Are You Blocking the Wrong Things From Getting In?

“Social media companies are under pressure to block terrorist activity on their sites, and Facebook recently detailed new measures, including using artificial intelligence, to tackle the problem,” writes Heidi Glenn in their latest NPR article entitled “How Facebook Uses Technology To Block Terrorist-Related Content.”

According to Glenn’s article, “The measures are designed to identify terrorist content like recruitment and propaganda as early as possible in an effort to keep people safe, says Monika Bickert, the company's director of global policy management.”

"We want to make sure that's not on the site because we think that that could lead to real-world harm," she tells NPR's Steve Inskeep in the piece.

Glenn shares in her article that “Bickert says Facebook is using technology to identify people who have been removed for violating its community standards for sharing terrorism propaganda, but then go on to open fake accounts. And she says the company is using image-matching software to tell if someone is trying to upload a known propaganda video and blocking it before it gets on the site.”

How’s that for being proactive?

Glenn’s article sparked the interest of our inner techy. Facebook’s strategy is next level, and they’re using incredibly innovative technology to prevent terrorism from affecting users.

But, Facebook’s initiative has a greater purpose that is the combination of all its actions.

Any idea what we’re talking about here?

Facebook demonstrates Proactive Operations.

Everything the social network does is geared to proactively managing their platform. By doing this, they can prevent the wrong ‘things’ from infiltrating their system.

It’s an obvious example and one that we believe you should reflect on today.

Are you blocking the wrong things from getting into your property?

Proactive Operations Can Help Alleviate Real-World Harm

Today, we’re going to share how to keep the bad things out of your property.

How will you achieve this? Through Proactive Operations.

It's where you utilize strategy, infrastructure, and technology to achieve maximum performance throughout all property functions.

Once in place, strategy, infrastructure, and technology work as a whole to produce a world-class operation.

You must understand that applying this methodology means making a long-term commitment to effectiveness, improvement, and the protection of your guests and staff.

Be proactive, not reactive. It is the difference between having either security or liberty or both.

Make this commitment and then implement all aspects, starting with the ACDA Principle™.

Use the ACDA Principle™ to Formulate an Effective Strategy

The ACDA Principle™ is the first part.

In a nutshell, the Principle promotes understanding, application, and expansion of:

• Awareness
• Communication
• Documentation
• Analysis

Embrace each area, simultaneously, to be on track.

The ACDA Principle™ lets you start asking the tough questions. It gives you a benchmark to identify your powers and limitations.

Learn this, and you will know how to execute from the start.

These 23 proactive questions will help you. (Question #23 is a must-have.)

1. How will staff always know what’s occurring?
2. What common events, issues, and incidents occur throughout your operation now?
3. What unique events, problems, and incidents occur throughout your operation now?
4. What level of awareness does your staff have of what’s happening?
5. What level of awareness do you have?
6. On the proactive-reactive spectrum, where does your staff fall?
7. What do you need to ensure your employees are always proactive?
8. Do you have enough resources to mitigate and even prevent issues or incidents from affecting your operation’s effectiveness?
9. How do you ensure resource allocation measures up?
10. Are your resources in the right places?
11. What do you need to manage departmental teams efficiently?
12. How do staff communicate? Do you use cell phones, email, radio, mobile applications?
13. Does your team execute operational tasks that need to get done regularly and those that occur at random intervals?
14. What do you need to retrieve incident details in 24 hours? Five days? Three years?
15. If you needed an incident report from five years ago, could you locate it and would it be comprehensive?
16. Is liability defense something you need to address now? How does your documentation need to look?
17. If a guest loses something, what’s the most efficient way to track it and get them their possession back?
18. What’s your track record for getting lost items back to the correct guests?
19. How do you track accountability across departments?
20. How do you ensure employees are executing the correct protocols-to-handle?
21. What tools do you need to improve your operation's performance continuously?
22. Do you take information learned about your process and apply it to make your operation better?
23. If you are in the United States, do you use a DHS SAFETY Act Designated incident management system?

Answer these questions, then design and build your operation’s infrastructure. It is the next step to securing a proactive operation.

We provide an in-depth explanation of the Principle here.

Build a Durable Infrastructure

Your infrastructure will vary depending on your particular industry or operational needs.

However, you must have one.

Your infrastructure needs to include representatives from each department where issues or incidents could affect performance, safety & security, and customer experience.

Building an infrastructure is a major project to take on.

Rather than overwhelming you with the information in this article, we have something already prepared in a bite-sized format for when you are ready to take on this phase.

Now it’s time to close the loop on your proactive operation with state-of-the-art technology.

Technology Maximizes Alertness

OK, you’ve defined your strategy. You’ve put your infrastructure in place. Now, what?

Implement the technology necessary to finalize your efforts. Have the confidence to take on what the world may throw at you.

Below we explain the value of three solutions that allow you to execute a dynamic operation with conviction.

Text Communication for Awareness

Ensure nothing ever slips through the cracks again. Use text communication software.

Add it to your process and supplement your proactive efforts.

Leverage this powerful communication tool so that any guest can report any issue directly to you.

You save time and effort by empowering your guests to contribute to the safety of their fellow patrons.

They will have the ability to instantly and discreetly report issues, incidents or ask questions, using their cellphone.

Guests can communicate directly to your command center, which eliminates extra steps and more chances for escalation.

Everyone is on the lookout. Save precious time by using text communication to increase your awareness.

Now that is proactive operations – and peace of mind! Would you agree?

An Incident Management System for Control

When people congregate in one place, issues and incidents happen.

Use your incident management system to unify your operation and professionally handle what occurs.

Your solution is a digital, centralized repository for all of your incidents and their associated information. It is a smart policy to use it.

Are you still using pen and paper to document incident details? If so, it is time to reevaluate your operation.

Lack of accurate, complete documentation is not representative of proactivity – nor does it lead to knowledge of anything that occurs on your property.

Have digital information. Know what happened and when. Defend your business in court.

Communicate updates and details of incidents or issues to the right people on your team so no one can pull a fast one on your operation.

Make everyone confident and proactive. Keep the wrong things out.

Incident Management Mobile Apps for Communication

Incident management mobile apps are the next level of confidence.

Mobile solutions have functionality that comes from years of working with industry professionals.

Incident management mobile apps most effectively let your frontline staff report issues and conflicts without having to track down a supervisor, security, or medical team.

Can you imagine the resilience of your team during a severe incident? You have efficient communication, but also the ability to track and document every incident on the fly.

Watch everything as it gets handled the way you need it to – with maximum performance.

Over to You

Facebook is taking terrorist content blocking seriously. They realize that the more dangerous propaganda they can block and replace with good content is how to quiet the noise of terrorism.

We challenge you to employ Proactive Operations on your property. It’s the right move to keeping the wrong things from getting in.

So, are you ready to help prevent real-world harm to your guests?