Tomorrow’s a whole new year.
A new year of opportunity for you and your staff.
It’s the first day of 2016 and it can either be a year of high-stress, headaches, and chaos…
Or, you can read this article and find out how professional operations like yours can achieve peace of mind this upcoming year.
Last year, we wrote an article about how to start a legacy in 2015. This year, we’re going to show you how you can grow it using the ACDA Principle™.
But before we get into the Principle, let’s take a look at your 2015 operation so you can fully appreciate and understand the ‘legacy’ you’ll be growing in 2016.
Your 2016 countdown starts now. Let’s get to it.
Looking Back at the Legacy You’ve Started in 2015
It’s vital to see how you view your operation and all its aspects before we show you how to use the Principle to unleash maximum impact on your legacy this upcoming year.
- Do you have processes in place for your emergency management plan?
- Have you implemented and strictly enforce your protocols-to-handle?
- Do you know everything that occurs in your operation, at all times? Does your staff know? Does your boss know?
- Are you able to access incident details yesterday and years ago?
- How did your liability defense measure up in 2015?
- Is resource allocation something you have a handle on?
- Do you have the ability to effectively deploy your quick response teams?
- Do you always know what your staff is doing?
- Are you able to easily manage your staff and track accountability?
- What tools do you use to continuously improve your operation and team’s performance?
These are only some of the many questions we’d like to ask you. But, they will help you answer some vital questions about the state of your 2015 operation.
We understand that if you continue to do things according to the status quo, you’ll never be able to achieve peace of mind.
We don’t want you there.
You need to know what you’re leaving behind so you can avoid it in the future at every turn.
These questions will guide you through this exercise. But you need to keep evaluating your current operations.
As you begin answering these questions, concepts will begin flowing.
The next thing you know, you’ll have the best understanding of your current operation that you’ve had all year.
Why? You’ve turned off the noise for a brief moment in time.
You can finally focus attention on you and your operation by looking at it further, and then really seeing what it’s made of.
Once you’ve mapped out your current operation, it’ll make unleashing this principle much easier.
4 Aspects of the ACDA Principle™ That'll Help You Grow in 2016
Over the years, we’ve really listened to the industry.
Every organization, client, and expert has provided us with valuable insight into the inner workings of a professional operation.
These experts have opened our eyes to the four factors that make up a professional operation.
The ACDA Principle™ that you can use in 2016 to grow your ‘legacy’ is:
- Awareness
- Communication
- Documentation
- Analysis
Once you have all these in place, you’ve got yourself a recipe for operational growth this upcoming year.
We’re going to touch on each aspect of the principle, simultaneously demonstrating how software can supplement your execution of the principle into the New Year.
Grow Your Legacy Using Modernized Solutions
You probably already know this, but you won’t be able to have awareness, communication, documentation, and analysis appear in your operation overnight.
It takes time and effort, which is why you must get moving immediately.
If you strive for full awareness, improved communication, accurate, complete, and legible documentation, and useful analytics, you’ll need some innovative solutions.
Increase Awareness so Nothing Slips Through the Cracks
Increased awareness gives you and your staff the ability to respond to one more incident in a little less time.
It gives you the ability to take care of your other responsibilities.
Provide text communication as a channel for your guests to instantly report issues. It’s also useful for your staff without radios on hand.
In the past, your incidents might have slipped through the cracks. With full awareness in your operation, that problem is eliminated.
A text communication solution opens up tons of value. It offers the ability to have thousands of eyes to assist in reporting issues as they occur.
Valuable time can be saved for staff by eliminating the need to first find a supervisor with a radio in order to report an incident.
(Do you have a text communication solution but need some ideas on how to promote it to your guests? No sweat. Check out our article on the 21 Awesome Ways to Effectively Promote Text Communication here.)
Give your team a web-based system, such as an incident management system. A system where they can log in from any location.
Your team can simultaneously enter and update incidents for anyone with departmental permissions to see – in real time.
