of collaboration

With collaboration being driven by corporate financial considerations, data is the common language by which objectives are defined and improvements measured. As difficult as it may be, building usable data streams to support collaboration on important questions is a worthwhile project.

The fleet manager will be the chief collaborator in this endeavor, bringing best practices from fleet management into risk (and vice versa), strengthening communication between the two departments and ironing out any remaining inconsistencies or redundancies.

Add value to your organization by identifying trends

Fleet managers can add value is by bringing a fresh perspective to the organization by raising questions and helping identify potential trends. At a time of fast change, it’s important to seek out information and network with other departments about new ideas and capabilities and to apply this knowledge to each organization.

Time, cost and answering why can give valuable insight into the frequency and severity of vehicle claims. Maybe there are many claims at one location. Maybe there is another location with just a few claims, but they are all severe. Having this type of data and providing it to HR and safety teams can help them to develop training and educational programs for drivers.

Being strategic means thinking about the larger, long-term issues in the context of what the company needs, which is efficiency in getting people and goods from one place to another. That involves considering different points of view both within and outside the company.

Integrate with other departments through collaboration

Every successful organization follows a finance-driven path over time, from working in silos to working collaboratively across functions. It typically begins in a company’s core profit centers, but eventually makes its way through every department.

Effective collaboration begins by taking time to learn the complexities and requirements that inform the decisions of managers in other departments.

It is imperative for cross-departmental collaboration to strengthen communication

Successful fleet managers communicate effectively in every direction – with users, with peer managers in other departments, with vendors and partners, and with executive management.

They provide solutions that meet the needs of internal customers, and – on those occasions when conflicting needs arise – communicate the issues in terms others will appreciate

Preparing for the future while maintaining current needs

Looking ahead and setting yourself up for the future, you must be agile all while being able to take care of the current needs. Are you prepared for what’s going to be happening in the next three to five years? With that in mind, let’s take a look at your risks and how to mitigate them using the tools offered in our free eBook.

Where Risk and Fleet Intersect, is a guided eBook that offer tools for claims management for companies with large auto exposure and can be downloaded through Fleet Response’s website. (link to eBook)

This easy-to-use eBook gives fleet managers strategies to be able to communicate effectively in every direction – with users, with peer managers in other departments, with vendors and partners, and with executive management.

Throughout the nine pages, we cover topics including Assessing Risk in Fleet Operations, The Disconnect Between Risk and Fleet Management, A Strategic Approach to Claims Management, Protecting the Corporate Brand, Visibility to Understand and Mitigate Fleet Risk, Accountability to Get the Job Done, and Flexibility to Discover Unique Solutions.

Think of this eBook as a guide that you reference, when assessing your risk and fleet collaboration in your organization. To discuss how Fleet Response can support this collaboration in your organization, contact Jodie Varner, Vice President of Client Engagement at Fleet Response, [email protected].