The safety of your customers is critical.
They become your responsibility every time they walk onto your property.
Agree?
That's why it's crucial to understand how effective incident management helps your initiatives.
Defined, well-organized processes lead to proactive execution.
We can't put a price on the importance of this.
Can you?
Understanding how vital your management is to your team's performance will help you deliver an exceptional experience for customers every day.
But, it's not an easy undertaking.
It takes time, effort, and possibly making mistakes along the way to get to a place where you're confident in what your operation can accomplish.
But, you need to do it – your customers rely on your ability to keep them safe.
We understand the importance of this.
That's why we want to help.
We're going to discuss the ten things you need to know about incident management.
But, the concepts below also integrate into how you should augment your operations using a software solution.
It's different than most articles on a topic like this – but we think it'll be powerful and extremely valuable to you and your team.
How does that sound?
Let's not waste any more time!
10 INCIDENT MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS
Incidents are unplanned and ever-changing.
This fact forces you to stay on your feet and ahead of the game.
But, you can't get a handle on things if you don't know what to do or how to manage.
That's also a fact.
Agree?
It can be overwhelming for you and your team because it leads to inefficiencies, dissatisfied customers, safety and security issues, and increased risk.
You can't ignore it.
Let's do something about it today, though.
We're going to share critical insights you need to know, and how an incident management system (IMS) can not only supplement these efforts but also augment your efforts.
Are you ready to take action?
- Real-time communication at the speed-of-type™: Instant communication is imperative to your operation. A world-leading IMS gives you the ability to enter details and the status of an incident via text or mobile app. Look for a system that allows incident reporting, tracking, and status updates to be communicated in many different ways from many different places around the world. Your operations are agile; your solution must be too.
- First-class software gives you a digital paper trail: It's imperative to eliminate pen and paper in your documenting procedures. All of your communication, incident details, and related documents can then be accessed at any time. It's critical to reduce your risk and mitigate any liability. Clear, concise, and complete reports are essential to your property's longevity.
- Automate alerts and notifications by incident types: When a specific incident is reported, a message is sent to the associated need-to-know members of your team. This ability is essential to managing each incident type according to your operation's standards.
- Consistent protocols-to-handle: Eliminate the inconsistencies of how your staff handles incidents by having the ability to manage your protocols expertly. Set up your protocols to display in your software solution, by incident type, so that your staff knows what to do when an incident occurs. This consistency is essential to enhance your protocols moving forward. It supports your liability defense by proving your proactivity to put processes in place for managing everything that happens.
- Permissions: Being able to segment information by permissions allow your staff to see what they need. Collaboration is vital to running an operation that keeps 24 or 7,000 customers safe – the size of your efforts becomes relative. But, not everyone needs to see every department's incidents. Keep things organized and well-managed by only giving need-to-know people access to what's essential to their purpose.
- Have a database of persons associated with incidents: Store and easily access information of persons involved in incidents. Whether you're encountering an unruly or valued customer, you'll be equipped with the right information to make an informed judgment call. Was this person involved in a previous incident?
- Report and analyze incidents for improvement and optimization: Your IMS must have a robust reporting feature. This gives you a valuable perspective that you need when doing your analysis. The best organizations at executing effective management rely on reporting that afford them the ability to hone their processes and long-term performance capabilities. Equally, eliminating hours of spreadsheet prep is as crucial to getting the analysis done. Sending reports to your boss with one click is a huge bonus! Agree?
- Training staff: Having and using a software solution where your team is trained to properly use it is the only way you can create and then maintain order. You'll want a solution provider that helps you complete your implementation and provides your team with ongoing support and training. A system that isn't used just isn't any good. A team that isn't efficiently trained cannot perform at the level your operation requires.
- Scalable management: The operations of today are not always static – many are dynamic and operate across every continent. An advanced IMS will allow you to manage your efforts how you need and scale everything you manage. Your management won't be restricted when using the right software solution. And neither will your performance!
- Proactive Operations: Deploying a platform inclusive of an IMS gives you the last pillar of Proactive Operations – technology. By leveraging this technology, you can ensure your issues and incidents are managed with maximum performance.
OVER TO YOU
Incident management is no longer a topic all on its own. The evolving operational environment you oversee day after day requires technology to support your efforts.
Deploying a software solution that augments your needs will ensure your ability to keep customers safe while championing a world-class organization for years to come.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.