2021 is the year you've committed to change.
You’re going to fight hard against the forces of the status quo.
You’ve embraced becoming a data-driven leader.
We like to hear that.
Empowering your staff with the ability to communicate effectively will give you the information to fully understand your operation.
It’s the only way to manage because now you’ll know what you’re managing!
You get it.
You want it.
You need it!
Any other day we’d tell you why it’s so important to institute best practices and then give you the how.
But today, we’re going to show you how to put your incident management infrastructure in place first.
Then, we’ll show you all the reasons why your new foundation will give you Proactive Operations, on so many levels.
Are you ready?
Let’s get started.
STRUCTURED INCIDENT MANAGEMENT GIVES YOU PURPOSE
How are you using your incident management system?
What’s your current setup?
Do you have an infrastructure for optimal management and real-time communications?
- Are you able to collect all the data that you need?
- Are you set up the right way so that everything gets tracked?
Keep reading if you answer “no” or “not sure.”
We know you’re not currently getting the critical, quantifiable, and useful data you need to succeed.
Logging in incidents is the beginning and only one aspect of your purpose.
Let’s modify your organization so that you can obtain all the analytics you need.
A WELL-ORGANIZED INFRASTRUCTURE
Giving your staff the ability to communicate in real-time efficiently is the goal.
It will afford you the foundation to create amazing results and understand why your structure is necessary.
Yours is based on your operational needs.
But, you must have one. It should include representatives from any functional area where issues or incidents could affect performance and customer experience.
By investing in the design and development of infrastructure, you create the opportunity to:
- Manage agile operations
- Manage organized personnel
- Maintain a streamlined flow of information
Manage agile operations
Your organization might consist of one property in one location or many properties spread around the globe.
That doesn’t matter.
Today’s infrastructure is designed for agile operations where personnel can manage multiple properties from anywhere in the world.
Operations management software helps guarantee physical location never affects performance.
Manage organized personnel
With operations management software, the size of your operation is inconsequential.
Have full control of the data communicated throughout your organization, whether you employ ten employees or over 10,000.
Permit your personnel to receive the information you want and how.
Sustain an organized environment for being effective, efficient, and expeditious.
Maintain a streamlined flow of information
Stuff happens fast.
You can’t afford to have redundant or the wrong information broadcasted across your organization.
Poor data integrity leads to bad business decisions.
Your infrastructure defines how information flows among personnel, and operations management software helps it flow efficiently.
YOUR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE IS PROACTIVE OPERATIONS
So, why are you using the software?
Analytics!
Fixing your foundation will give you the analytics you've always needed to understand your operational effectiveness.
Real-Time Data & Real-Time Communication
The days of dispatch, no status, no status, and no status – are gone.
They’re old news.
You have the right communication lines open and more with your new infrastructure:
- Real-time communication
- Multiple users in various locations talking to each other
- Personnel and department segmentation with purpose and organization
Now your team can send and receive the status of each incident from dispatched, on-scene, to closed.
All your real-time data is the effect of real-time communication.
You have no more missed information.
What’s the result of all this order?
Keep reading; you’re about to find out.
Improved Response Times Based on Reliable Data
You can measure and improve your response times with your new foundation in place and operational.
How?
Now you're receiving and documenting data that’s reliable and has a purpose.
You can answer these questions confidently and use the answers to create a benchmark for what adequate response time is:
- How long does it take to receive a call? From the time it takes your customers to identify an incident, send a text message using your text communication software, to call it in, or for your staff to report an incident via your incident management mobile app, to your central dispatcher in the operations center.
- How long does it take to dispatch the incident? A call for a fight comes in. It’s determined there’s a blood spill on the scene. The dispatcher must notify police, fire rescue, and inform housekeeping to bring protective gloves for this incident.
- How long does it take to get on-scene to the incident? From the moment the incident is dispatched to all departments, you can efficiently determine the length of time each associated unit takes to arrive on-scene from their current locations.
These questions help you understand the appropriate response times.
They’ll also give you the foresight you need to enhance your protocols.
Let’s say before your groundwork was put into place your response time to a fight is seven minutes.
After, your response time to a fight dramatically decreases to two minutes at your property.
Incredible, right?
It’s all because you've built an organization that allows you to record comprehensive documentation, analyze it, and then use all the valuable data to enhance your operation.
ACCURATE & COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION CLOSES THE CASE ON LIABILITY
The granddaddy of all the benefits from your new setup is liability protection.
You know how it goes.
Well, now you know how it went.
You’re a documentation machine with incident details, response times, and great luck!
Let’s put it into perspective with a possible occurrence.
You’re deposed for a fight case that occurred at your facility.
You show up with every piece of data related to the incident.
It usually takes your team two minutes to efficiently report to a fight.
You have the information to show your team consistently responds in two minutes demonstrating you’re adequately staffed for everything occurring on your property.
The incident in question was reported through your text messaging software but escalated within a minute.
It resulted in one of your customers needing emergency medical attention and being transported to the hospital.
Your ability to provide evidence with a digital paper trail showing consistent response times and efficient incident management will result in case closed.
You might’ve been on the hot seat, but at least you sat there with confidence.
No more questions asked because you kept your incident honest.
OVER TO YOU
You know that your infrastructure is the second pillar following your Strategy if you’re familiar with Proactive Operations.
You’ve got to lay the foundation for efficient execution and real-time communication to be ready for what comes after – your unified technology.
Are you ready to build your foundation to obtain the useful analytics your operation needs?
Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