Make sure that data is never lost due to a bad Wi-Fi connection. Have a system that allows your staff to enter data in an offline environment for future upload.
Get important information synced as soon as Wi-Fi is available. There’s no place on your property you shouldn’t be able to get proper documentation from.
Your team will know exactly what’s happening and when.
This is how you ensure all issues are quickly being handled. Most importantly, this will keep your guests and staff safe this year and into 2017.
Improved Communication Between Your Staff
Arming your staff with incident management mobile apps to easily and effectively report incidents is how you close the communication gap.
Your real-time communication will lead to real-time data.
Create an easy-to-learn set of communication procedures that should include:
- Incident management mobile devices for your team on the go
- Automatic alerts and notifications so nothing slips through the cracks
This’ll give you a trouble-free and practicable way to efficiently train staff as well.
Automate information to empower your staff and you’ll see communication throughout all departments drastically improve.
Your total operation becomes more aware when you improve everyone’s communication abilities.
Accurate, Legible, & Complete Documentation
Accurate documentation is the ultimate factor in providing your operation with tangible liability defense.
You never know when you’ll need it, that’s why you must document every incident, every single time, with all of the associated details.
The use of an incident management system will let you eliminate illegible handwritten notes and replace them with the right information, in a digital format, that you can access at a moment’s notice.
Even if notes need to be accessed in the future, there’s no need to find the employee who created the report.
- You don’t have to read illegible handwriting
- You have reliable digital records
You might already know this, digital records are generally accepted in liability defense, whereas handwritten notes are not.
Digital records are tracked in these solutions.
Any changes and updates are logged into your incident management system. You know who wrote what and when changes to the record were made – to the minute.
Give your staff the ability to attach and reference documents with each incident.
- Audio Statements
- Pictures
- Signatures
- Video
The key to gaining accurate documentation is to create a system that allows your staff to record information at the same time they’re performing their job.
Get the job done in real time and on-the-fly.
Putting these systems and protocols in place ensure their job performance is never negatively affected by the need to document everything they’re doing.
It’s an incident management system, not just an incident reporting system.
Analytics Is the Key to Understanding How 2016, 2017, & Beyond Will Be
These days, data can help you make incremental changes leading to the difference between a high-stress workplace and growing your legacy while achieving peace of mind.
You can’t analyze what you don’t know.
- Capture accurate documentation so you can measure operational situations.
- Communicate what you know to your staff so nothing slips through the cracks.
- Use valuable data to improve your operation for 2016, 2017, and beyond.
Having and using analytics is crucial for the efficiency of any operation. Teach your team how to create lasting, positive memories for your guests.
Use your analytics to improve your processes and ensure protocols-to-handle are actually executed according to your defined guidelines.
Analytics gives you the insight into your operation you need to improve each day.
A perfect example of how to use analytics? Your response time to incidents and issues.
Response times influence every area of your operation, positively and negatively. Faster response minimizes the impact of incidents.
Consider this…
How vital are response times to the success of your operation? How do they impact how your property looks to your guests?
- Allergic Reactions
- Assaults
- Bomb Threats
- Slip and Falls
- Unruly Behavior
Responding to these quickly must be a priority. Analytics provides you with the insight to appropriately allocate your resources for fast and better response.
Each aspect that makes up the Principle is connected. It’s what you need in 2016 to take full control of your operation and grow your legacy for years to come.
Not to mention the peace of mind you’ll achieve.
Once you scrutinize your data, don’t waste any time. Communicate the data to your team.
Having the ability to effectively communicate important incident details, issues, and protocols will give you the added advantage you deserve in 2016.
We know this because we’re in the business of helping operations achieve peace of mind…and helping professionals like you grow their legacy for years to come.
Over to You
As a collective, awareness, communication, documentation, and analysis makes up the powerful ACDA Principle™ to be used by professional operations for achieving peace of mind.
We hope that you’ll integrate it into your plan to grow your legacy in 2016 and the years to follow.
So, will the ACDA Principle™ be a part of your plan to grow in 2016?
