We bet you're wondering:
How can incident management systems reduce your response times to incidents?
Well, there are many ways.
Yet, today we're going to focus on one significant aspect – Awareness.
Why 'Awareness'?
Think about it:
Your ability to be aware of your operation has many advantages for you.
We'll get to these.
We understand how important communication, documentation, and analytics are, so we created the ACDA Principle™.
But for today, we wanted to focus on your ability to know what's going on at all times, around your property.
Most importantly, we want you to be able to manage it.
It's a simple concept.
But, we think many leaders can forget the importance of this – until someone gets hurt.
We'll show how an incident management system can help you reduce your response times. You'll see how awareness can lessen the impact of incidents throughout your property.
Let's not waste any more precious minutes.
Why Awareness Is Important
It's inevitable.
Some will question why we hold awareness so high.
That's why we'd like to address it from the start.
Here's the thing:
You can't manage, measure, or improve what you don't know exists.
One more time.
You can't manage, measure, or improve what you don't know exists.
At this point, you probably fell back in your chair – and experienced an epiphany.
You're probably even thinking:
Of course, we have incidents that occur all the time in which response times are an issue.
But, what about the reports we get days later that we never even knew about on the event day?
- Season ticket holder calls in that no one responded to her in the parking lot when her elderly father fell. Parking operations and Fire Rescue were not available or even visible in the location.
- There was a brawl outside of the property after the event. None of your officers could respond in time. You're still looking for the suspects.
- There was a string of car break-ins in your VIP parking lot during the event. You find out no one was handling this post during the event. Why?
Does any of this sound like circumstances you face?
It's undeniable.
You'll never see the light of Proactive Operations unless you put incident management software in place.
Now:
You might be underutilizing a current system.
We're going to expose factors you'll want to address immediately.
If your current system can't perform, you know what you need to do. Don't you?
OK:
Do you see why 'Awareness' matters so much? It's the beginning of your incident management.
Your awareness will be the impetus for efficiency and effectiveness or disaster.
There's no other option here for augmenting response times.
Awareness Provided by Incident Management Systems Starts With Your Ability to Manage Resources
Incident management software will help you achieve peace of mind.
But:
You have to be willing to use the system and execute using it.
Effective execution starts with your ability to ask questions.
The right questions.
Think for a moment,
What questions are you asking when it comes to your awareness of incidents?
What questions are you asking that affect response times?
Going back to the three incidents we note before, what one thing did each of those have in common?
'Resource allocation.'
That's right; proper resources were not fixed to these areas. More than likely, personnel was at these locations and then moved.
The problem, though, who knows where they went and why? We don't, that's for sure.
It gets even worse:
The entire operation can experience a shortfall when personnel is not tracked or managed.
It's vital to your effectiveness to have full awareness of your operation.
When you have full awareness, you can then improve your response times.
Imagine how you could respond to a fight, slip & fall, or heart attack when you know where all your resources are.
Know which team is best to respond.
- Who will be the quickest?
- Who is already tasked with responding to other incidents?
- Who is responding to an incident now?
- Should you reallocate resources for improved efficiency?
These are all questions your system can help you answer.
You'll be able to see your resources and the way you need to see them.
Having awareness means knowing the answers.
After that, you can focus on improving your response efforts.
Are you ready to improve your response times to incidents and issues or anything else preventing you from achieving Proactive Operations?
Keep reading because we're going to pave the way for you.
Your Ability to Manage Resources Opens the Door to Much Faster Response
Here on out, you'd confirm you have a good grasp on your resources, right?
You know where everyone is, and they are keeping you and one another up to date in real-time.
You're thinking:
Nothing is going to slip through the cracks because my team and I can quickly respond to anything – anything.
Now:
With your improved incident management process in place, the incidents start rolling in.
You're amazed.
Your operation wasn't running effectively before, and now you know it.
With the appropriate people in place, you can pick up the incidents you've missed in the past.
Exciting what a little extra awareness can do, right?
It gets better:
You have data to use to reduce your response times.
We've said it before, response times matter.
- Handling incidents or issues a few minutes sooner – that's what makes a world-class operation. It's the best way to keep your customers coming back.
- Faster response minimizes short term and long-term impact of incidents. This protects you against future liability. A medical situation – such as a heart attack – can turn deadly as a result of delayed response. This might lead to a legal case.
- Response times affect all areas of your operation. Pure and simple, long response times put you behind the 8-ball.
- Analyzing incident response times gives you an understanding of your weaknesses.
You know how to achieve increased awareness. You also understand the importance of response times.
Now:
You can do amazing things.
You can look deeper into your data. You can do this with confidence because your incident management infrastructure is tighter.
What's next? What do you do?
What do you ask?
Yes, questions are essential! Today's article is full of questions you should be asking.
Here's what you should be asking once your operation is ready:
- How long does it take to receive a call?
- How long does it take to dispatch an incident to response teams?
- How long does it take the response team to get on the scene to the incident?
- How long does it take your staff to mitigate the incident and begin responding to the next?
Then:
Continue questioning based on your results.
- Do you need to increase staffing levels to support faster response times?
- What areas or hot spots need an increase in awareness, and do you need to put more resources there?
- Is a lack of training affecting staff performance? Do you have trained staff in the right areas?
We suspect you'll think of many more.
Once you have the right system in place, you'll have useful data.
Then, you'll know the answers so you can make adjustments.
Peace of mind won't be far off. Trust us.
The only question now is:
Will you use the data to increase your awareness and augment response times at your property?
Over to You
By now, you know the value that incident management systems bring to operations.
Now is the time to build an infrastructure for managing resources. Do this alongside proactive incident management software.
It's the #1 way for you to achieve the caliber of response times you need to have a world-class property.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
