Welcome to the first week of 2019.
You want to capitalize on this fresh start.
Your operation is still running, and your team is still performing.
Everything is OK.
But what are you going to do to make it even better?
Do you have any New Year’s resolutions for your operation?
Do you have any plans to take your operation to the next level?
We’ve got something you can do.
How about making 2019 the year you maximize the performance of your property’s operation?
We mean, really maximize your performance.
You’ve got 12 twelve months ahead of you, let’s make them productive.
What do you say?
Let’s do this.
Keep reading; we’re going to show you how to employ the #1 methodology operations are transitioning to in 2019.
It’s called Proactive Operations, and it’s how you maximize your performance this year.
EMPLOY PROACTIVE OPERATIONS IN 2019
Alone, proactive and operations are two common words you probably hear often.
Proactive means controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened.
Operation, the singular of operations, means the condition of functioning or being active.
When you combine the two, something powerful happens.
A new way of thinking, understanding, and executing is created that defines what every property, in every industry, must strive for…
Proactive Operations.
A new term we’ve coined to identify those operations that have taken, or plan to take, their operation to the highest level of performance ability.
Proactive Operations is where property operations utilize strategy, infrastructure, and technology to achieve maximum performance.
Once in place, strategy, infrastructure, and technology work to produce a well-oiled machine.
You must understand that applying ‘Proactive Operations’ in your property operations means making a long-term commitment to professionalism.
Make your commitment to being proactive this year, rather than reactive.
Then, start implementing your strategy.
STRATEGY
For quite some time, we’ve had the first part of this puzzle figured out.
It’s not to boast or toot our own horn at all. We’ve had the privilege of working with industry experts for almost a decade now.
So, over the years, we’ve really listened – closely.
Listening led us to the first part of Proactive Operations, which is being a professional operation.
To become proactive, you must first become professional. The key development here is your strategy; it’s your utilization of the ACDA Principle™.
The ACDA Principle™ is the first step on your ascent to ‘Proactive Operations’ as a professional operation. Learn more about the ACDA Principle™ here.
The Principle includes the understanding, application, and continuous improvement of:
- Awareness
- Communication
- Documentation
- Analysis
If you embrace all the areas of the Principle for your operation, you’re on track to being proactive.
Begin using the ACDA Principle™ to ask the hard, important questions. Dig in deep to find your current strengths and weaknesses.
Not only will you learn a lot about your current state, but you'll also know how to execute your strategy from this day forward.
Being proactive starts here.
The questions below will help you get started.
- What currently occurs in your operation?
- Does your staff always know what’s occurring?
- Is your staff proactive in any way?
- How does your resource allocation stack up?
- Are you able to efficiently manage departmental teams?
- How does your staff communicate (i.e. radios)?
- Does your team effectively execute operational tasks?
- How far back can you easily retrieve incident details?
- Is liability defense something your operation struggles with?
- If a customer loses something, how quickly can you find it and return it?
- Can you track accountability?
- Do you know whether your staff is executing the correct protocols-to-handle?
- What tools do you use to improve your operation's performance continuously?
You need to design and build your operation’s infrastructure as the next step to securing a proactive operation.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Your infrastructure will vary depending on your specific industry or operational needs. Simply put, you must have one.
Generally, your infrastructure will need to include representatives from each department where issues or incidents could affect performance and customer experience.
To give you a large-scale perspective on the purpose of putting an organized infrastructure in place, we’ll use a stadium setting.
Here’s how you could set up your infrastructure.
The Operations Center
This is where you would manage the operation.
You and your team will operate in a single location.
Having full awareness is still vital to your success.
So, pick a place that helps you achieve this.
Representatives might include:
- Dispatcher
- Administration
- Police
- Fire Rescue
- Security
- Customer Service
- Parking Operations
- Information Technology (IT)
- Engineering/Maintenance
- Housekeeping
It’s important that the front-of-house dispatcher monitors a single radio channel for incoming communications.
This method reduces radio traffic, allowing for all representatives in the operations center to receive any calls-for-service and incident details via a central source.
All personnel need to have the ability to view and manage their information.
For example, Customer Service will need to be able to track non-incident related questions and concerns such as lost and found items or customer requests.
You do this so nothing slips through the cracks.
TECHNOLOGY
You’ve defined your strategy.
Check.
You’ve put your infrastructure in place.
Check.
Now, implement the best technology in the marketplace to experience what it’s like to have a proactive operation.
First, we recommend you read more about the ACDA Principle™ in the blog article we mention above.
We wrote a whole piece about it, which breaks down each individual aspect and how it correlates to technology.
The first pillar of the Principle is Awareness, so we’ll use that to explain our point in this article.
Consider what increased awareness could do for your operation.
- How would increasing awareness improve your operation?
- How does not having awareness impact your operation?
Having increased awareness helps you be proactive.
When you’re more aware, you’re able to respond to incidents quicker.
You’re able to respond to one more issue in less time.
How do you increase your awareness?
How do you ensure your operation is ready to be proactive?
You develop an infrastructure that cultivates the awareness you need.
Case in point, we note above that you must define an operations center that gives you the ability to see the stadium bowl.
That’s a major part of initiating your strategy, which focuses on awareness.
But you can take this even further!
You can maximize your awareness.
Implement solutions that maximize your strategy, infrastructure, and skyrocket your performance, which drastically increases awareness.
You’ll have the ultimate ability to ensure nothing ever slips through the cracks again.
This is Proactive Operations at its core.
This is one you can do.
Your property has customers, visitors, patrons or fans, right?
You can drastically increase your awareness with their help.
How?
By using text communication software.
It’s one solution to add to your operation that supplements your proactive efforts.
When you add this technology to the initiative, you eliminate the need for your staff to handle everything.
You save time by affording your customers to take the reins.
They’ll have the ability to instantly and discreetly report issues, incidents or simply ask questions, using their cellphones.
They can “speak” directly to your operations center.
Everyone can be on the lookout – staff and customers included.
You’re saving valuable time while increasing your awareness.
That’s being proactive.
OVER TO YOU
There’s a lot of opportunity for growth in 2019. You might have a long list of goals you’ve set for the year. Proactive Operations puts you on the best path to achieve all of them.
Start addressing your strategy, infrastructure, and technology. Shape your operation’s future and watch your team’s performance reach new heights.
So, are you ready to use Proactive Operations to maximize your operation’s performance in 2019?
Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
