I've worked in restaurants, food service, retail, and catering establishments where there are lots of moving parts and huge teams. There are times when I have a task that needs doing but I can only be in so many places at once. I trust my leads, but I often wished there was a better way to set tasks and communicate with everyone more efficiently than a radio (no written instructions) or checklist. So over the last month I've been fleshing out an idea for an app that could help with quick task and team management. 

But, before I even start with architecture, I have to stop and think about the ramifications of encouraging workers to be on their phones if I were to put out an app.  I'm sure everyone who runs operations in a service environment has come across this problem. Thinking back, I used texts with some teams and never had a problem, but other times it seemed I'd given them an excuse to not pay attention when they're on the floor. 

Have you seen any sort of success in this area? Or is it inviting trouble?